My Journey : A Tale of Two Births

My Journey : A Tale of Two Births is the unputdownable saga of the two avatars of the eminent Odissi danseuse Ileana Citaristi. Growing up in the times of hippie culture, among the flower children of the seventies, Ileana Citaristi’s life is a fascinating story of a rebellious soul which migrates across continents, from the small town of Bergamo in the mountainous ranges of north Italy to bustling Cuttack on the east coast of India.

In this autobiography, Ileana recounts her journey, going back in time to the sixties, in her forest avatar, doing it all, from a rebellious teenager to acting in theatre, from researching in Western psychoanalysis of Carl Gustav Jung to Tibetan mandala, from hitch-hiking across a pre-Taliban Kabul to entering India and learning Kathakali in Kerala, from being high on LSD to turning vegetarian, and finally metamorphosing from a bohemian foreigner to a disciplined Indianized shishya.

In the second avatar she takes a gigantic leap of faith, when she embraces an Alien land and language as her own and surrenders everything at the feet of her Guru, Shri Kelucharan Mohapatra, to learn the ancient art form of Odissi, she is able to give shape to the inner strivings of her soul. (jacket)