Anish Bhanot leads cultural revival through bhangra

Anish Bhanot has been into bhangra for years. Beginning from his early teens, he has trained a number of budding youngsters in bhangra and giddha. He works as a folk dance instructor in various schools, colleges and universities in the region. Rarely does a team trained by Anish return unrewarded. His commitment towards the eroding cultural heritage is absolute.

Anish also instructed 1,095 dancers who made it to the Guinness Book of Records with the world’s largest bhangra performance at Brampton Mehfil Mela, an annual celebration of South Asian Culture. This festival attracted over 90,000 people to a grassy field outside the Powerade Centre in Canada, where Anish assumed the prestigious role of jury assigned to him. The record was set by the gigantic troupe performing the traditional Punjabi dance for 10 minutes. His services have been placed on record by the Punjabi Virsa Arts and Culture Academy in North America, too. Anish has been invited as a judge at the Shan-e-Punjab Bhangra Competition in Vancouver and in various universities and colleges in India.

“Preservation of culture is a much wider term than is being understood today,” opines the young artist, adding, “It should actually be envisioned as a sense of belongingness and craving for what has been ours for centuries but has been forsaken in the nightmarish allure of pop modernity.”

This bhangra dancer and coach is the proud recipient of a number of awards and honours. He participated in an international event in Warsaw in Poland in June 2003. He also carved a niche for himself and his team in the Association of Indian Universities at Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana and Association of Indian Universities at Punjabi University, Patiala. He participated in the inter-university, state level cultural competition at Government College for Women, Amritsar, and national programme in folk dance under the banner of the Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development held at Barpali, in August 1999.

Anish’s team was placed first in PU’s festival a number of times. He secured the first place in the 39th, 40th and 41st PU inter-zonal youth festivals. He secured commendable positions in various zonal, inter zonal and university festivals. He also participated in the folk dance competition in the concluding function of National Youth Week organised by Directorate of Youth Services, Punjab. He stood first in the folk dance competition under the banner of Indian Cultural Association. He was placed first in Surtaal Folk Dance Competition in November 2003 under the banner of North Zone Cultural Centre. He was awarded the college colour and university insignia by the Department of Youth Welfare, Panjab University, Chandigarh.