ABSTRACT
A dynamic shift in India’s foreign policy occurred with the advent of Indira Gandhi, who took over the reins of the government in January 1966. India had by then been through three wars – the Indo-Pak war of 1947, the Sino-Indian war of October 1962 and the Indo-Pak war of 1965. As P. Terhal writes in the article “Guns or Grain: Macro-Economic Costs of Indian Defence,” what during the pre-Sino-Indian war had been a question of Guns or Grains, during the war, and post that, almost seemed to become guns at the cost of grains. In such a scenario, performing arts naturally took a back seat in India’s foreign policy considerations. Therefore, unlike the previous performances in Seattle World’s Fair and Europe in 1962, which had been sponsored by the Government of India, this time round in 1968, it was only Sol Hurok who sponsored Uday Shankar’s trip to the USA with his troupe in 1968. Ill health suffered by Shankar in December 1966 could not keep the showman in him subdued for long. After a year’s rest, towards the beginning of 1968, he sent for all his troupe members again. He had already started preparations for what would turn out to be his last tour of the USA in 1968. This chapter traces not only Shankar’s last tour of the USA with his troupe, but why and how he took this on. It delves into the passing on the baton to Shanti Bose by virtue of bestowing on him the honour of performing Kartikeya, a favourite of Shankar’s; a study of the items performed, the composition of the troupe members, and their sequence of performances in the cities they toured, till the maestro suffered a cerebral attack in San Diego and the last two performances of the tour had to be cancelled.
