Indu Mitha

🪔 About

Indu Mitha (née Chatterjee), born in Lahore in 1929, is a renowned Pakistani exponent of Bharatanatyam, credited with single-handedly ensuring the survival of this classical dance form in Pakistan. Born into a Bengali Christian family, she moved to Delhi with her family during the Partition of India in 1947. She pursued an MA in Philosophy from Delhi University in 1951. Mitha received her Bharatanatyam training in Delhi from Vijay Raghava Rao and Shrimati Lalita. She also learned modern expressional dance from Zohra Sehgal and continued her training at Sangeet Bharat School. After marrying Captain Aboobaker Osman Mitha in 1951, she returned to Pakistan. Despite the challenges posed by increasing Islamization and societal taboos against dance in Pakistan, Mitha began teaching Bharatanatyam in Lahore after her husband's retirement. Her first teaching position was at Lahore Grammar School, where she became a celebrated dance teacher. She later founded and led her own academy, "Mazmoon e Shauq," in Islamabad, where she has taught classical dance to generations of women since 1999. Mitha also served as a faculty member at the Rawalpindi campus of the National College of the Arts (NCA), from which she has retired. To make Bharatanatyam more accessible and culturally relevant in Pakistan, Mitha has adapted its performance and style, including composing songs in Urdu due to her lack of understanding of Tamil, Telugu, or Sanskrit. She views dance as a secular and inward expression, a language of gestures that transcends beliefs. Her dedication to preserving and promoting classical dance in Pakistan has earned her significant recognition. In August 2020, she received the President's Award for Pride of Performance in the Arts (Choreography). Her daughter, Tehreema Mitha, is also an accomplished Bharatanatyam dancer who runs her own academy in the USA. Indu Mitha is considered a formidable force in promoting culture and arts in Pakistan, with her work being described as a patriotic effort to preserve a vital cultural heritage. Awards & Honours: President's Award for Pride of Performance (2020).