Director: Kumar Shahani
Year: 1991 “The point is, no film can be made on other arts as
if it were some sort of social scientific question. You have to
transform and violate the other art to some extent; through
juxtaposition and montage, you violate the unity of that particular
work, and you have to, because unless you do that you cannot achieve a
kind of transcendence. As Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra said of my film, it
is not a film ‘on’ him, but something which goes beyond him and beyond
gestures; it is an interpretation.”
– Kumar Shahani.
With this post, i reach the second mile-stone in my Blog, the 200th post.
On the 8th November, 2017, the
Indian Government celebrated as the Anti-Black Money Day (people on the other
side of the political divide observed it as a Black Day). High denomination
notes of Rs. 1000 and Rs. 500 (almost 86% of the money-supply) were de-monetised
on the 8th November, 2016.
After this event, i had published 3 blog-posts
titled ‘Dhan ki Baat I, II and II on the 8, 9th and 10th January, 2017.
I had been following reports on the effect of
this de-monetisation and i was wavering on whether it was beneficial or harmful
for the country; however, the scale in my mind was tilting in favour of this
decision.
On the 8th November, 2017,
newspapers carried reports of the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement
that demonetization was an “ethical and moral step”. The Opposition Parties led
by Congress, a ramshackle party which failed to secure even 10% of the seats in the Lok Sabha in 2014 elections, to claim the position of Leader of Opposition, observed the day as a Black Day. One may dismiss as a mere
power-play, what the Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi said on the subject.
But when the seasoned economist and former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who
became the P.M., courtesy the Congress President Sonia Gandhi (The journalist
Sanjay Baru book on him is titled ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’.) branded
demonetization as “an organized loot and legalized plunder”, one would have
taken notice. But it seemed that his economic analysis was coloured by the political
situation in which he has placed himself. The United Progressive Alliance led
by Congress and supported by C P M -Communist Party of India (Marxist) - was in
power from 2004 to 2014, with Dr. Singh as P M. Its uncharitable critics dubbed
the coalition as having 3 PMs: P M (Dr. Singh), C P M and an ‘S P M’ (Super P M
Sonia Gandhi as Chairman of the specially created for her, the National
Advisory Council).
However, the reasoned editorial of The
Economic Times of the 8th November 2017 analysed the overall picture, took a balanced view and decided
my view of de-monetisation. The first sentence of the editorial stated, “On the
first anniversary of de-monetisation, it is unambiguously clear that the
project has been a resounding success. It sent out a clear message that the
government is determined to clamp down on black money and is prepared to take
unorthodox measures for the purpose. … The government would now go after benami
property.” Most black money is held as real estate, gold and other assets. The
editorial went on to say that even most of the amount held in cash came back
but at a cost to the black money holders; they had to employ people, directly
or indirectly, to deposit the money in banks. And this has left a trail which
the authorities are investigating.
I regularly watch Classical Indian Dance recitals on DD Bharati, telecast at 3 PM everyday. A few days ago, i chanced upon, on this TV channel, a presentation of Sattriya dance by Anesha Mahanta. I liked the presentation very much. So, i searched for more about her in You Tube. And here is video which was the result of my effort:
Here is a sample of her expert presentation of this dance form:
Andhra Natyam is a folk dance of Andhra Pradesh. It is reported that efforts are being made to obtain for a classical status.
Andhra Natyam is a classical dance form originating from the Indian
state of Andhra Pradesh. This traditional dance form, having a history of
2000 years, was lost in the Mughal and British era, and was revived in the
20th century.This dance form is
essentially performed by females, characterised by rich footwork and Abhinaya.
The musical instruments accompanying the dance include mridangam, manjira,
veena, the violin, venu, tanpura, surpeti and kanjira.
It is derived from various dance forms and
has strong similarities with Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam, including older dance
styles like Dasiattam, Kacherittam and Chinnamelam. Though it originated in
temples, it was also performed by the courtesans known as kalavantulu in
Telugu, open-air public performances known as Kalopam are a part of
Andhra Natyam.
I watch the classical dance programme telecast by DD Bharati in afternoons every day. Whenever i like a particular presentation, i note down the name of the artiste and later, i watch her/his dance numbers on You Tube and sometimes, find out more about the dancer from Google. One day, in a programme produced by Door Darshan, Mumbai, Subhada Varadkar was the danseuse. I very much liked her presentation.
Here is one:
Subhada first started learning Bharatnatyam. Then she learnt Odiss dance under the tutelage of the legendary Odissi dance Guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra of Odisha. She was amazed by the nuances and subtleness of Odissi dance.
From Google i came to know that she had survived an attack of ovarian cancer! The following is extracts from this.
Source: Google - The Times of India
During a performance in London in November 2006, Shubhada began to feel uneasy. "I was bleeding but assumed it
was a regular menstrual problem since there was no pain." She flew back to India
the next day and underwent a sonography. Her doctors were surprised that she had danced with such a large tumour, not even complaining of pain. She was 40 at that time.
Subhada's grandfather, Dr V R Khanolkar was the first dean of Tata Memorial's Cancer Research Institute.
Although she was not allowed to practice, she conceptualised her dance, lying in bed.
The reports came and these showed that she had
two tumours, one in the ovary and another in the uterus. Fortunately,
both were in the primary stage.
In January 2007, she started chemotherapy. She would schedule
performances keeping the chemotherapy and radiation sessions in mind. She used to lock the dates for performances three weeks after chemo, because, by
then the blood count would be back to normal.
While undergoing weekday radiation sessions, she used to perform on weekends.
She tried to bring in positive rhythms in her body and mind. "Cancer
treatment isn't just about access to the best drugs or therapy. It's
also about how positively your body responds to treatment. Your state of
mind plays a huge role its cure," Subhada adds.
The four chemotherapy sessions she underwent between January and April 2007, left her vulnerable.
Being a dancer meant that she had to be physically fit and look
presentable. She was losing her hair, and even her eyebrows. The
medication made her hands and feet go numb. While dancing, balancing the
mukoot on a wig with nothing to latch on was a challenge. Her mother
crafted a special toupee that could be tied behind the ears.She was determined that she would dance and afraid that if the truth about her health became known, she might not get any performance.
Later, months after her last chemotherapy session and when she was recuperating, Subhada stopped hiding her cancer-survivor status. In 2008, she met another cancer patient who was finding it hard to accept the truth. The impact she made on the other, encouraged her to take up awareness as a cause, especially among other artists. She spreads such awareness about the disease.
"Early in 2008, I met a fellow cancer patient who was having a hard
time accepting the truth. I tried to motivate her by using myself as an
example. The impact I was able to make on her encouraged me to take up
awareness as a cause, especially for the artist community," she adds.
With dance being her only language of mass communication, she now
routinely gives performances to spread awareness about the disease, communicating that although the cancer-treatment is difficult, it is curable.
She has written a book titled 'Mayurpankh' narrating her struggle and ultimate triumph.
My post titled 'Goddess of Odissi Dance' dated 29.09.2012, is about the legendary Odissi danseuse Sanjukta Panigrahi of Odisha who made Odissi dance what it is today. When she was at the height of her dancing career, she was diagnosed with cancer and succumbed to it in 1997 at the age of 53.
It happened at a small place in Puri District
of Odisha.
It was an arranged marriage. As per
tradition, the bride’s brother had come as bardhara
to formally invite the groom to come to their house for the marriage. The
groom was getting elegantly dressed up for the occasion for starting in the
decked up vehicle for the marriage-procession. At that time, a minor electrical
fault in the room was noticed. A person climbed up an wooden stool to rectify
it. He asked the groom to help him and the groom readily agreed.
Then all hell broke loose. Accidentally, the
groom had touched a live electric wire. The death was instantaneous. The bardhara had to go back, carrying the
sad news. As per tradition, mangalakrutya (the bride ritually and ceremonially being made to
sit on a grinding stone, other married ladies applying haldi paste on her limbs and bathing her) had already been
performed on the previous day. Also, she had been bathed in badua pani (traditional water) which had
symbolized the imminent end of her unmarried life. Tradition dictates that a mangula kanya(a girl who has undergone the process of mangalakrutya)can no
longer remain in the parental house; she has got to be married off, post haste.
This is done by very quickly finding out a suitable groom (dubbed Dhara Bara - literally, a caught groom)
and marrying her off to him. The girl’s parents and relatives did locate a
groom and the marriage took place. The bride moved to the new groom’s house.
After spending two days there (but before the
nuptial with the boy), the girl, who was highly educated, found that the boy
was only low-educated. She was not ready to suffer her whole life with this
semi-literate person. She preferred to go back to her to her parents’ house
even with the prospect of remaining a spinster throughout her life.
Fortunately for her, the boy let her go.
And she returned.
Many questions remain unanswered:
Will she remarry?
Legally, she is a married woman, although she
had had no physical relation with her ‘husband’. If she decides to remarry, she
has first, to be got divorced from her present ‘husband’.
How will the society look upon her?
As a brave woman? A challenger of fate?
A far-fetched simile comes to mind. Should
she have continued to stay in the house of her ‘husband’ and force him, goad him,
to be educated like the highly learned princess, Kalidas’s wife did?
Would it have been possible? Is it possible
to make a legend a real event in a real life?
It may be recalled that this princess was
very well-conversant with the Shstras
and stipulated the condition that she would agree to marry only a person who
would defeat her in a debate. Many eligible and wise persons came seeking her
hands but no one could defeat her in the debate, A few of such persons saw the
foolish Kalidas cutting from the stem, a branch on which he was sitting. To
teach the princess a lesson, they manipulated things and took Kalidas to her
father. They told the King that Kalidas was a very learned man but was on a vow
of silence; he would answer the princess’s questions only with gestures. During
the debate, the princess mistook Kalidas’s gestures, took him to be a very
learned person and thought that she had lost to him in the debate. So, she agreed
to marry him. The marriage was solemnized. Soon after, she found out that he
was actually a fool and was an unlettered man. So she asked him to leave. On
the way back, Kalidas got the blessings of Saraswati, the goddess of learning,
and became a really learned man. He went to her; she accepted him and they
lived happily ever after.
POST SCRIPT, 20th May: Subsequent reports say that the 'husband' whom the girl had left, got married to another girl soon after.
