Bol, bhava, bliss
Gauri Diwaker |
Gauri
has been rated one of India’s best young talents. She has trained under Ms
Sumita Chaudhary, Pt Birju Maharaj and Shri Jai Kishan Maharaj at the Kathak
Kendra. She has perfected her skills under Aditi Mangaldas. She is a dancer who
has the energy of youth and the maturity of a seasoned dancer.
The
performance was titled Hari Ho… Gati Meri (Hari, you are my destination), and
it was based on Krishna poetry by Muslim poets. Even the invite for the performance
was a work of art - the cutout of a tree in silver on an orange foreground. The
art form used is Sanjhi, which originated as decorative patterns for enticing
Lord Krishna. It was made of cow dung on village walls by unmarried women. It
became temple art by the 19th century. This particular piece, titled
‘The tree of life’, has been handcrafted by Mr. Vijay Kumar Verma from Mathura,
UP. Talking about it, Gauri said, “When I told him that my theme was Radha and
Krishna, he showed me this cutwork, which totally matched the theme of my
second piece. And since Sanjhi is from Mathura, the birthplace of Krishna, it’s
closer to the concept.” She elaborated on the concept, telling me, “Sanjay
Nandan had curated the poetry for it. But it’s not possible to make all poetry
lyrical and dance to it. So out of his research, I selected ten to fifteen of
them and finally, it was Aditi Didi’s (Mangaldas, the choreographer of the
production) call which ones she wanted to choreograph.”
Sanjay
Nandan, who curated the poetry for the performance, is a journalist by
profession, and reading Hindi poetry is his interest. About the title, he said,
“The inspiration for it came from a poem by Bilgrami - Hari Ho, Hari Ho, Gati
Meri. The title is a statement of the quest to submerge in the Supreme. It is
the way to salvation. The concept was initiated after reading an article by CM
Naim, a professor in the University of Columbia. He has written about Hasrat
Mohani, who was a part of our Constitutional Assembly and initiated the slogan ‘Inqelab
Zindabad’. So I thought, let’s go beyond Raskhan and read about other Muslim
poets who have written on the theme of Krishna. And I came across many more.
Even when Sufism was not very well-established in India, Muslim poets were
writing about Krishna and Hinduism. All the poetry that I have explored and
collected is by Muslim poets.”
The
entire presentation was in four parts. The first part was ‘Resonance’, based on
poetry by Maulana Hazrat Mohani – ‘Irfan-e-ishq naam hai mere maqaam ka, haamil
hoon kiske nagma-e-naya payaam ka, duniya-e-jaan mein shor hai jiske dawaam ka’
(my destination is where there is recognition of my eternal love, I am the
messenger of Him whose songs are laden with knowledge. Is the melody emerging
out of Krishna’s flute beckoning to eternal life or the fount of ever-increasing
knowledge?). In this piece, the poet is talking about Krishna, who is within us
and whose flute is beckoning us to the eternal truth. For this piece, Gauri
wore a golden-yellow kurta which was strongly reminiscent of Krishna’s
peetamber. Here, she used paran, a few tukde and gat with shifting feet to
depict the hearing of the flute and the effect it has on you. She finished the
piece by reciting the poetry – Irfane-e-ishq naam hai mere maqaam ka. The flute
or the bansuri played by Kiran Kumar was so melodious that it really created
the true feel of the piece. This was followed by an interlude of tabla by
Yogesh Gangani. The speed of his percussion and the play of the beats was
mesmerizing.
The next
section, titled ‘Shadows of Each Other’, was based on poetry by Mullick
Mohammed Jayasi. The lyrics are – ‘Mohe Tohe Rahi Anter Nahi’ – where Krishna
is telling Radha that they are not two. They
are like shadows of each other. Krishna says that he is immersed in Radha like
a drop of water in the ocean. Here, the costume change had yellow bagalbandi,
like Krishna’s costume. Again, Gauri used tihai, footwork, paran and chakkars
to depict the piece. As the words say, Krishna and Radha are two but one in
soul, like a body and its shadow (‘pind parchhai’). Gauri depicted it by
alternating the faces of her hands. The abhinaya then went on to show the
ornamentation of both Krishna and Radha – morpakha and the beni, kundal-patka
and the bindi-ghoonghat. Next, it was a jugalbandi of footwork and pakhawaj,
again reflecting the oneness in the two. Ashish Gangani on the pakhawaj was an
excellent accompanist to Gauri’s technique. Here again, we saw the DNA of the
Ganganis at work in the next generation. ‘Aapahi boond manahun samudra samaana’
(as if I have become a drop and become one with the ocean) – here, the echo
from the percussion made an excellent impact to show the drop falling. Gauri
finished this piece with a stance while rotating and lifting both hands above
her head, intertwining her arms and raising two fingers, giving the message of
ek praan do dehi (one soul, two bodies), or the tree of life, followed by quick
chakkars.
The
third section, titled ‘One’, denotes the union of Radha and Krishna. They are
both diverse - one blue, the other gold, one dynamic, the other graceful.
‘You-me, me-you, you Krishna, me Radha. Me Radha, you Krishna. Pahichaan aapani
khoyi, Rayi Kanha bhaye ek sanga, laag chandan hoi ek anga' (Individual
identities lost, Radha and Krishna are one, and having applied chandan, are of
one colour)’. Again, Gauri’s technique was perfect and the abhinaya was
emotive. The interlude had hearts racing with Ashish Gangani on the pakhawaj
and Mohit Gangani on the padhant. In this piece, lighting was used to create
shadows in the background, sometimes many and sometimes just one huge one.
The
climactic piece, ‘Hari Ho Gati Meri’, addressed the Almighty – ‘You reside
within me while I search for you without. I hear the flute, I see the melody, I
feel the love’. The poetry was mostly in kavit form and the nritta had padhant,
paran, gat, parmelu and footwork with the vibrating of the feet to make the
ghungroos rattle. ‘Din ko pranaam kiye raati chali jaati hai’ - this was a
composition by Syed Mubarak Ali Bilgrami. ‘Sunder sujaan par lagan lagi rahe’ -
this was a composition by Mian Wahid Ali. The poetry and the choreography of
the piece were reflecting the pining and the quest of the devotee for his Almighty.
‘Hari ho gati meri’ - interpret it the way you want to.
Gauri
explained the technical aspects of the dance, saying, “The first piece was in
Urdu. When we think of Muslim poets, we think it’ll all be in Urdu, which is
not correct. But Resonance was all Urdu, though it had no predictable bhava. We
used the bansuri ki dhun, its goonj… The second was in braj bhasha, khadi boli
– ‘tohe mohe rahi, antar nahi’. The gist of it was that Krishna and Radha are
not separate. The third was more predictable – jaise bol waise bhava (the bhava
were like the bol). Jugalbandi was used smartly to depict Radha aur Krishna as
two, but one. The light was used because of the reference to parchhai or
shadow. It was a totally technical piece. Radha and Krishna are One, and so One
was the name of the piece. Mubarak sahib ki likhi hui thi, but unko raag mein
nahin daala (the poem was by Mubarak sahib, but we did not set it to raag) –
didi said we should keep it kavit, or like a recitation. Generally in Kathak,
we start in vilambit, then madhya, then dhrut taal. But for this piece, we
started with dhrut, went into vilambit and then into madhya. That, aamad, paran
– they all were there, they’d been tied into it.” When asked about a stance she
took often in the piece, like two mor pankhs crossed, she explained, “That
stance is about Krishna and Radha again, that they are one.”
Note: This article first appeared in narthaki.com
Pics: Anoop Arora
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