We recently connected with Geeta DnB Magnets and have shared our conversation below.
Geeta , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
So as you know from our Youtube Channel : DnB Magnets Link- https://www.youtube.com/dnbmagnets ; we try to tackle the different topics or current issues. There are actually few of our videos :
1. “Dum Maro Dum” Our video for Halloween and Red Ribbon Week from October 2023. The entire video has subtitles. It is a form of a skit that portrays pressing issues such as smoking, drugs, etc. in everyone’s life. Four situations are uniquely blended as Halloween themes. In this video, we have attempted to show the transformation of healthy lives by drugs and narcotics into a hell of dejection. The purpose of creating this video is to generate an awareness amongst the people and especially future generation. So I would strongly suggest to visit our channel and check out this video. https://youtu.be/ltRnPbq086M?si=eACexYLhPeoJkWWH
The making of this video was possible because of all of our DnB family members – Aakriti, Ahaan, Anjali, Arin , Geeta, Kristen, Kunal, Naren, Pulkit, Sanjoy, Sejal, Shailesh, Shikha, Shreekant, Smita, Tanvi, Vivek K, Vivek S.
2. “O re Piya” this video was published on the Earth’s day in April 2022. This video is beautifully photographed and recorded to capture the beauty of Nature. The video starts with a note “what are the chances of having life on any of these planets and we live on one.. ” then the video continues to show beauty of Four seasons on our planet and ends with a message “let’s keep our Earth beautiful.. celebrate Earth day every day!” . This video has subtitles to it so it’s easier to understand the flow of song even though it is in Hindi. We tried to create environmental awareness within the masses. You can find this video on the link below-
https://youtu.be/-FeY9r2w6ks?si=uYB6hXFLrpjonq63
3. “Signs of Dance” This video was published on International Sign Language day Sep 23 2022 to highlight the importance of Sign Language and how a sign language is used in any form of Dance. The Introduction of this video is performed by Katelyn, who explains the importance of Sign Language through sign language. I am deeply appreciative of her help! Later I narrate and teach 10 One Hand / Two Hand gestures used in an Indian classical dance form. The concept of this video came to my mind when I saw a deaf person dancing. Art is for everyone and everyone should be included to enjoy any form of Art! This video can be found at this link –
https://youtu.be/jwSa9HaZD3g?si=CQWcDNNWluIiL77q
4.”Today’s Woman” : This video involves DnB Magnets’ viewers’ perspective on today’s situation of a woman in society. I am really thankful for those who participated in this video on the occasion of Woman’s History Month. This video revolves around the present condition of a woman in the society and how the real success can be achieved by women and everyone.
The link to this video is found here-
https://youtu.be/edGfzZwtaiE?si=U0hrcQMmKy_9fmMf
5. “World Listening Day” : A famous Bollywood song is featured in this video. This song is sung by our very own lead male singer Subhash Bellare. The video has subtitles and has a very beautiful meaning to the lyrics. Listening is an Art…we can listen to: Nature, Heart, Mind, Music, Space…..and list continues
One can listen to whatever they want but it’s up to us what others are listening from us..so be thoughtful, empathetic and sensitive to others. Link to this video can be found below:
https://youtu.be/VJeQUTRfbyw?si=G5DtDWnnM34gq_hl
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
By profession, I am an engineer working in a renowned firm and all other members of my team DnB Magnets are also working as engineers and/or retired from reputed firms. All have a basic instinct of enjoying music and extracting happiness through moves, groves and singing. The pandemic, gave all of us a little extra time to reflect and pursue what we like.
I , thus came up with an idea of capturing all the beautiful songs, dances we have been performing in the form of digital library in our YouTube channel. Our viewers like the way we put any video in front of them , they like the story we try to tell or some unique messages we try to convey through our performances. I urge all the readers to go to our channel , watch our various videos and subscribe & share!!
I also teach and choreograph Bollywood and Bharatnatyam dance over weekends. Our students get a chance to participate in cultural events as well as they can showcase their talent on our YouTube channel. We also perform at different events locally and/ or internationally. People can reach us at nalandapgh@gmail.com or on our social media profiles:
https://www.youtube.com/dnbmagnets
https://www.instagram.com/dnbmagnets/
https://www.facebook.com/gita.shirvalkar
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I think Resilience and Self-belief are the only two words that explain my journey.
When I first started this channel, I tried to gather people around me, it was a tough ride, no one was ready to commit; but now everyone really enjoys and brings new ideas to the table.
When we tell people to subscribe , they always think that subscribing involves money. This is one of our biggest challenges. We want people to know that YouTube subscription is absolutely free.
Since everybody is in different city and time zone; creating a new video is additionally challenging because we have to communicate the concept to everyone, get them to record their performance and share it in time to edit and create the final video in time for release. It is not only time consuming; but patience testing.
When we put in a lot of effort in compiling a video and do not get expected response, it is very disappointing and everyone loses faith easily; but I have to stand like a lighthouse to show them light.
At one point, post covid, everyone got busy with the work schedules and we thought that this channel is not growing; but we stood strong together and brought back our urge to be creative. Few people like Jyotsna, who is a professional director in the movie industry, provide constant encouragement and feedback. This is very motivating.
DnB Magnets team is now happy to have more than 500 subscribers and more than 50K views and we pledge all the readers to please visit our channel and show your support through subscribing. Thank you and any suggestion is welcome!
https://youtu.be/cTJUYwwgNnM?si=73PzQ6zB5pwODRRJ
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Creative fusion Artists can take liberty to think about any social issue or current situations and mix it with our own creative concepts such songs/music/skits, etc. We use artistic license to fuse two completely different types of music. e.g. this dance below is traditionally a Kathak (North Indian Classical Dance) piece but I have performed it in Odissi (Eastern Indian Classical Dance) style.
https://youtu.be/e2G53PWFOrA?si=qfNUTXzvFVDpZaDk
Applause and Comments..
For live performances- just after the performance: when audience can’t stop clapping and cheering for you, you feel that energy and wave of happiness, that’s the most favorite form of sound an artist can experience! That admiration is really boosting.
When audience meet and tell you in person that “the performance was awesome, we really liked it” that is the biggest reward for an artist.
For recorded performances- comments, views and shares make a big difference for an artist to believe in themselves and to continue their journey as a creator. Recorded performances include a lot of work in editing, makeup, lights, props etc. in addition to choreography and performance. Editing takes a lot of time especially to make it flawless with lip-sync. We always try to take an extra step and provide subtitles to all our videos so viewers won’t feel left out and they would understand what’s going on in the video.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.youtube.com/dnbmagnets
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dnbmagnets/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gita.shirvalkar
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geetashirvalkar
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/dnbmagnets
- Other: nalandapgh@gmail.com
Image Credits
All pics are taken by: DnB Magnets