Kathak prodigy dances cricket for Team India's triumph

Varanasi, Mar 2 (UNI) A child prodigy here has combined his dancing and cricketing skills to pray for Team India's world cup triumph in the Caribbeans.

The city which has produced illustrious Kathak dancers, including Gopi Krishna and Sitara Devi, now has Rudra Shankar (9), a professional Kathak dancer and a die-hard cricket fan. He has combined 'abhinay and mudra' of the classical north Indian dance form with the snapshot postures of cricket to wish best of luck to the 'Men in Blue', who to conquer the Carribeans on Wednesday night.

The dance wonder who enchanted the audience in Switzerland when he artistically combined the nuances of Kathak with semblance of Sourav Ganguly's elegant batting, willow mastery of Sachin Tendulkar, powerplay of Dhoni and the lethal spells of Sreesanth, Munaf Patel and Irfan Pathan.

Amid the resonance of tabla and harmonium, Rudra, the class V student of Sunbeam English School here also laces the intricate prowess of Kathak with his love for cricket to narrate the icy cool captaincy of Rahul Dravid, bamboozling spells of Kumble and the turbunator (Harbhajan) to even the deligfhtful diving catches of Yuvraj Singh and the third umpire decision sealing the victory in India's favour.

''This is my way of praying for Team India's title triumph in the Windies. I was not born when heroes led by Kapil Dev lifted the World Cup at Lords for the first by beating Clive Llyods' men. While the entire country prays for the success of Dravid's team in their own way, I have invented this new Kathak style for praying Lord Shiva to bless the 'Men in Blue' with the World Cup,'' maintained the little wonder who vows to dance at the beginning and end of each of India's cup fixtures.

And consorting him in this artistic superstition are his guru and father Mata Prasad Mishra on the tabla and his three years younger sibling Uday Shankar on the American drums.

''Dance and music has often been used as instrument for biting public cause. Rudra's attempt highlights this trend only at a time when the entire country is burning in the World Cup fever,'' said the proud father who is a prominent Kathak dancer of the Banaras Gharana.

The Kathak wonder's sibling, who idolises percussionist Shiva Mani, however, is ready to travel to the Carribeans with his brother and father to galvanise Team India to World Cup glory.

''Humein waha bhej dijiye aur hum Dravid ki team ko world cup dilva denge,'' said Uday who is slated to travel to Japan with his father and brother next summer.

UNI