Ode to Astad Deboo

Astad chose a lonely road to stardom. My 10 years (1954 to '64 ) with him at Loyola indicated that even in one’s teens one can choose a path less travelled. He never failed to attribute his career choice to his Principal, Fr. George Hess SJ, who doggedly supported him in his early Kathak dance classes.

It's a lonely path and he could have fallen on the wayside but his personal commitment to dance and to his natural aptitude to make friends, influence people and nurture networks helped him to constantly grow. His inimitable style contributed to creating a different amalgamation of Kathak and modern performing art.

I remember him as a fighter for forgotten causes – children who couldn't hear but dance wonderfully, the forgotten drummers from Manipur. He even had time for the street children of Delhi. Yet his heart never left Jamshedpur and he never refused to return for a good cause like the programme organized by the NGO 'SEEDS' in 2005 and, of course, the place where it all started - his much loved school – Loyola. 

Amongst his spectacular and memorable performances in Jamshedpur were ‘Breaking Boundaries’ in 2010, the Drummers of Manipur in 2011 and his performance at the Jamshedpur Carnival in December 2014.

 

His Legacy now is the foundation he has left behind for those who decide it's better to entertain and make people happy rather than to leave huge monuments. 

His swan song would have been on the 22nd of March 2020 when he was invited by Mr. T.V. Narendran, Managing Director, Tata Steel, to perform at Loyola School. But Corona virus  decided that this would not be.

 

He rarely missed an occasion in our family. The last was at our son's wedding in Goa.

 

When he called a fortnight ago to inform me about his situation he qualified it by saying that he had been assured it will be cured. But God needed him to dance with the Angels. 

 

 Farewell, Astad, my dear friend.

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