Katradi Method
Yatho hasta, thatho drshti,
Yatho drshti, thatho manah,
Yatho manah, thatho bhāvao,
Yatho bhāvao thatho rasahAs is the hand, so is the gaze,
As is the gaze, so is the mind,
As is the mind, so is the heart,
Only then is there true
empathetic understanding
The origin of the Katradi method lies in a verse from the Abhinaya Darpana, a treatise on Indian dance-theater written in the 12th century. Sangeeta Isvaran, co-founder of Katradi, learnt this verse as a child as part of her Bharatanatyam (Indian classical dance-theater) training.
This precept is practiced in Bharatanatyam from the most basic exercises to the most complex choreographies. Twenty years later she realized the implications that this verse carried for community development.
You can hear more about how Katradi was conceived at Sangeeta Isvaran's TEDx Talk.
Distilling the essence of this verse: the body and the senses, the mind, the heart and our intuition all have a part to play in achieving empathy. Isvaran realized that this ideology approaches empathetic understanding in a unique way. For example, society today places emphasis on the intellectual approach: many school systems focus on it to the exclusion of all other types of understanding. But the root of conflict, abuse and discrimination, is not a rational one. It is usually sensory, emotional and intuitive factors that trigger violence.
This laid the foundation of the Katradi method which is based on five mediums of understanding: physical, sensory, intellectual, emotional and intuitive. This is not just a theoretical construct; each module of Katradi design is a blend of activities that work through these five mediums of understanding.
Combining empathy and high levels of positivity Katradi creates sustainable, deep-rooted transformation.
