Amidst a flurry of preparations for the Commonwealth Poetry Showcase, I find myself teary eyed by the devastating imagery of women’s voices from Nigeria –the country designated to me for a performance.
The raw and ravaged images cascade forth - baby brides , bloodied diapers, a polygamous moon and the Mahapralaya of the final horizon. Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka and his colleagues have given voice to this African country’s beauty and squalor. For those of us who know of Nigeria as the source of email scams, the imaginative words and determination of Soyinka, Achebe and others comes as a gorgeous gift.
I have just completed a lengthy article on the valid presence of contemporary Indian dance for a publication. While writing the piece, I was torn between the struggle of the young artistic dance makers and their constant collision with the smug condescension of the classical community who conveniently call their work “contemporary” . While India’s modern dance remains an urban activity, pushed into a marginal hole for the elitists who are impatient with the linearity and posturing of classical dance today, the new dance makers are also guilty of convoluted hyperbole and twisted tongues in their description of their work. Just read through some of the new vocabulary that precedes these contemporary dances and you will be left confused with the gratuitous and self indulgent allusions that never manifest on stage. It is a tough call to make but my vote is for contemporary dance and its further development in India.
With this statement, I also welcome two dance festivals INTERFACE by Sapphire /Sudarshan in Kolkatta and IGNITE by Gati/Anusha in New Delhi. Both events are finally focusing exclusively on assessing contemporary dance in India and the diaspora. One is happening as I write this and another in November. The points of concern as those that were raised by PULSE editor in London, Sanjeevini Dutta. After the third session of Unlocking Creativity (UC3) she has felt that the signature markers for South Asian/Indian contemporary dance are yet to evolve. Unlike Taiwan’s Cloud Gate Theatre which has synthesized Chinese philosophy into a seamless blurring of their modern performances, South Asian contemporary dance is still too enamoured with the western model that is easily available for training. However, with most Indian dancers trained for longer periods in their classical dance forms, this hurried modern training never quite ‘digests’ easily into a complete and convincing vocabulary. Only time will tell.
Until then, I congratulate Anusha, Sudarshan and all those bright men and women who continue despite the state ignoring them while western presenters have finally woken up to the potential excitement and thrill of modern India through the words of Daksha Sheth, Tanusree Shankar, Sharmila Biswas (neo classical) and Veenapani Chawla. For the first time, the classical dance component with Malavika Sarukkai, Madhavi Mudgal and Alarmel Valli find themselves in the minority.
Congratulations to the luminous Madhavi Mudgal for the glorious tribute in the New York Times for her artistry. Bravo to all our superb dancers and actors who work tirelessly to perfect their craft and remind others that it is these soft skills that distinguish us in a world of machine and raw power.
Enjoy.. sweat.. drink.. eat.. laugh.. DANCE
Monday, September 20, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
God is gender neutral
God and I - Expresso Saturday September 11, 2010
For Anita R Ratnam dance is her prayer
What are your spiritual beliefs?
I pray, but not on a regular basis. As a dancer, I worship
my body and treat it as my temple. It is with daily cleansing, breathing, exercise, sweat and hard work that I practice the ritual and religion of life. I worship through dance.
I try to use prana as taught by healers, my yoga teacher of 15 years, Sri Nandakumar and my gurus, to listen to my atma and protect the bubble of laughter that is inside of me.
What is your understanding of God?
God is gender neutral. God lives in my 95-year-old grandmother's smile and my mother's luminous eyes that stare back at me from a photograph hung on a wall. God can be kind and cruel and is not responsible for everything that happens on earth.
What are your spiritual practices?
I undertake a two week liquid cleanse or a weekend fast to cleanse myself. I try to watch my dreams and note them down because I am most creative at night. I rise at 5am and visit my home puja space where I read, think and argue with Krishna who smiles back at me. Like dance, God is not just a good friend but also a lifelong companion who will see you through all your highs and lows.
Do you visit any pilgrimage place?
I visit my ancestral village in Tirukurungudi. The place has a magnificent Vishnu shrine and is home to the only all female theatre troupe in the country. It is also the subject of my PhD thesis. Given a choice, I would visit temples daily, sit in a corner and absorb centuries of civilisation through the stories of the stones.
For Anita R Ratnam dance is her prayer
What are your spiritual beliefs?
I pray, but not on a regular basis. As a dancer, I worship
my body and treat it as my temple. It is with daily cleansing, breathing, exercise, sweat and hard work that I practice the ritual and religion of life. I worship through dance.
I try to use prana as taught by healers, my yoga teacher of 15 years, Sri Nandakumar and my gurus, to listen to my atma and protect the bubble of laughter that is inside of me.
What is your understanding of God?
God is gender neutral. God lives in my 95-year-old grandmother's smile and my mother's luminous eyes that stare back at me from a photograph hung on a wall. God can be kind and cruel and is not responsible for everything that happens on earth.
What are your spiritual practices?
I undertake a two week liquid cleanse or a weekend fast to cleanse myself. I try to watch my dreams and note them down because I am most creative at night. I rise at 5am and visit my home puja space where I read, think and argue with Krishna who smiles back at me. Like dance, God is not just a good friend but also a lifelong companion who will see you through all your highs and lows.
Do you visit any pilgrimage place?
I visit my ancestral village in Tirukurungudi. The place has a magnificent Vishnu shrine and is home to the only all female theatre troupe in the country. It is also the subject of my PhD thesis. Given a choice, I would visit temples daily, sit in a corner and absorb centuries of civilisation through the stories of the stones.
Friday, September 10, 2010
A Silent Rebel Against Extremism
The gritty Leela Samson has proved all those who doubted her
wrong after assuming the top spot at Kalakshetra. Now also at
the helm of other cultural bodies, Anita R Ratnam finds she
has her work cut out for her All around me were t r admiring
whispers about her talent. Also swirling r overhead were the s
comments of caste and r community. "She is not a one of us, so
how can she r truly understand", was an oft repeated phrase, t
something that Samson has collided against
When the news of Sangeet Natak Akademi's new chair person was
announced last month, it would have hardly made a ripple and
would have possibly been buried on page six of the daily paper
if not for the individual who had been selected for the
position -Leela Samson. For 40 years, this quiet and
determined woman has stayed the course and followed her
passion -with grit and grace. In her 60th year, she assumes a
position that is both powerful and crucial for India's image
in the world of changing tastes and increasing cultural
incoherence.
The reader may ask, "What is the Sangeet Natak Akademi?" It is
India's premier apex cultural body that was established in
1953 by the first President of the country, Dr Rajendra Prasad
in New Delhi's Parliament House.
Now registered as a society, the Akademi, widely referred to
as SNA, has been headed by cultural and political giants like
Indira Gandhi, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Girish Karnad, KPS
Menon and Bhupen Hazarika.
The more pressing question on many minds is "Why was Leela
Samson chosen to head this prestigious institution?" Samson's
pedigree may not resemble that of a typical bureaucrat, but
her distinguished career has pushed her step by careful step
to this moment. Her Facebook profile photo shows a relaxed
graying woman embracing her two dogs who loiter in and out of
her office on the Kalakshetra campus; a thoughtful speaker, an
insightful writer who wrote a monthly column, The Still Point,
in New Delhi's First City for almost 10 years, a beautifully
controlled dancer and a silent rebel against all kinds of
extremism, Samson is now in the proverbial hot seat. The last
woman head of the SNA was dancer Sonal Mansingh who was unable
to complete her five-year term during the BJP government. That
another dancer, and that too, a woman would once again be
appointed as the head of this most coveted cultural `gaddi'
came as a surprise to many. But upon closer inspection, we
learn that Leela Samson was always someone who was regarded
very highly by the corridors of power. A former guru of
Priyanka Gandhi, Samson has distinguished herself as an
excellent teacher during her 30 years in New Delhi. Her
students testify to her open-minded training methods and many
like Justin, McCarthy, Navtej Johar, Anusha Lal, Aditi Rao and
Anusha Subramanyam have distinguished themselves as classical
and contemporary dancers.
Leela Samson left Kalakshetra for New Delhi in 1975, the same
year I joined the academy for my Post Graduate Diploma in
Dance.
All around me were admiring whispers about her talent and
exceptional performance ability. Also swirling overhead were
the comments of caste and community. "She is not one of us, so
how can she truly understand", was an oft-repeated phrase,
something that Samson has collided against through the years.
Instead of buckling under these innuendos, she has used her
Judeo-Christian back ground to give her both objectivity and
clarity about Bharatanatyam rather than get ensnared by the
semantics and infighting that c often plagues the classical
community. At a recent conference in north America, I found s
her chafing at what has become de rigueur c now, of pitting
her guru Rukmini Devi against celebrated dancer Balasaraswati.
A multiple award winner at the national c and regional levels,
Leela was a prime student of founder Rukmini Devi Arundale and
I toured with the Kalakshetra troupe as one of the principal
dancers for many years. Her s own aesthetic arc has revealed
an austere r composure in her dancing and a surprisingly
eclectic `optic' in her attitude to the arts. As f president
of the Kalakshetra Foundation from 2005, she has quietly
overseen a trans t formation of this seminal cultural space
into a crucible for vibrant cross-pollination of the
contemporary alongside the classical. Festivals, works in
progress, modern Tamizh the r atre, discussions on classical
and contempo s rary music, restoring musical legend MS
Subbalakshmi's piano are only some of the a projects she has
green lighted. Currently the l famous Koothambalam theatre at
Kalakshet a ra is being renovated with upgraded lighting I and
sound systems for the upcoming December season. i Also holding
the position as head of the i South Zone Cultural Centre,
which monitors folk and non-classical cultural activities in
all the southern states, Leela now holds a third r and most
prestigious baton as numero uno of i the SNA. As the 12th
chairperson of this national body, she will oversee the manage
i ment of a large budget from the Human c Resources Ministry
that dispenses grants, scholarships and support in the areas
of a dance, music, theatre, tribal, folk, ritual/tra t
ditional arts and puppetry. The SNA also organises festivals,
workshops and has sepa t rate departments for publication and
docu t mentation as well as a library and a proposed museum of
the performing arts in New Delhi. o She will have to manage
the multiple activi s ties of the regional and zonal centres
of Kathak, Koodiyattam, Chhau and Sattriya dance styles. She
will supervise the animated discussions of the annual SNA
awards which are the most prestigious arts honours in India.
The many SNA committees delegated to the various branches of
the performing arts are comprised of artistes and not
bureaucrats.
Indian performing arts were always the shining international
ambassadors for a country seemingly in the perennial grip of
poverty and want. Maharajas and classical dancers were our
poster boys and girls until corporate India and Bollywood
burst onto the millennium scene. Today, India and all things
Indian is the buzzword around the world.
Young dancers and musicians are not seeking state sponsorship,
having cracked the corporate need for constantly changing
mindnumbing tamashas. There are fewer and fewer of the next
generation willing to commit to a life in dance and music with
monetary returns remaining a distant reality. How will the SNA
grapple with the increasing mediocrity in the arts? How will
it broaden its horizons to accommodate the present global
reality of technology and the popularity of self-published
bloggers, media managers and You Tube podcasts? Bharatanatyam
and Kathak, now global dance forms, have found excellent
practitioners outside India and dance academia are flourishing
outside our shores.
Infrastructure for India's performing arts is dismal. Lack of
trained managers, agents, impressarios, interlocutors,
writers, critics, echnical personnel, a performance network,
ehearsal spaces -the list goes on. Leela Samson has her hands
full.
While cultural appointments are not egarded as prestigious
postings by the Delhi bureaucrats, for a dancer to be in the
driver's eat of such a large cultural institution has equired
patience and resilience.
Leela Samson has faced controversy while ssuming her current
position at Kalakshet a. She will be severely tested again at
the SNA. How will she juggle her appointment book in two
cities? In the field of culture, the wo remaining culture
postings in India are Chairman of the ICCR (Indian Council for
Cultural Relations) which is Karan Singh's portfolio and head
of the IGNCA (Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts)
which Kap la Vatsyayan now holds. Then the next step -a Rajya
Sabha seat.
One fact is certain. Leela Samson's new esponsibility will
severely curb her perform ng life. Her recent performance at
Mumbai's NCPA may be one of the last we see of this ntelligent
and dignified dancer. Her two suc essful ensemble productions
Spanda and Charisnu are already inter nationally pplauded and
perhaps her role as dance men or and choreographer may widen.
At an age when many divas stubbornly cling onto cen re stage,
Samson finds herself making a imely and graceful segue into an
eminent position of responsibility, and simultane usly
becoming the single most powerful per on on India's cultural
map.
wrong after assuming the top spot at Kalakshetra. Now also at
the helm of other cultural bodies, Anita R Ratnam finds she
has her work cut out for her All around me were t r admiring
whispers about her talent. Also swirling r overhead were the s
comments of caste and r community. "She is not a one of us, so
how can she r truly understand", was an oft repeated phrase, t
something that Samson has collided against
When the news of Sangeet Natak Akademi's new chair person was
announced last month, it would have hardly made a ripple and
would have possibly been buried on page six of the daily paper
if not for the individual who had been selected for the
position -Leela Samson. For 40 years, this quiet and
determined woman has stayed the course and followed her
passion -with grit and grace. In her 60th year, she assumes a
position that is both powerful and crucial for India's image
in the world of changing tastes and increasing cultural
incoherence.
The reader may ask, "What is the Sangeet Natak Akademi?" It is
India's premier apex cultural body that was established in
1953 by the first President of the country, Dr Rajendra Prasad
in New Delhi's Parliament House.
Now registered as a society, the Akademi, widely referred to
as SNA, has been headed by cultural and political giants like
Indira Gandhi, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Girish Karnad, KPS
Menon and Bhupen Hazarika.
The more pressing question on many minds is "Why was Leela
Samson chosen to head this prestigious institution?" Samson's
pedigree may not resemble that of a typical bureaucrat, but
her distinguished career has pushed her step by careful step
to this moment. Her Facebook profile photo shows a relaxed
graying woman embracing her two dogs who loiter in and out of
her office on the Kalakshetra campus; a thoughtful speaker, an
insightful writer who wrote a monthly column, The Still Point,
in New Delhi's First City for almost 10 years, a beautifully
controlled dancer and a silent rebel against all kinds of
extremism, Samson is now in the proverbial hot seat. The last
woman head of the SNA was dancer Sonal Mansingh who was unable
to complete her five-year term during the BJP government. That
another dancer, and that too, a woman would once again be
appointed as the head of this most coveted cultural `gaddi'
came as a surprise to many. But upon closer inspection, we
learn that Leela Samson was always someone who was regarded
very highly by the corridors of power. A former guru of
Priyanka Gandhi, Samson has distinguished herself as an
excellent teacher during her 30 years in New Delhi. Her
students testify to her open-minded training methods and many
like Justin, McCarthy, Navtej Johar, Anusha Lal, Aditi Rao and
Anusha Subramanyam have distinguished themselves as classical
and contemporary dancers.
Leela Samson left Kalakshetra for New Delhi in 1975, the same
year I joined the academy for my Post Graduate Diploma in
Dance.
All around me were admiring whispers about her talent and
exceptional performance ability. Also swirling overhead were
the comments of caste and community. "She is not one of us, so
how can she truly understand", was an oft-repeated phrase,
something that Samson has collided against through the years.
Instead of buckling under these innuendos, she has used her
Judeo-Christian back ground to give her both objectivity and
clarity about Bharatanatyam rather than get ensnared by the
semantics and infighting that c often plagues the classical
community. At a recent conference in north America, I found s
her chafing at what has become de rigueur c now, of pitting
her guru Rukmini Devi against celebrated dancer Balasaraswati.
A multiple award winner at the national c and regional levels,
Leela was a prime student of founder Rukmini Devi Arundale and
I toured with the Kalakshetra troupe as one of the principal
dancers for many years. Her s own aesthetic arc has revealed
an austere r composure in her dancing and a surprisingly
eclectic `optic' in her attitude to the arts. As f president
of the Kalakshetra Foundation from 2005, she has quietly
overseen a trans t formation of this seminal cultural space
into a crucible for vibrant cross-pollination of the
contemporary alongside the classical. Festivals, works in
progress, modern Tamizh the r atre, discussions on classical
and contempo s rary music, restoring musical legend MS
Subbalakshmi's piano are only some of the a projects she has
green lighted. Currently the l famous Koothambalam theatre at
Kalakshet a ra is being renovated with upgraded lighting I and
sound systems for the upcoming December season. i Also holding
the position as head of the i South Zone Cultural Centre,
which monitors folk and non-classical cultural activities in
all the southern states, Leela now holds a third r and most
prestigious baton as numero uno of i the SNA. As the 12th
chairperson of this national body, she will oversee the manage
i ment of a large budget from the Human c Resources Ministry
that dispenses grants, scholarships and support in the areas
of a dance, music, theatre, tribal, folk, ritual/tra t
ditional arts and puppetry. The SNA also organises festivals,
workshops and has sepa t rate departments for publication and
docu t mentation as well as a library and a proposed museum of
the performing arts in New Delhi. o She will have to manage
the multiple activi s ties of the regional and zonal centres
of Kathak, Koodiyattam, Chhau and Sattriya dance styles. She
will supervise the animated discussions of the annual SNA
awards which are the most prestigious arts honours in India.
The many SNA committees delegated to the various branches of
the performing arts are comprised of artistes and not
bureaucrats.
Indian performing arts were always the shining international
ambassadors for a country seemingly in the perennial grip of
poverty and want. Maharajas and classical dancers were our
poster boys and girls until corporate India and Bollywood
burst onto the millennium scene. Today, India and all things
Indian is the buzzword around the world.
Young dancers and musicians are not seeking state sponsorship,
having cracked the corporate need for constantly changing
mindnumbing tamashas. There are fewer and fewer of the next
generation willing to commit to a life in dance and music with
monetary returns remaining a distant reality. How will the SNA
grapple with the increasing mediocrity in the arts? How will
it broaden its horizons to accommodate the present global
reality of technology and the popularity of self-published
bloggers, media managers and You Tube podcasts? Bharatanatyam
and Kathak, now global dance forms, have found excellent
practitioners outside India and dance academia are flourishing
outside our shores.
Infrastructure for India's performing arts is dismal. Lack of
trained managers, agents, impressarios, interlocutors,
writers, critics, echnical personnel, a performance network,
ehearsal spaces -the list goes on. Leela Samson has her hands
full.
While cultural appointments are not egarded as prestigious
postings by the Delhi bureaucrats, for a dancer to be in the
driver's eat of such a large cultural institution has equired
patience and resilience.
Leela Samson has faced controversy while ssuming her current
position at Kalakshet a. She will be severely tested again at
the SNA. How will she juggle her appointment book in two
cities? In the field of culture, the wo remaining culture
postings in India are Chairman of the ICCR (Indian Council for
Cultural Relations) which is Karan Singh's portfolio and head
of the IGNCA (Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts)
which Kap la Vatsyayan now holds. Then the next step -a Rajya
Sabha seat.
One fact is certain. Leela Samson's new esponsibility will
severely curb her perform ng life. Her recent performance at
Mumbai's NCPA may be one of the last we see of this ntelligent
and dignified dancer. Her two suc essful ensemble productions
Spanda and Charisnu are already inter nationally pplauded and
perhaps her role as dance men or and choreographer may widen.
At an age when many divas stubbornly cling onto cen re stage,
Samson finds herself making a imely and graceful segue into an
eminent position of responsibility, and simultane usly
becoming the single most powerful per on on India's cultural
map.
Monday, May 24, 2010
'Happiness comes after unhappiness'
God is in the small things. In the smile of a new-born baby and in the gaze of my grandmother whose face is lined with a smile. I can’t see God everywhere. I feel Her in spaces small and large.
What stops us from being sexy, as well as religious; materialistic, as well as spiritual; happy, as well as sad? We’ve forgotten that our Gods, Rama and Krishna, were princes and wealthy. They lived in luxury and their women, Sita, Kausalya, and Urmila were regal. Jewels, personal maids, expensive wardrobes and luxe living surrounded them. Ayodhya was a kingdom encouraging masculinity and war; Mithila, Sita’s home, encouraged education, world philosophy and equality between the sexes.
We can hold on to faith and still live in luxury. We have a warped notion of spirituality and truth as being states of deprivation. In a society that’s aspirational, like middle-class India, one is seemingly from the West (material wealth) and the other homegrown (spirituality). We’re caught in this mire and coagulated confusion.
Hanuman on my crotch makes me uncomfortable. Maybe Durga on my kurta or my sari pallu works for me. My body is my personal space and even God doesn’t need to validate my sexuality. To be open to adventure, to hold on to the bubble of laughter; never to despair and to remember anger and darkness — these are emotions cut from the same cloth from which beauty and harmony are woven. To be conscious of my breath and the feel of my feet on the pavement anywhere in the world.
To be happy means that one has to also experience unhappiness. I can’t be happy anywhere like the yogis and gurus. I need my home, room, garden and rhythm to find my inner flame. I’m easily distracted and need to consciously focus and withdraw from external stimuli to remember that I have every right to be happy every minute of my life.
Times of India, May 14, 2010
What stops us from being sexy, as well as religious; materialistic, as well as spiritual; happy, as well as sad? We’ve forgotten that our Gods, Rama and Krishna, were princes and wealthy. They lived in luxury and their women, Sita, Kausalya, and Urmila were regal. Jewels, personal maids, expensive wardrobes and luxe living surrounded them. Ayodhya was a kingdom encouraging masculinity and war; Mithila, Sita’s home, encouraged education, world philosophy and equality between the sexes.
We can hold on to faith and still live in luxury. We have a warped notion of spirituality and truth as being states of deprivation. In a society that’s aspirational, like middle-class India, one is seemingly from the West (material wealth) and the other homegrown (spirituality). We’re caught in this mire and coagulated confusion.
Hanuman on my crotch makes me uncomfortable. Maybe Durga on my kurta or my sari pallu works for me. My body is my personal space and even God doesn’t need to validate my sexuality. To be open to adventure, to hold on to the bubble of laughter; never to despair and to remember anger and darkness — these are emotions cut from the same cloth from which beauty and harmony are woven. To be conscious of my breath and the feel of my feet on the pavement anywhere in the world.
To be happy means that one has to also experience unhappiness. I can’t be happy anywhere like the yogis and gurus. I need my home, room, garden and rhythm to find my inner flame. I’m easily distracted and need to consciously focus and withdraw from external stimuli to remember that I have every right to be happy every minute of my life.
Times of India, May 14, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Sisters of Imelda
What comes to mind when you think of the Phillipines? President Marcos of course. More precisely, Imelda Marcos and her famous penchant for extravagant retail therapy. I had a chance to meet a Marcos sibling and 14 of her very powerful friends during their recent tour of South India. The head of the country’s departments of Ballet, Music, publishing, education, textile design, museums and real estate were on a two week tour of South India. Mostly women and very very ‘uppah’ class, the luxury tour took them to temples, ayurvedic resorts, textile weaving units- all along staying inside their five star membranes.
Their last two days brought them to Chennai and I had been requested three months in advance to be their window to the city. I had been repeatedly warned not to take them to any plebian outlet since their tastes were “very very high end”. With a prepared list of shops to help our local economy, I met them at the lobby of a local five star hotel. Immediately, all fifteen faces had one mantra on their lips. “Shop. We want to shop! Can we hit the stores now?”
Aah! The magic of retail therapy for women throughout the world. And shop they did. Up and down Khader Nawaz Khan Road, buying all that fit their petite frames. I heard OOHS and AAHS from fitting rooms and the plastic was repeatedly swiped in store after store. A private showing of antique jewellery was another source of much amazement and bargaining. Lunch at Amethyst turned out to be another spree for gifts and all the store owners were left reeling in delight with the Asian typhoon that swept through their shops. Incidentally, Irene Marcos was the most frugal, belying all expectations of her famous mother.
The group spoke about the vanishing of traditional Phillipine textiles and their cultural nuances with globalization and marveled at how Indian designers managed to navigate the fine lines of commerce and market demands. The enormous butterfly shoulders of their national costume, popularized by Imelda Marcos, had all but vanished from the Phillipine landscape and local weaving and crafts were also being threatened by cheap Chinese imports. One gentleman was specially interested in the connection between pre Christian Phillipines and South India during the time of the Pandya and Chola rule. Over a quiet dinner, they listened to guitarist Vedanth Bharadwaj singing songs of Kabir and Mirabai. Teenage Bharatanatyam dancer Sudarma Vaidyanathan dazzled and our famous curd rice with pickles closed out the evening as the favourite food.
So who said power women were not like you and me? Shopping, bargains, jewellery, kids and home food. For this high powered group, nothing was lost in translation!
Their last two days brought them to Chennai and I had been requested three months in advance to be their window to the city. I had been repeatedly warned not to take them to any plebian outlet since their tastes were “very very high end”. With a prepared list of shops to help our local economy, I met them at the lobby of a local five star hotel. Immediately, all fifteen faces had one mantra on their lips. “Shop. We want to shop! Can we hit the stores now?”
Aah! The magic of retail therapy for women throughout the world. And shop they did. Up and down Khader Nawaz Khan Road, buying all that fit their petite frames. I heard OOHS and AAHS from fitting rooms and the plastic was repeatedly swiped in store after store. A private showing of antique jewellery was another source of much amazement and bargaining. Lunch at Amethyst turned out to be another spree for gifts and all the store owners were left reeling in delight with the Asian typhoon that swept through their shops. Incidentally, Irene Marcos was the most frugal, belying all expectations of her famous mother.
The group spoke about the vanishing of traditional Phillipine textiles and their cultural nuances with globalization and marveled at how Indian designers managed to navigate the fine lines of commerce and market demands. The enormous butterfly shoulders of their national costume, popularized by Imelda Marcos, had all but vanished from the Phillipine landscape and local weaving and crafts were also being threatened by cheap Chinese imports. One gentleman was specially interested in the connection between pre Christian Phillipines and South India during the time of the Pandya and Chola rule. Over a quiet dinner, they listened to guitarist Vedanth Bharadwaj singing songs of Kabir and Mirabai. Teenage Bharatanatyam dancer Sudarma Vaidyanathan dazzled and our famous curd rice with pickles closed out the evening as the favourite food.
So who said power women were not like you and me? Shopping, bargains, jewellery, kids and home food. For this high powered group, nothing was lost in translation!
A Rebel with a Cause
What is the positive force of rebellion? In the words of renaissance humanist Rukmini Devi Arundale, it can assume two forms. One is the positive battling to change the existing norms of being and seeing. The other is a negative energy of being a rebel for its own self indulgent sake.
Was Rukmini Devi a rebel? In her lifetime she was many things and perhaps a rebel the most. As her 106th birth anniversary arrives on the invisible February 29, Atthai (as she was widely known to her students and friends) had many ‘avatars’. Theosophist, animal welfare activist, dancer and politician (Rajya Sabha nominee twice and candidate for President of India). Known best for her founding the magnificent Bharatanatyam institution Kalakshetra in Chennai, dance history records her many achievements. Like Sri Aurobindo’s Mahashakti, she shattered many obstacles and paved new pathways for generations of men and women to access classical dance and music. I perused old photos of her riding the pyramids, walking the corn fields of the USA wearing saris, pants and hats with élan, conversing with European men and women with confidence and ease. This was in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, when a new India was being birthed and an entire generation was filled with the ambivalence of hope and uncertainty.
Accused today of ‘sanitizing’ Bharatantyam by removing the overt eroticism in the traditional repertoire, Rukmini Devi’s recognized the potential of classical dance to be the symbol of India’s cultural and spiritual regeneration. Schools, weaving centres, organic farming, painting, music and dance were all complementary activities in her master plan for the development of an artiste.
Marrying a foreigner many years older to her was the source of societal outrage but she did not wilt. Neither did she flinch when faced with a recalcitrant nattuvanar(dance conductor) at the last moment. She vowed and accomplished the feat of training and establishing the first female nattuvanar for Bharatanatyam- the late Kamalarani. The dance orchestra being seated to the right of the dancer rather than walking all around the stage was also her conscious design to present classical dance to the new generation of modern Indians.
My years at Kalakshetra in the mid seventies were eventful with Atthai walking by occasionally and causing a flutter with her regal presence. Being the tallest in my class (as always) I was suddenly asked to play the part of Kausalya in Rama Vanagamanam, the second in the Ramayana series. Playing Sumitra was Preetha Reddy of Apollo Hospitals. Imagine the two of us, playing mothers to senior dancers like Janardhan Sir and Venkatachalapathy. The rehearsals were stressful since I could never sit in deep enough araimandi to satisfy Atthai. Rukmini Devi also suggested to my mother that since I had the makings of a very fine dancer, that I should not perform often while studying at Kalskshetra. My mother refused outright saying that the life of a performer was very short and while I was capable of studying and performing, she would continue to plan my dance outings. Aah! Those were the days!
Men in dance, theatre designs for the performing arts, costuming, group choreography and of course her seminal Ramayana series are only some of Rukmini Devi’s achievements. Like most pioneers, Atthai was sad and isolated in her final days, distraught over the bitter tussle for control over her precious dream, Kalakshetra. Like another radical thinker Osho, who died alone and dispirited, Rukmini Devi’s dream seemed in jeopardy. Thankfully, the storm has passed and a new vibrancy has returned to Kalakshetra, The Osho ashram in Pune is now a swanky spa and holistic retreat far removed from the original aims of its brilliant founder. Kalakshetra remains a centre for alternate thinking, creativity and training. This rebel did indeed have a valid cause.
Was Rukmini Devi a rebel? In her lifetime she was many things and perhaps a rebel the most. As her 106th birth anniversary arrives on the invisible February 29, Atthai (as she was widely known to her students and friends) had many ‘avatars’. Theosophist, animal welfare activist, dancer and politician (Rajya Sabha nominee twice and candidate for President of India). Known best for her founding the magnificent Bharatanatyam institution Kalakshetra in Chennai, dance history records her many achievements. Like Sri Aurobindo’s Mahashakti, she shattered many obstacles and paved new pathways for generations of men and women to access classical dance and music. I perused old photos of her riding the pyramids, walking the corn fields of the USA wearing saris, pants and hats with élan, conversing with European men and women with confidence and ease. This was in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, when a new India was being birthed and an entire generation was filled with the ambivalence of hope and uncertainty.
Accused today of ‘sanitizing’ Bharatantyam by removing the overt eroticism in the traditional repertoire, Rukmini Devi’s recognized the potential of classical dance to be the symbol of India’s cultural and spiritual regeneration. Schools, weaving centres, organic farming, painting, music and dance were all complementary activities in her master plan for the development of an artiste.
Marrying a foreigner many years older to her was the source of societal outrage but she did not wilt. Neither did she flinch when faced with a recalcitrant nattuvanar(dance conductor) at the last moment. She vowed and accomplished the feat of training and establishing the first female nattuvanar for Bharatanatyam- the late Kamalarani. The dance orchestra being seated to the right of the dancer rather than walking all around the stage was also her conscious design to present classical dance to the new generation of modern Indians.
My years at Kalakshetra in the mid seventies were eventful with Atthai walking by occasionally and causing a flutter with her regal presence. Being the tallest in my class (as always) I was suddenly asked to play the part of Kausalya in Rama Vanagamanam, the second in the Ramayana series. Playing Sumitra was Preetha Reddy of Apollo Hospitals. Imagine the two of us, playing mothers to senior dancers like Janardhan Sir and Venkatachalapathy. The rehearsals were stressful since I could never sit in deep enough araimandi to satisfy Atthai. Rukmini Devi also suggested to my mother that since I had the makings of a very fine dancer, that I should not perform often while studying at Kalskshetra. My mother refused outright saying that the life of a performer was very short and while I was capable of studying and performing, she would continue to plan my dance outings. Aah! Those were the days!
Men in dance, theatre designs for the performing arts, costuming, group choreography and of course her seminal Ramayana series are only some of Rukmini Devi’s achievements. Like most pioneers, Atthai was sad and isolated in her final days, distraught over the bitter tussle for control over her precious dream, Kalakshetra. Like another radical thinker Osho, who died alone and dispirited, Rukmini Devi’s dream seemed in jeopardy. Thankfully, the storm has passed and a new vibrancy has returned to Kalakshetra, The Osho ashram in Pune is now a swanky spa and holistic retreat far removed from the original aims of its brilliant founder. Kalakshetra remains a centre for alternate thinking, creativity and training. This rebel did indeed have a valid cause.
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