Said Jayant Kastuar, director, Kathak Kendra, and deputy secretary (dance), Sangeet Natak Akademi: ``His retirement will not be a conventional one. We are trying to formulate a way in which he can be associated with the Kendra's specialised training programme for very senior fellows. We are not treating it as a break in that sense.''

Birju Maharaj, 61, was asked to retire from the Kathak Kendra, a constituent unit of the Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA), by the SNA executive committee. And the doyen Kathak dance, who has been involved with the Kendra right from its inception, was made to retire at the end of this academic year, on May 15.

The decision left Birju Maharaj disappointed and somewhat unsure about life entirely cut off from the Kendra, with which his name had become synonymous.

The move is being seen by some of the dancers, who did not want to be named, as a way of tightening the government's grip on cultural institutions via the Sangeet Natak Akademi. ``The SNA is trying to put their own people in every government run or funded institution. But in a surreptitious manner, making the age-factor a big issue,'' one of them said.However, the director of the Kendra insisted that there was no government interference. ``But as we are completely funded by the government, we are bound by its rules and regulations and answerable to Parliament,'' said Kastuar.

The questions that is being raised is that whether such retirement rules should be stringently applied to artistes, especially those who are active or pioneers in their respective fields.

Said well-known Kathak dancer Uma Sharma, ``It is pity that he had to retire. He could have continued. My own guru, Sambhumaharaj, continued to teach till he was 80. Bureaucratic rules cannot apply to artistes. In art the older you are in experience and age, the better you are as a teacher. There are numerous examples of artistes who have taught till the end of their lives. Of course, then art and culture was not run by the government.''

Other than Birju Maharaj, the Kendra has seven other Kathak gurus -- all accomplished in their own ways. But, apparently, a feeling had gained ground among them that they were being dwarfed by Birju Maharaj's popularity and stature. ``They felt, they could not fully grow in his larger-than-life presence.''

``An institution must stand on its own feet. It cannot remain subservient to an individual. It is better to let the younger generation come up,'' the Kendra director said.

The dancers who are part of the SNA executive committee, like Sonal Mansingh, Yamini Krishnamurthy, are vociferously supporting the retirement rule. ``What's wrong? He can run his own institute. The government rule cannot bend rules for individuals, however exceptional,'' appears to be the line of reasoning.

The other famous Kathak dancer and senior civil servant, Shobana Narayan, also toed the same line, saying, ``If the Kathak Kendra is governed by government rules, then it applies to all across the board. Everyone has to retire, even I have to retire one day. There are other ways of utilising the talents, through special projects.''