Odissi: Kumkum Lal - First Performance at Studio 200
Director: Ashok Lal
Duration: 01:16:03; Aspect Ratio: 1.366:1; Hue: 73.602; Saturation: 0.223; Lightness: 0.501; Volume: 0.250; Cuts per Minute: 0.684; Words per Minute: 36.620
Summary: Kumkum Lal spent four years in Tokyo, Japan, teaching and performing Odissi extensively. In 1986, with her husband Ashok, she hosted Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra (Guruji) and a group of musicians including the renowned composer Pt. Bhubaneswar Mishra, from India, for a month. During his stay there, Guruji taught Kumkum and held workshops for her students. Kumkum and Guruji also travelled across Japan, holding lecture demonstrations at universities and performing in different environments.
Two of their performances were at Studio 200, a performance space (ostensibly named thus because it seated 200 people). Studio 200 was part of the Seibu Department Stores in Ikebukuro, a shopping and entertainment district in Tokyo. The performances at Studio 200 featured most of the pieces they performed during their tour of Japan. This performance is around 75 minutes long with a variety of pieces from the Gitagovinda, including Dasavatara and Dheere Sameere. The other performance, almost two hours in length, features Mohana Pallavi and Batu Nritya, apart from what became their signature duet piece during the tour - Yahi Madhava and Priye Charusheele performed back-to-back.
Kumkum Lal has been a disciple of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra for more than four decades. Her initial training in Odissi was under Guru Harekrishna Behera, and she has also studied and performed creative dance with Narendra Sharma, and Chhau under Guru Krishna Chandra Naik. She has taught English at Delhi University. She was a keen reviewer of dance and has acted in plays. She has worked with Sangeet Natak Akademi as the head of their dance section and was awarded a senior fellowship by the Indian government to work on a Sanskrit treatise on Odissi.
Here, her student Ranjana Dave converses with her as they watch these videos again, while reminiscence and hindsight come together. The years Ranjana spent learning from Kumkum were full of invaluable dancing, enriching conversations on all and sundry, and much relief from hostel food.
Translations of all the ashtapadis seen here have been adapted from 'Sri Gitagovinda' (trans. Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja, Gaudiya Vedanta Publications, Mathura, 2005) with inputs from Kumkum Lal.
Studio 200, a performance space in a large department store in the heart of Ikebukuro, Tokyo's shopping and entertainment district. The touring troupe performed twice at Studio 200.
The space seems to be packed to capacity. The musicians settle down. Manjul Mathur (the singer) adjusts her sari and Guruji (Kelucharan Mohapatra) places a cloth on his lap, tuning the mardala before placing it on the cloth. Manjul is wearing a white flower in her hair.
Studio 200, Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan
Bhubaneswar Mishra
Guruji
Kelucharan Mohapatra
Kumkum Lal
Odissi
Studio 200
Studio 200, Ikebukuro, Japan
Kumkum: This performance was held at a store, in the shopping district - Ikebukuro. It's a very crowded area. They had a place called Studio 200 - a place for avant-garde stuff, that's where this Indian classical dance performance was held.
Bhubaneswar Mishra starts playing the violin and Sudarshan Das chips in with the flute. Guruji starts playing the mardala and Manjul picks up the same pitch on the harmonium, waiting to sing 'kadachit kalindi'.
Kumkum: I don't know too much about the technique used while playing the pakhawaj, but I'm told Guruji used to use a lot of tabla ang while playing the pakhawaj. His 'chatti' was very famous.
This is the first stanza of Jagannathastakam, ascribed to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Kadachit kalindi tata vipina sangeeta kavarau
Mudabhiri nari vadana kamala swadamadhupa
Ramashambhubrahma surapatiganesharchitapadau
Jagannatha swami nayana pathagami bhavatu me (x3)
Translation:
At one time, in the forest on the banks of the Yamuna, that resounded with music,
In joyous ecstasy he would be found, like a bee sucking nectar, at the lotus lips of the gopis.
Now all the other gods worship his feet.
He Jagannatha! May you be the object of my vision.
mangalacharan
Kumkum: This verse is from the Jagannathashtakam; somehow, only the first stanza was used in performance. Very few people have attempted to interpret the entire poem.
Guruji plays the opening bols of the mangalacharan, the invocatory piece that is to follow. He also recites the bols. The camera pans across the stage and zooms out to focus on Kumkum Lal, who enters from stage left. She is wearing a yellow and black costume. She has lined her brow with sandalwood paste; the design also extends downwards along the bridge of her nose.
Kumkum: Did you learn this 'dhet dhet ta' entry?
Ranjana: No
Kumkum: I learnt it this way, but nobody does it now. The new entry looks nicer in many ways, but the old one has its charms!
Mangalacharan
Bhumi pranam - Salutation to the earth, asking to be forgiven for stamping on it.
Kumkum leaves an offering of petals by moving downstage. The flower offering is sometimes made to the idol of Jagannatha that is placed on the stage, which is absent here.
Kumkum: This round that I took, in the original composition of mangalacharan it has to be repeated thrice. It looked really nice, I thought.
The one I'm performing here is the new mangalacharan created by Guruji.
Vandana, a verse in praise of the deity or figure being invoked during the mangalacharan.
The following verse/ sloka is from the Abhinaya Chandrika of Maheswara Mohapatra, a medieval text on Odissi dance. It is a common sloka, generally referred to as Ganesh Vandana.
Namami vighnarajatvam
Kalpavriksham tala sthitam
Translation:
I salute the one who rises over obstacles,
The one who is to be found at the base of the Kalpavriksha (a mythical tree)
Kumkum: This is the simplest version of 'namami', also composed by Guruji and done by very few people now. The 'nritta' portion in the mangalacharan is minimal. Once he began using frequent bits of pure dance in the mangalacharan, everyone wanted it to stay that way and it became the standard version.
Kumkum: The quality of this composition is that it is easy to infuse the bhakti rasa in it. But now all the mangalacharans are so heavy, with sanchari and all that, that they take away from the actual devotion that a mangalacharan should have - praying to the gods.
Uma putram mahakayam
Dantikam nrityakovidam
Tandava priya putraya
Translation:
The son of Uma, the big-bodied one,
The tusked one, the one who is proficient in dance,
The son of he who loves tandava,
Kumkum: When you see yourself dancing, you realise the mistakes you make!
Tandava priya rupinam
Namo chintamani nityam shuddha buddhi pradayakam
Translation:
The image of he who loves tandava,
I salute thee, the one who bestows pure thought.
Kumkum: The chita - these sandalwood dots on the face- it was an integral part of the make-up. Everyone used it then. It was Indrani Rahman who sorted out the dress and the make-up and made it very simple. She brought in silver jewellery too. She stopped wearing the chita because she felt there was too much on the face anyway. In those days, they wore velvet blouses and layered saris - very elaborate attire. So she brought about significant changes. These people were pioneers - they had the courage to break the norm and face opposition from others. And she didn't even wear a chunni (strip of cloth layered over the blouse for the upper half of the body). We also liked the idea - we had slim bodies too - I was very young then. Then Guruji of course didn't allow that - so we wore the chunni in such a way that it would stick to our blouses and show the outline of the body. My earliest photographs in dance costume - when I was very very young, that's how I wore the chunni. I was slim and I had a flat stomach. Even after that I would wear a chunni and not this kind of pallu. But I wouldn't dare to wear it now!
Sabha pranam - A rhythmic piece of dance with the hands mostly in Anjali hasta, the sabha pranam ends with trikhandi pranam, a set of three salutations, where the dancer pays her obeisance to the divine, the guru and salutes the audience, specifically in that order.
Kumkum exits as the sabha pranam ends and the camera moves back to focus on the musicians as the stage is darkened before the next piece.
Applause. The musicians tune their instruments for the next piece. Bhubaneswar Mishra begins to play Raga Khamaj. He is followed by Sudarshan Das on the flute.
Sudarshan was a student of Bhubaneswar Mishra. He played the flute.
pallavi
Manjul begins to sing the ukuta, mid-beat, like it is usually sung. Guruji joins in on the first complete avartan (cycle). He also recites the bols.
Khamaj Pallavi
Raga: Khamaj
Tala: Khanda jati Ektala
Drim-ta-tana-di-re-na
ta-na-di-re-na
ta-na-di-re-na
di-re-na-tana-di-re-na
Aaa...(aspiration)
The first part of the pallavi has many stretched-out poses, which are reached by performing extremely slow movements.
Kumkum: I happened to learn Khamaj Pallavi in 1979, just when it was being composed. I was in Guruji's house in Cuttack the summer he composed it. Sanju (Sanjukta Panigrahi) was getting this item composed by him. And she would come every night to Guruji's house...every evening, actually, and she would sometimes stay over in the night. And Raghubhai was also there, to compose the music. Both of us were learning this simultaneously as Guruji composed it for us.
Kumkum: This is a khanda jati tala, in five matras, which is the most difficult tala to handle. The pakad is quite confusing. In this pallavi, we can use the same tala in different ways, using three matras or four matras in a cycle of 5. After the antara, the song changes and there is a portion where Guruji plays with the tala.
Kumkum: This movement was created for the first time during this pallavi - he did use the skeleton of the movement to show Jagannath, like in 'ahe nila saila' for instance, but as a movement in pure dance (nritta) it was used here for the first time.
Kumkum: In 1979, when I was living in his house, there were two items being composed. One of them was Khamaj Pallavi for Sanjukta and the second was 'badhila jani', a very famous bhakti song in Oriya, being composed for Priyamvada Hejmadi. This is a long pallavi - nineteen minutes. This is second to the original Gatibheda Pallavi, which is the longest pallavi.
ta-na-na-ta-na-na
ta-na-na-ta-na-na
Drim-ta-tana-di-re-na
ta-na-di-re-na
[ta-na-di-re-na
ta-na-di-re-na] x3
Drim-ta-tana-di-re-na
ta-na-di-re-na
ta-na-di-re-na
ta-na-di-re-na
di-re-na-
Kumkum: One needs a lot of stamina for this item.
[ta-na-di-re-na] 3
Drim-ta-tana-di-re-na
ta-na-di-re-na
ta-na-di-re-na
Drim-ta...
Kumkum: This is actually a recycled costume. Earlier, Sambalpuri sarees in bright colours were hard to find. Once I found a magenta-coloured saree. The magenta costume was made of very thin silk; it got torn quickly. So I had the border cut out and stitched it onto this costume. And that kumbha (temple border) work is actually cotton applique which is done in Orissa; it is not silk.
ta-na-di-re-na
ta-na-di-re
[ta-na-di-re-na] x3
Drim-ta-tana-di-re-na
ta-na-di-re-na
ta-na-di-re-na
di-re-na-
di-re-na-tana-di-re-na
Aaa...(aspiration)
Drim-ta-tana-di-re-na
ta-na-di-re-na
ta-na-di-re-na
di-re-na-
di-re-na-tana-di-re-na
Aaa...(aspiration)
Various permutations and combinations of the tala are explored.
Manjul starts singing the antara instead of completing the last few lines of the sthayi or the opening ukuta. Kumkum continues to dance as Manjul corrects herself after a few beats.
Drimi-kukundari-ta-jhena
Ta-drimi-ta-drim-drim-ta-rita-jhena
Drimi-kukundari-ta-jhena
Ta-drimi-ta-drimi-ta-drimi-ta-jhena
Drimi-kukundari-ta-jhena
Ta-drimi-ta-drimi-ta-drimi-ta-jhena
Kumkum: This is the beginning of the tala bheda portion. This is a five-beat cycle. These are delicate movements. The movements used here are of a newer type.
[Ta-jhenam-ta-rita-jhena
Drim-drim-ta-di-re-na]4
Manjul's voice breaks slightly at one point.
Manjul begins singing in sargam while Guruji repeats the same dance phrase by saying the tala aloud.
As their phrases become shorter and faster, they come together at one point, with both of them being heard over each other. Manjul goes slightly off-tune as she sings the faster portions at the end.
Kumkum: There's almost an embroidery of footwork.
Kumkum: Guruji composed the bols first. He would set a number of matras and manipulate it mathematically. He could do all these calculations. One could never pinpoint where his tihais started.
The song returns to the first ukuta even as Guruji continues to recite the bols.
Drim-ta-tana-di-re-na
ta-na-di-re-na
ta-na-di-re-na
di-re-na-tana-di-re-na
Aaa...(aspiration)
Kumkum: There are some very unusual movements in this pallavi. This movement is drawn from the maharis. Even in Arabhi Pallavi, he used a lot of movements that were new but then became part of the vocabulary.
Kumkum: Those pakhawaj players who were not dancers or teachers approached bols and movement quite differently. I think it was an advantage for Guruji to know the pakhawaj and be a dancer. He creates a bol and then creates the movement with it, which a non-pakhawaj player would not be able to do.
Kumkum finishes and exits to applause. There is a break in recording.
Kumkum and the compere are now on stage. The compere says something to the audience in Japanese and then holds the microphone out.
Kumkum: I would like to mention that it is a great honour to have Guruji with us today. Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra is one of the greatest gurus alive in India today.
(Japanese translation)
Kumkum: We have also with us Sri Bhubaneswar Mishra who is the architect of Odissi dance music.
(Japanese translation)
Kumkum: All the music that you will hear today has been composed by him just as the dance has been choreographed by Guruji.
(Japanese translation)
Kumkum: I would also like to introduce Manjul Mathur, who's doing the singing, and Sri Sudarshan Das who is on the flute.
(Japanese translation)
Gita Govinda
Jayadeva
Kumkum: Matsu has given you a very eloquent explanation of the Dasavatar. I shall briefly show you the poses used in it.
(Japanese translation)
Kumkum: Vishnu is our god who is in his form as a god...is shown like this. (demonstrates)
(Japanese translation)
Kumkum: He holds the conchshell in one hand (demonstrates while trying explain a conchshell to the interpreter)
(Japanese translation)
Dasavatara
Kumkum: ...the discus in the other hand, the lotus in one hand and the club in one hand. (We also see another person on stage. He was considered an authority on India.)
(Japanese translation continually interspersed with English)
This is his form as a god...
The first avatar is of a fish.
The second is of a tortoise.
The third is of a boar.
Then we have the fourth one of half-man; this is Vishnu's half-pose (demonstrates) and half-lion.
Then we have the vamana - the dwarf.
Then we have the warrior with the axe - Parasurama.
Then Rama with the bow and arrow.
After Rama, (indistinct)...said that the next avatar is of Krishna. In different parts of India, different avatars are believed in.
But in Orissa we believe that Krishna is not an avatar but god himself.
So instead of Krishna, we show as avatar his brother known as Balarama.
(While translating her words to Japanese, the woman asks if Balarama is Krishna's younger or older brother)
Balarama holds a club in one hand and a plough.
(Kumkum says something indistinct)
...because he makes a canal from the Jamuna river. Because the river was very far, and the river would not come near, so he used a plough and brought the river near him.
Kumkum: He's probably a farmer, because he made the first canal by using a plough to drag the Jamuna. But, I mean, that's my interpretation! He had a plough, that's why.
(Kumkum, interspersed by Japanese translation)
The next avatar is of Buddha. Buddha was a reformer in India and Buddhism had its philosophic (sic) basis in the philosophy of the Vedas. But the Vedas had many...these are the Vedas (demonstrates a dance gesture)...they had many...lots of sacrifices, lots of paraphernalia of religion in them and Buddha reformed it. For instance, he saw that animals were being sacrificed.
And he brought about many reforms...
The last avatar is Kalki who's on the horse. And he's going to kill all on earth, over here (laughs).
(and adds) If you're a sinner, only then.
Kumkum: In life, you keep learning - in 20 years I've got some more information about what I'm saying!
Kumkum: Kalki is supposed to come on a horse. In those days, the Muslims had arrived in India.
Ranjana: Oh, it never struck me that the term 'mlechha' here refers to Muslims.
Kumkum: No, that's how we can interpret it, because it was written in the 12th century. It might have something to do with the invasions and all that. The verse says that Kalki will appear with a comet-like sword.
The musicians start playing the opening notes of Dasavatar. Guruji recites the tihai.
Kumkum enters. She covers the entire stage before beginning with the pure dance piece that precedes Dasavatar.
Kumkum: Guruji had stopped correcting me by this time. I used to correct myself but he never tried to correct me.
pralaya-payodhi-jale dhrtavan asi vedam
vihita-vahitra-caritram-akhedam
kesava dhrta-mina-sarira jaya jagadisa hare
Translation:
O Kesava, you descended to the temporary world in the form of a fish and saved the Vedas from the ocean of universal devastation. Hari, may you be victorious!
Kumkum: Dasavatara was composed in 1948 when Guruji used to act in theatre. The dance was meant to be a curtain raiser, or something performed in the interval, to link two dramatic scenes.There was this story about seven merchant brothers and their only sister. The merchants travelled to Bali and one of the things they sold was pattachitra. They unfurl a pattachitra and that shows the scenes from Dasavatara painted on it. That's when the dance was shown in the play.
(Nritta - pure dance sequence)
ksitir-ati-vipula-tare tava tisthati prsthe
dharani-dharana-kina-cakra-garisthe
kesava dhrta-kacchapa-rupa jaya jagadisa hare
Translation:
O Kesava, you supported the earth on your back, where it left a permanent impression, a scar that is your ornament. Hari, may you be victorious!
(Nritta - pure dance sequence)
vasati dasana-sikhare dharani tava lagna
sasini kalanka-kalevanimagna
kesava dhrta-sukara-rupa jaya jagadisa hare
Translation:
O Kesava, you who assumed the form of a boar! Just as the moon appears blemished, the earth rests upon your tusks. Hari, may you be victorious!
Kumkum: It was composed by Pankaj Charan Das. The bols were composed by a variety of people, I think, including Guruji and Durlav Chandra Singh.
(Nritta - pure dance sequence)
tava kara-kamala-vare nakham adbhuta-srngam
dalita-hiranyakasipu-tanu-bhrngam
kesava dhrta-narahari-rupa jaya jagadisa hare
Translation:
O Kesava, with the wonderful, sharp nails of your lotus hands, you tore asunder the body of Hiranyakasipu, just as a bumblebee might tear apart a flower. Having assumed the form of Narasimha, half man and half lion, o Hari, may you be victorious!
(Nritta - pure dance sequence)
chalayasi vikramane balim adbhuta-vamana
pada-nakha-nira-janita-jana-pavana
kesava dhrta-vamana-rupa jaya jagadisa hare
Translation:
O Kesava, assuming the form of a dwarf, you cheat the king Bali on the pretext of begging for three paces of land. The material universe is purified by the waters (of the Ganges) that manifest from your toenails. In your form as vamanadeva, o Hari, may you be victorious!
Kumkum: Bhaujo (Laxmipriya Mohapatra) and Guruji also danced to this together. This version doesn't have any sanchari or repetition of lines. It is quite compact.
(Nritta - pure dance sequence)
ksatriya-rudhira-maye jagad-apagata-papam
snapayasi payasi samita-bhava-tapam
kesava-dhrta-bhrgupati-rupa jaya jagadisa hare
Translation:
O Kesava, you have dispelled the anguish of the world by destroying the ksatriyas and purifying the universe with their blood. You who have appeared as Bhrgupati, o Hari, may you be victorious!
(Nritta - pure dance sequence)
vitarasi diksu rane dik-pati kamaniyam
dasa-mukha-mauli-balim ramaniyam
kesava dhrta-rama-sarira jaya jagadisa hare
Translation:
Kesava, you engaged in battle with the ten-headed demon Ravana and scattered his ten heads as sacrificial offerings to the keepers of the various directions. You did this in your form as Rama. O Hari, may you be victorious!
Kumkum: Many of us know the stories but don't understand the words of the song - often that results in subtle changes of meaning and interpretation.
For instance, the digpalas, the gods of the ten directions were being terrorised by Ravana. So when Rama kills him, he distributes the ten heads in ten different directions, pleasing the digpalas.
So long as we're using these verses, we should know the meaning.
(Nritta - pure dance sequence)
vahasi vapusi visade vasanam jaladabham
hala-hati-bhiti-milita-yamunabham
kesava dhrta-haladhara-rupa jaya jagadisa hare
Translation:
Kesava, in your form as Balarama, you have assumed a brilliant white complexion. Your blue clothes resemble the beauty of newly formed, fresh rainclouds. It seems as if the river Yamuna hides in your clothes, fearing the blow of your plough. O carrier of the plough, may you be victorious!
(Nritta - pure dance sequence)
Kumkum: It is very interesting how Buddha is regarded as an avatar of Vishnu. Historically, it's very important to note that at that stage Buddha was still regarded as a part of the Hindu pantheon.
He is the only really historical figure included in the Dasavatara; by historical I mean that he doesn't come from proto-history or mythology. He was anti-Brahminical because he was saddened by the rituals in the Vedas that sanctioned animal sacrifice.
nindasi yajna-vidher ahaha sruti-jatam
sadaya-hrdaya darsita-pasu-ghatam
kesava dhrta-buddha-sarira jaya jagadisa hare
Translation:
O Kesava, as Buddha, you are compassionate and sensitive, decrying the Vedas when you see the violence inflicted upon sacrificial animals. Oh Hari, may you be victorious!
(Nritta - pure dance sequence)
mlechha-nivaha-nidhane kalayasi karavalam
dhumaketum iva kim api karalam
kesava dhrta-kalki-sarira jaya jagadisa hare
Translation:
O Hari, assuming the form of Kalki, you wield a terrifying sword that appears to be death personified as you annihilate the barbarians. May you be victorious!
Kumkum: My jewellery is all in very good place and nothing is falling off, thanks to Guruji's skilful pinning and tethering.
The older item had no sanchari - I believe the new Dasavatara has a lot of that.
(Nritta - pure dance sequence)
sri-jayadeva-kaver idam uditam udaram
srnu sukha-dam subha-dam bhava-saram
kesava dhrta-dasa-vidha-rupa jaya jagadisa hare
Translation:
O Hari, may you be pleased to hear this magnanimous eulogy by Sri Jayadeva, which bestows both happiness and auspiciousness. O you who appears in ten different forms, this prayer is the extracted essence of all material existence.
(Nritta - pure dance sequence)
This is the concluding sequence. Kumkum exits.
The compere speaks in Japanese. Seated beside her are two men. Then she is seen on stage with Kumkum.
Kumkum: ...about whom you've had a small introduction. As you know, it is a song which tells of the love of Radha and Krishna. But there is a third character in this poem, and that is Radha's friend, who plays the role of the messenger or the medium between the two lovers.
Japanese translation.
Kumkum: I think the word 'tahia' comes from 'tiara'. It used to be made from real flowers. The old teachers would take a small stick from a broom and skewer flowers on it. Then they would shape it using scissors. The one I'm wearing here is made from what they call 'pith', but on some occasions Guruji made a tahia of real flowers for me.
The chita was drawn by Guruji...he used to make it very big, but also measure the spacing carefully.
Do you know the meaning of bengapatia? Benga means a frog. The last line of the three-layered belt has a peculiar shape. It is usually a hollowed piece of metal - the inside is supposed to contain a pebble or a bell; that's how it makes a sound. But nowadays people don't make it, because it means an extra layer of silver that doesn't even show.
I was the first one in Delhi to get a set of jewellery made. Everyone used to borrow it from me till they got their own sets made.
ashtapadi
Kumkum: In this particular song, she comes as the messenger of Krishna to Radha and tells Radha, "Please go to Krishna, he is waiting for you at the banks of the river Jamuna."
(Japanese translation)
Jamuna river - that is the area where Radha and Krishna used to live, near the Jamuna river. So you can understand - this is the river, and this is the bank of the river (demonstrates). He is waiting. And Krishna is as beautiful as the god of love Cupid.
Cupid has a bow and arrow. His arrow consists of five flowers. The god of love is the personification of beauty. So, Krishna, looking as beautiful as the god of love, waits for you; please go there.
Radha is laden with beautiful hips. In India a curvaceous body - beautiful breasts and beautiful hips, are classical signs of beauty.
(The woman blushes as she translates this last sentence into Japanese.)
Kumkum: Because she has heavy hips, she walks heavily. Don't walk slowly, hurry up and go (says the sakhi).
Krishna waits for you there, where the breeze blows softly...and the bees...the bee comes near the flower, when he sees the breeze, he sees small specks of dust in it.
And he thinks that this dust has touched the body of Radha. This is the symbol for woman (demonstrates). The breeze has touched Radha and (indistinct)...is so fortunate that Krishna has not met Radha yet. So, hurry up and go.
Kumkum, interspersed with Japanese translation: Whenever there is a bird which flies from here to there, (indistinct, perhaps 'makes a leaf fall from the tree'), he thinks Radha is coming. And so he prepares a bed of leaves and a pillow of the lotus flower and he waits for you there. Please go, but remove your bangles and your belt because they will make a noise and everybody will know that you are going to (indistinct)...
And also, wear a sari of a dark colour, so that you can hide in the darkness and go. I would like to mention here that there may be one way that a dance which had its origin in religion...why is it so erotic? Why does it always play upon love of man and woman?
Kumkum: Dhira sameere is one of the older Gita Govinda compositions. Kumkum Mohanty used to perform it very often, with Balakrishna Das singing for her. I remember watching her perform in the NDMC Hall on Parliament Street, which no longer exists. I think that was in the 1960. Afterwards, she joined the civil services and got married. She was out of action for more than a decade.
Kumkum, interspersed with Japanese translation: The wordly existence has its parallel in the spiritual (distance?) So during the medieval times, there were (indistinct)...in which it was regarded (indistinct)...and it is the desire of all of us mortals or individuals to have (indistinct)...
Kumkum: So these songs, which are so erotic don't have their meaning only on the physical level, their real symbolic meaning is on the spiritual and philosophical...
There is another interpretation - that the union of man and woman has its moment of ecstasy - ecstatic pleasure - which is indescribable and that feeling of union and ecstasy is comparable and has a parallel with the feeling of nirvana or moksha that an individual soul achieves when he becomes one with the godhead.
(Japanese translation)
Kumkum repeats a few phrases to aid the translation.
Kumkum: In connection with this theory of all of us being women and only god being man, during the 17th century, we had young boy dancers who used to dress up as women and perform the role of the woman, simply because...as a religious offering.
(Japanese translation)
The interpreter asks her for a few clarifications before continuing to speak.
Kumkum: These boys were known as gotipua and my Guruji also, in his childhood, used to be a gotipua. He had his nose pierced and his ears pierced because he used to dance as a girl.
(Japanese translation)
Kumkum: These gotipuas used to dance in a gathering like this (gesticulates at the audience) with all the audience sitting around and during festivals or celebrations...(indistinct)
(Japanese translation)
Kumkum: And sometimes they used to go into the audience, and have a relation with the audience, because they would get some tips or some money.
(Both of them laugh)
This was during the earlier days, nowadays they don't do that.
(Japanese translation)
Kumkum: So Guruji is going to do it in the Gotipua style today.
(Kumkum leaves the stage as the last bit of information is relayed to the audience in Japanese)
The musicians start tuning their instruments.
(Break in recording)
Guruji is now on stage.
dhira-samire yamuna-tire vasati vane vanamali
pina-payodhara-parisara-mardana-cancala-kara-yuga-sali
Translation:
Krishna waits in a forest bower on the Malaya-windswept shore of the Yamuna, adorned by a garland of forest flowers.
His hands have become fickle by caressing the ample breasts of gopis; he waits anxiously for you.
rati-sukha-sare gatam abhisare madana-manohara-vesam
na kuru nitambini gamana-vilambanam anusara tam hrdayesam
Translation:
Go swiftly and meet Krishna at the appointed place, where he anxiously awaits you, dressed as Madana
O young woman, your pace is already slowed down by the weight of your broad hips; don't procrastinate any longer and be late for your tryst
Kumkum: Now that I think about it, Guruji, in a way, pioneered this vocabulary of sanchari - take Radha's walk in this ashtapadi for instance. Guruji never bothered about his dress; his dance is imbued with all the meaning. In this he wears a stitched dress, later, he increasingly veered towards wearing draped dhotis.
dhira-samire yamuna-tire vasati vane vanamali
Translation:
Krishna waits in a forest bower on the Malaya-windswept shore of the Yamuna, adorned by a garland of forest flowers.
This song is in reported speech. The sakhi is describing things; the dancer is describing the role of Krishna. Addressing Radha, she says, don't be lazy, go quickly, because he is waiting for you.
nama-sametam-krta-sanketam vadayate mrdu-venum
bahu manuta nanu te tanu-sangata-pavana-calitan api renum
Translation:
He softly plays the flute, as if he were calling your name
He considers himself fortunate to be touched by the innumerable dust particles that have first touched your body; as they come to him on the breeze, he receives them with great care
Kumkum: He is calling out your name as he plays on the flute; he is giving you a sign. Look at the beauty of the sanchari - it says that the wind touches your body and comes here carrying your fragrance - such imagination!
In this song, the sanchari remains to the point. Later on, Guruji began taking the etymological roots of words into account when he choreographed, so the sanchari could become really long.
dhira-samire yamuna-tire vasati vane vanamali
Translation:
Krishna waits in a forest bower on the Malaya-windswept shore of the Yamuna, adorned by a garland of forest flowers.
patati patatre vicalati patre sankita-bhavad-upayanam
racayati sayanam sacakita-nayanam pasyati tava panthanam
Translation:
As Krishna joyfully makes your bed, he hears all sorts of imaginary voices
Even the bird which lands on a tree and rustles the leaves startles him; he keeps casting expectant glances along the path of your arrival.
Kumkum: Whenever Krishna hears the sound of a falling leaf, he thinks that you are coming. How does the leaf fall? When the birds flit from tree to tree the leaves fall. The leaves fall as the wind blows.
Ranjana: In the sound of every falling leaf, Krishna searches for some sign of your arrival.
Kumkum: A dancer has to separate the role of the person saying things to the audience from that of the character.
Kumkum: 'Rachayati shayanam' is to prepare the bed. Krishna picks up flowers to lay them on the bed.
Ranjana: He picks up a lotus, caressing it as he is startled by the sound of yet another falling leaf. He then places it on the bed he has carefully prepared, despondent because Radha is yet to arrive.
dhira-samire yamuna-tire vasati vane vanamali
Translation:
Krishna waits in a forest bower on the Malaya-windswept shore of the Yamuna, adorned by a garland of forest flowers.
(Pure dance interlude)
mukharam adhiram tyaja manjiram ripum iva kelisu lolam
cala sakhi kunjam satimira-punjam silaya nila-nicolam
Translation:
Take off these ankle bells; they are dangerous enemies which alert others to your walk and are talkative even during love-play
Set out for your secret forest grove, my friend, but wear your blue clothes, which unite you with the darkness of the night.
Kumkum: The sakhi tells Radha - take off all your jewellery, especially your ankle-bells, which are the enemies of love and lovers as the noise they create alerts others to your movement. Take off the earrings that sway merrily, the bangles that jingle so loudly, else you will attract unwanted attention, she says.
Guruji walks out, bowing to the audience.
(Break in recording)
Moksha
Guruji is back at his place behind the mardala. Kumkum walks in and begins to dance.
After the moksha ends, she exits to applause.
moksha
Kumkum: Guruji would go back to play for the moksha because there was no one else who could play the pakhawaj. Shibu (Ratikanta Mohapatra, Guruji's son), was supposed to come for this trip but then didn't.
Pad.ma requires JavaScript.
