'Bohu' of Odisha Dancing Odissi

In my post, ‘Introductionto Odissi Dance’ of 02.03.2015, i have incorporated videos of the definitive features of Odissi dance by Daksha Mashruwalla. She, Ranjana Gauhar, Madhavi Mudgal and Sharmila Mukherjee are among the other danseuses who do not belong to Odisha but have mastered Odissi dance form and have spread it in India and abroad.

Another eminent artiste who has made her name in this field is Sonal Mansingh who was not born in Odisha but learnt and mastered Odissi dance form, after becoming a ‘bahu’ (daughter-in-law, bohu in Odia) of Odisha. I had watched her Odissi dance number in the International Odissi Dance Festival at Bhubaneswar in 2011. She also performed at the ‘Chushathi Yogini Festival’ at Chaushathi Yogini Temple, Hirapur near Bhubaneswar. In 2015, i attended her lecture-cum-demonstration session at a programme of SPICMAY (Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth).

 

Born in 1944 as Sonal Pakvasa (her maiden name) in Mumbai (then called Bombay), Sonal started learning Manipuri dance at the age of 4. She then learnt Bharatanatyam dance from Guru Kumar Jayakar. Later, she was trained by U S Krishna Rao and Chandrabhaga Devi. Her maiden performance was in 1954 in Mumbai.

She met Lalit Mansingh of Odisha, who had just joined Indian Foreign Service, (who later became Foreign Secretary of India and Indian Ambassador in U S A) at a performance by her in Delhi and they fell in love. She came to Lalit Mansingh’s place in Cuttack in Odisha and her prospective father-in-law, the eminent Odia poet Mayadhar Mansingh, who said that a dancing bohu of Odisha must know Odissi dance, took her to his friend the legendary Odissi dance Guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra and requested him to train her in Odissi dance. He took her under his wings became her mentor. She took this dance form like fish to water and was a quick learner. She reinforced her learning of Odissi dance by observing and absorbing the nuances of Odisha’s culture. 

Sonal got married to Lalit in 1965 and became ‘Sonal Mansingh’. Of course, they were divorced shortly thereafter but Odissi dance became her life. After their divorce, she again met Guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra and requested him to continue training her but perhaps because he was not happy with the divorce, he did not agree. Then she continued her training under Guru Jiwan Pani.  She went on to become a famous Odissi dancer.

Her famous choreography includes ‘Indradhanush’, ‘Manavatta’, Devi Durga’, ‘Atmayan’, ‘Mera Bharat’ and ‘Draupadi’. She was awarded Padmashri in 1972 and ‘Padma Vibhushan’ in 2003. Other awards received by her include Sangeet Natak Akademy Award, ‘Natya Kala Ratna’ from National Cultural Organisation and Medal of Friendship of Vietnam. She was given Honorary Doctorate Degrees from G B Pant University, Uttarakhand and Sambalpur University, Odisha. She was also the Chairperson of Sangeet Natak Akademi.

Sometime after her separation from Lalit Mansingh, she lived with and then married Georg Lecher, a German. This marriage also ended in divorce.

In 1974 she met with a serious accident in Germany which dashed her hopes of being able to dance again. She even asked herself why she should live if she could not dance. At this juncture, chiropractor Pierre Gravel came into her life. He studied her reports and after a longish treatment, declared that she could dance again! In 1975, she was back on stage and performed to a huge applause from the audience. 

Even after her separation from Lalit Mansingh and second marriage to, and divorce from, Georg Lecher, she continues to use the surname ‘Mansingh’. However, as far as dance is concerned, she continues to be a 'bohu' of Odisha dancing Odissi.

Since 1977, she has been running her Centre for Indian Classical Dances in Delhi.

TAIL PIECE:

Although ‘Orissa’ became ‘Odisha’ in 2011, the dance form which originated in this State continues to be called ‘Odissi’. Isn’t it time to call it ‘Odishi’? Or, will this disturb the concept of Odissi dance with its present spelling which is familiar all over the world?