A trip to Kerala – A Journey towards Self Understanding

Engulfing myriads of myths and phenomenal standing with hoary past and historic legacy, each Major Indian Dance tradition celebrates its rich histrionic artistry. Indeed, amidst the handful wonders of earth, Indian Classical Dance in its entirety holds a seat of glory in the global website of arts and aesthetics. And when an opportunity arrives to foray into this amazing world of art, we are left speechless by its grandeur. Needless it is to say, that I too underwent an experience of such a delight. The Avanthika National Dance Festival (a two day classical dance fest in Thrissur on 20th and 21st May last) with an aim to promoting the dance traditions as represented by the young minds, showcased the six forms of margi dance styles, including the Sattriya Dance from Assam. I was overwhelmed when the invitation to represent Sattriya tradition came to me. And looking forward to some great experiences of learning and understanding, I stepped into “God’s own Land”, Kerala. The trip was so rewarding and enchanting. The contours of green shades of coconut trees silhouetted against the sea reflected their energy which they seem to derive from the majestic Arabian Sea. A wondrous spectacle! And, one could easily sense the same vibrancy of energy radiating from the dynamic young performers on stage who revealed spontaneously their energy to imbibe, understand, interpret and represent a particular tradition.

The festival began with a formal inauguration by the eminent Kuchipudi exponent Vyjayanthi Kashi and the evening of rhythmic fair commenced with a Mohiniattam performance by Krishnapriya. A backdrop of Lord Nataraja was set up and the Bharatha Temple stood behind the stage creating in a way, an aura of sanctity. And as the dancers entered the stage, they lost themselves in celebration of the aesthetic nuances of their art forms and prepared ways of the freedom of soul, from the worldly attachments. It seemed that even the tree in blossoms, besides the stage, appreciated the sincere moves of the dancer transformed devotee, as it showered petals at certain points of time. What a perfect coordination of a dancer’s emotion and nature’s spontaneous response to it! Lavanya (Bharatanatyam), Sourav (Kathak), Vrata (Kuchipudi), Tanushree (Manipuri), Geetanjali (Odissi), Shree Laxmy (Kuchipudi) ably proved themselves as sincere devotees carrying forth the lamp of their glorious traditions. Each style marked with grace, elegance and power unveiled a world of ecstasy, where the audience savored rasa unceasingly.

The Sattriya recital was placed on the second day. People from nearby areas of Thrissur thronged on that day and I was given an impression that a majority of the crowd was not initiated to Sattriya Dance earlier. Hence, each time we conversed, the coordinator, Shree Laxmy Govardhan’s repeated mention of “a big responsibility” made me feel more diffident. I wonder whether I could do justice to our hallowed tradition of Sattriya, but the audiences’ cheers in profusion overwhelmed me. Undoubtedly, a unique sense of joy and at that moment, I offered salutations to the great saints. I also remembered the maestros of our tradition and my Adhyapak Bayanacharya Ghanakanta Bora for their immense contributions towards the enrichment of our tradition and also for introducing and handing down the age old praxis to the beginners like us. The trip also facilitated in getting introduced to some more young performers, Shri Anil Iyer (Bangalore), Yael Tal (Israel) apart from the other dancers, who came to see the festival. I could even meet Shri Shyamhari Chakra, the noted dance critic on the occasion and had a lively interaction on various facets of Indian arts, music and dance in particular, and the contemporary scenario of the performance standards. Moreover, I had an opportunity to meet one of my old friends, Kapila Venu (Kapila Chechi), a brilliant Kootiyattam dancer and her parents Shri G. Venu and Nirmala Paniker, renowned Kathakali and Mohiniattam exponents. The visit to their institution ‘Natanakairali’ was unforgettable. I saw an Arangetrams (ritual Ranga Pravesh) of Kootiyattam presented by one of the disciples of ‘Natanakairali’. I was told by Kapila Chechi that this is the first examination that a Kootiyattam learner has to face, and on the basis of her performance the Guru will decide whether the disciple should continue with the training. The percussive feats of Mizhavu and the ritual Vedic chants were fascinating. As I was watching the performance, my mind went back to the ‘Asirvada’ ceremony I had, years back, to mark my formal Ranga Pravesh. The transitory state of my mind further oscillated from the present and took me to the Sattra environs amid the ritual of ‘Mahala Diya’. A day long programme is planned on that auspicious occasion and a disciple has to overcome subsequent examinations. The seniors scrutinize him carefully and suggest the necessary steps to be taken for the Sattra monk’s successful journey in the respective field of arts. Back to the present, the Kootiyattam disciple with all her potentials successfully passed her exam and I ran up to the stage to congratulate her and wished her a flourishing career.

With these heartfelt experiences in Thrisssur, we left for Payannur en route to Kasaragod. The Folkland, a premier institution for promotion of art traditions of Kerala, organized an event of cultural exchange on 23rd of May. Lecture Demonstrations followed by an interaction were arranged. The famous Kathakali exponent Sadanam Balakrishnan, Mohiniattam artist Aruna Sunil and this humble learner were the participants of the programme. It was a genuine endeavour to promote Sattriya Dance amongst the Kerala crème de la crème. Sadanam Balakrishnanji and Dr. V. Jayarajan, a noted scholar conducted the programme. After a brief introduction of the Kathakali tradition by Vidwan Sadanamji, Aruna Sunil took the stage. She narrated various aspects of Mohiniattam dance tradition. While they pronounced their viewpoints in Malayalam, I stood like an illiterate before them, yet trying hard to grasp certain meanings of their language. However, the Para –linguistic features - body language and facial expressions- together with the utterance of certain Sanskrit words became instruments of communication. Delivering my viewpoints in English, I tried to give an introduction of Sattriya Dance highlighting its origin and growth, technique and repertoire and subsequent trends of development. The introductory sessions were followed by demonstrations in which three of us tried to show some of the traits of our dance forms starting right from the breath control to the concluding rites. It was amazing to see during the discourse, existence of common features and a sense of bonhomie that bridge these three distinct performing traditions of far north-east and the coastal region. Be it the ideals of Bhakti while rendering the emotional layers of minds in dance or inclusion of elements from authentic texts like the Natyashastra, convergence from diverse points, always exist and in this interweaving, the local flavours imbued with the regional spirit and a larger national interest always persist. So, a complex game of inter-webbing together with polyphony of stylized interpretations governs the performance canvas of these art traditions. The interaction session was animated with the art lovers’ desires of knowing more of the Sattra institutions, its way of life, impact of the British rule, role of women in Sattra establishment, the social significance of Naamghar – cum theatre house etc. Cherishing these moments we moved to Kasaragod, for another concert and the warm response from the audience made me felt blessed.

Nonetheless, this was only a little step. We’ve got more lessons to imbibe for a better understanding of the definition of an artist, his or her relation to the art where a pure assimilation of individuality and social psyche takes place to bequeath an amount of commitment towards the art paving the way for the growth of a responsible interpreter of a tradition and most importantly a thorough aesthetic appraisal of our rich heritage. I often recollect the interaction, “Fraternity Day” organized by The Prasiddha Foundation in collaboration with Kri Foundation, on the occasion of World of Dance Day at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, on April 29th. The dance evening started with performances by the eminent maestros like Yamini Krishnamurthy, Uma Sharma, Geetanjali Lal, Kanaka Srinivasan; it proceeded with outstanding exponents like Pratibha Prahlad, Rama Vaidyanathan etc and finally concluded with young representatives like Arunima Kumar and this humble learner. A kaleidoscope of creative brilliance and imaginative excellence were exhibited translating the literal platform into a temple that has seen through the ages, traditions flourishing with the torch bearers, growing in the hands responsible artisans through sensitive re-interpretations and finally being carried by students like us, who has got miles to go for understanding the art traditions. In the informal interaction, noted art connoisseurs like Leela Venkataraman, Uma Vasudevan (writer), Kamalini Dutt, Avinash Pasricha, Shanta Serbjeet Singh, Arshiya Sethi etc, shared their experiences with each of the dancers and said how a dancers relation to her dance goes beyond the mundane affairs and even the passing away of dear ones hardly deters them from their commitment towards the art. So, to pursue a dance tradition or any art form, the learners have to undergo those paths of liberation that would elevate them from the physical space of ephemeral sensibilities to a plane of inexplicable higher sensitivity.

Reminiscing these wonderful experiences we took our steps back home. And I returned with the solace of mind perceiving some understandings of finer aspects of Indian dance forms nevertheless with a realization of the distance to be covered for a fruitful journey of my life.