Over the past 10 years, the South Asian population in the Puget Sound region has nearly tripled. Most people who have seen the show Outsourced or have had an Indian-accented technician solve their computer woes associate this influx with tech giants like Microsoft and Amazon. This is partly true, as many South Asians can attest to growing up in a household that was exclusively focused on education—particularly in the areas of math, science and other related fields (i.e. engineering and medicine).

Living in a STEM hub like Seattle, it’s very easy for South Asians to fall into the stereotype of being tech geeks, mathletes or SpellingBee champs. But India is one of the world’s most ancient cultures and has influenced others with its spirituality, tantalizing flavors and spices (many times containing healing properties), classical arts, literature and dance. 

The Western world has primarily been exposed to these facets only through the medium of nonstop hip shaking dances, chaste flirting, melodramatic love stories, and exaggerated zoom-ins. All the elements of a great Bollywood film. Bollywood definitely has its place amongst the South Asian diaspora today, but there is so much more to the Indian arts scene than “Jai Ho.” It is classical media that truly provides a window into the richness, diversity, and deep spiritual underpinnings that make up the essence of the South Asian subcontinent. 

Seattle is home to many a purveyor of Indian classical music, dance and the visual arts—and the list continues to grow.

Classical Indian music falls in two broad styles: Hindustani, originating from Northern India and practiced in parts of Nepal and Bangladesh, and Carnatic, the primary style from Southern India. This type of music is honey to your vocal cords as you travel melodiously up and down the 8 basic notes Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa (think ‘Do Re Mi Fa…’) with hundreds of variations. Many times, the words convey an emotion or a spiritual and cultural concept. The music includes everything from melliflous tones of the vocalist and a stringed instrument called a sitar to the rhythmic beats of the tabla (Indian drums played with your hands).

From left: Anoushka Shankar, a prominent sitarist will play at UW on April 9, 2016; Zakir Hussain, a world renowned tablaist playing to Indian classical violin
PHOTO CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON; FLICKRPHOTO

Seattle boasts an extensive network of classical music teachers, enthusiasts and students in all mediums: vocal, sitar, tabla and other instruments such as the sarod. Experience the rhythm and cadence of the tabla played by Anindo Chatterjee of the Anindo Chatterjee Institute of Tabla on Saturday, June 20 at Gallery 1412.

Indian classical dance comes in a variety of forms: Bharatanaatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathak, Odissi, and many more. The most widely known one is Bharatanaatyam, a dance form that originated in the temples of South India. In Bharatnaatyam, graceful coordination of the hands, feet and eyes is required to tell a story with intensity and emotion. The story is traditionally of cultural and philosophical significance and performed to classical Carnatic style music.Today, we see a great deal of Bharatnaatyam fusion where traditional movements flow to more modern beats. However, the classic style continues to be widely practiced all over the world.

Vidyalakshmi Vinod, a Bharatanaatyam dancer and artistic director of the Nrityalaya Dance School told us how her students’ outlook on life changes after going through their dance training, learning about their heritage and being exposed to the ancient Sanskrit scriptures along the way. “They not only master the art form, but must understand any performance piece and its various shades” to a depth where they can convey every fiber of its emotion to the audience.

Seattle not only has a wide network of Indian Classical Dance teachers, but also local dance troupes. UW’s Natya is the university’s first and only classical Indian dance group. Last month, it hosted a nationwide intercollegiate classical dance competition and the troupe will be performing again on Saturday, May 30 at UW for the South Asian Student Association’s Silent Auction, EMPOWER, for victims of the Nepal earthquake.

India is the birthplace of three of the Eastern world’s most prominent religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Indian classical art and architecture, much like music and dance, are rooted in religion, spirituality and a great deal of symbolism. During India’s long history, foreign invasions and colonialism brought with them various forms of painting, sculpture and architecture, which influenced Indian visual art as we know it today. Nonetheless, the dominant aesthetic current remains purely Indian.

A well known painting inspired by literary genius, Kalidaas’ work, Shaakuntal. Depicted is the graceful heroine, Shakuntala writing a letter to her beloved Prince Dushyant 
PHOTO COURTESY OF DR. FRANCES PRITCHETT, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

The Seattle Asian Art Museum is running an Indo-Persian Art exhibit featuring art during one of the Muslim invasions of India. It will be on display through June 21.