Lucknow: The city of Lucknow has its own unique place in the hearts of people. The mesmerising liveliness of the city and the streets bustling with noise and joy are all representative of what makes Lucknow a remarkable place. Dastangoi artist Pragya Sharma feels proud to be called a Lucknowi. She is the first female Dastangoi artist from Uttar Pradesh. Let’s read how she strings all the beautiful words together and transforms them into a magnificent art of storytelling. 

Who is Pragya Sharma?

Pragya Sharma is a resident of Old Hyderabad, Lucknow. She did her schooling from Mount Carmel School and Jaipuria School. After securing admission in IT College, she completed had graduation and postgraduation in Economics. 

Pragya’s father, Dr VP Sharma is a scientist, and her mother, Saurabh Sharma is a psychologist. Pragya also holds a PhD degree in Environmental Economics from Ambedkar University. She wrote her thesis on research she did on groundwater for 4 years. 

Pragya Sharma’s journey 

In the year 2020, Pragya secured a job in the National Green Tribunal, Lucknow. During the lockdown, when her home became her workplace, she started experiencing some changes in her body. Migraines became a regular issue and that directly led to increased stress. 

Around the same time, Pragya met the famous Dastangoi artist Himanshu Vajpayee. He gave her some books for research on Jhansi Ki Rani to prepare a script for a performance. The two worked together to prepare the final script. Himanshu encouraged her to perform with him on stage together, and Pragya saw it as a good opportunity to release her stress. She dedicated three months for the recital practice. 

Brother’s role

Pragya Sharma shares that years ago, she had watched Himanshu Vajpayee and Ankit Saxena’s performance, and it left a great impact on her. Her brother, Amit Sharma, now living in the US, had first introduced her to the art of Dastangoi. Pragya had never before imagined creating a career in the field but when Amit, a close friend of Himanshu, urged her to explore the art form, it left quite a good impression on her. 

A new career

Being from Lucknow herself, Pragya understands the nuances and intricacies that come with the Lucknowi accent. She is well aware about how delicately she must handle the language as it is one of the features of the city that sets it apart. She mentions that she grew up in an environment where people from all backgrounds and religion lived in harmony. The elders in her community always taught her to use her words wisely. 

Pragya beams with gratitude while sharing the positive influence the community had on her. Little lessons on the use of language from the neighbours made her appreciate her city more. She gave her first stage performance in the year 2021 with the Jhansi Ki Rani script.

Facing challenges

Pragya performs in various parts of the country and overseas with Himanshu Vajpayee. However, choosing to make a career in Dastangoi was not an easy decision she made for herself. She comes from a highly educated family; both her parents are renowned professionals. When she expressed her desire to continue doing Dastangoi more than just a hobby, her parents were slightly repelled by the idea. 

Fortunately, her parents were understanding and allowed her to pursue a career that she wanted. She left her job in the year 2022, and today works as a fulltime Dastangoi artist. So far, she has done approximately 100 shows in India and abroad. 

Receiving praise

Pragya has only been performing for two years, but these years have taught her great life lessons. Pragya and Himanshu were invited to perform at the festival of National Mission for Clean Ganga event organized by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

During one of the ‘Mann Ki Baat’ speeches of PM Narendra Modi, he congratulated both Pragya and Himanshu for the exceptional performance. Pragya feels grateful that Dastangoi is receiving the appreciation it deserves and she wishes to continue her journey with this beautiful art form of storytelling.