Roshan Vajifdar

🪔 About

Roshan Vajifdar Ghose (1930-2020) was a renowned Indian classical dancer, celebrated as one of the legendary Vajifdar sisters who defied Parsi community norms to pursue Indian classical dance. Her initiation into dance began at age seven, primarily under the tutelage of her eldest sister, Shirin Vajifdar, who also trained her in multiple classical forms including Kathak, Bharatanatyam, Manipuri, Kathakali, and Mohiniattam. Roshan, however, found her deepest connection with Bharatanatyam, which became her specialty. She received a national scholarship in Bharatanatyam and further honed her skills at the Indian Institute of Fine Arts, Madras, under Guru Chokkalingam Pillai, a descendant of the Pandanallur School. She also trained under Kitappa Pillai in Bangalore for seven years. Roshan Vajifdar gave her arangetram in 1955 and performed extensively across India and internationally, often alongside her sisters Shirin and Khurshid. The Vajifdar sisters were part of Indian cultural exchange programs to countries like Ceylon, China, Russia, Mongolia, and East Germany in the 1950s. Roshan was also famously the muse for Russian painter Svetoslav Roerich, who created life-size paintings of her during her time in Bangalore. After her marriage to Dr. Hiranmoy Ghosh in 1960, her husband managed her performances, including a well-received 90-minute recital based on the Gita Govinda. She continued performing until 1992 and gave lecture demonstrations until 2000. Later in life, she moved to Kodaikanal, where she taught dance at the Kodai International School from 1992 to 2007 and at Presentation Convent. She passed away in December 2020 at the age of 90. Awards & Honours: National Scholarship in Bharatanatyam.