PREVIEW: Bharatanatyam and Kathak presentation in Delhi

On 6 March, Bharatanatyam and Kathak dancer Jalsa Chandra and her troupe are presenting a Bharatanatyam production called ‘Twamaham Vande’ at the India Habitat Centre in Delhi at 7 p.m., followed by a solo Kathak recital by Sanjeet Gangani.
 
The concept, choreography and direction of ‘Twamaham Vande’ are by Jalsa, the programme consultant is Sreejith Dutta, inputs are by Shankar Lal Mehta, narration by Gouri Basu, production design by Utsab Ganguly, music arrangement by Shankar Narayanaswamy and light design by Soumen Chakraborty.

Jalsa has learnt Bharatanatyam for three decades under Guru Thankumani Kutty and also from Guru Saroja Vaidyanathan, Acharya Chitra Visweswaran and Guru Rama Vaidyanathan. She has also learnt Kathak under Guru Kanan Sen and is currently learning it from Pandit Rajendra Gangani. She has learnt nattuvangam and mridangam under Guru Ranganathan Srinivasan. She has performed extensively both at home and abroad and founded the Nritya Kalangan Centre of Arts as a centre for collective arts development in Kolkata. She teaches dance, has choreographed and presented several productions and is a graded artist of Doordarshan in Bharatanatyam, an empanelled artist of ICCR in Kathak and a ‘prominent’ artist under the Ministry of Culture in Kathak.

About ‘Twamaham Vande’, Jalsa’s note says, ‘“Twamaham Vande” was a spiritual journey for me. Every human matures with time, and Twamaham Vande was a growth of the soul. The basic principle of Bhakti saints, the one-to-one realization of God, understanding God in your own way, your own light, according to me, is a wonderful process and this touched me and inspired me to work on the Bhakti saints. Thus, in this production, I questioned God, laughed at Him, fought with Him even, and every time I did so, I fell in love with Him even more.’

Scene 1 - Introduction

Scene 1 contains verses from the 'Nasadiya Sukta' from The Rig Veda. It describes the stages of Stithi to Srishti.

‘I thought of beginning my story with the story of creation, tracing the roots of Bhakti, where and when does Bhakti arise… the Nasadiya sukta had the verses stating creation, and from srishti, there was abundance, the tangential rays of srishti depicted by diagonal movements and the panchanadai described creation. The concluding part of the first scene shows how abundance of creation leads to a sort of slowing down, negativity, and the verses of Geetopodesham speak of how one must continue Karma because creation, abundance, destruction will remain a cyclical process.’

Scene 2 - Kabir

‘The second scene is a beautiful doha of Sant Kabir, the lines speaking of the tree advising the ignorant leaf, “yahi jagat ki reet hai, ek aye ek jaye.” The cycle of life is the only constant, understanding and acceptance is the only way to inner peace. This philosophy has been portrayed through a solo representation of abhinaya.’

Scene 3 - Lalon

‘I thought that since there has been a lot of work on Shri Chaitanya, it would be innovative if I worked on another very famous Fakir from east, Lalon, but reading and understanding him was a very difficult yet interesting experience.

‘Belonging to the Baul cult, Lalon believed and preached the theory of physical body. “Deha Tatwa”, the arising of the Muladhar chakra, going through the nine levels, the nine “prakashtha” of the Muladhar Chakra, is a process of union with the Parabrahman. The three blocks choreographically used in this scene represented the nine bones of the Muladhar Chakra and the ropes here are suggestive of the DNA double helix.’

Scene 4 - Tulsidas

‘The Tulsidas bhajan chosen there after said, “Kaha ke pathik tum, kino hain, gamanwa...” I used this line as the title line, sketched it as a statement by the poet that in this journey of life, we all are travellers, we start somewhere and reach somewhere, but the one constant factor that prevails is the faith in the Lord. Here, I designed the choreography from the aspect of Sita. She was born from the earth, she was doubted, put to trial and finally, she  returned to Mother Earth… but in her every breath, her heartbeat said “Rama”, meaning if your faith towards your God is firm, undaunted, you will be able to cross the trials of this life in peace and with strength. Thus, the clock ticked, with every breath, “Rama”, that Sita chanted.’

Scene 5 - Abhang

‘The abhang chosen is a beautiful Ninda Stuti. A Ninda Stuti is a piece where you can laugh at your God. This is the beauty of Hindu religion, which gives you the liberty to satirize your God. Sant Tukaram warns the ordinary folk  against going to Pandharpur, where the temple of Vitthala is. He says, there might be a ghost there, if you dare tread, you may never return. Actually, Sant Tukaram went to Pandharpur, and not only did he see Panduranga, he did not return, meaning he became a part of the God. The knower of Brahman becomes the Brahman himself. Such is the power of knowledge and faith. This story was my representation in the abhang.’

Scene 6

‘Next, I moved to the Nayanmar saints of Karnataka. The Thevarum written by one of them praises and describes Lord Shiva. After following the path of Vaishnavism, I thought of concluding with a Shaivite saint. The choreographic depiction is a procession of Lord Shiva. He is being brought inside the temple garbha griha with a grand celebration, the cymbals, chamara, accompany Him, the Lord riding the Nandi. The stories of Neelkanth, Tripura dahana, curbing the Shada Ripu and  three gunas, are described here.’

Scene 7 - Concluding Scene

‘I concluded the journey, with verses from the Mundakopanishad. It says just as rivers, when merging with the ocean, forget their names and identities, similarly wise men forget their names when merging with the divine. With this chant, we offer flowers at the feet of the Parabrahman and dissolve in the Oneness. And with our worries gone, Shantih, Shantih, Shantih prevails.’

About the stagecraft, she adds, ‘The stage craft had seven layers of drapes, denoting the seven chakras. One must travel through these seven levels to finally unite with the Ultimate. The ropes used were to depict the complexity of these layers, and also the complexity of the path of life we entangle in. The translucent drapes used indicated the paradox of life, the simplicity and complexity juxtaposed. From a distance, it seems a white cloth, but in reality, everything clears when we actually see through it. This dual understanding of life has been explained through the stagecraft.’