All men have poetry in their hearts, and it is necessary for them, as much as possible, to express their feelings. For this they must have a medium, moving and pliant, which can refreshingly become their own, age after age,” says Nobel Laureate poet Guru Rabindranath Tagore. The poet-philosopher Tagore dips his mind into a pensive mood-palette to paint the magic wonders of nature with his melodic words. And we as readers soak in the same essence after imbibing the spirit, vim and vibrancy of his composed pearls of poems beaded into a neckpiece.
Paying a humble tribute of reverence to the poet-laureate in his 150th birth anniversary year, ace Kathak exponent Amita Dutt, professor of dance faculty, Rabindra Bharati University (Kolkata) and the artistic director and honorary secretary of her reputed troupe Ananda Chandrika, recently rendered a colourful recital of Bhanusingher Padavali at Kolkata’s Rabindra Sadan auditorium.
A signature Tagorean style of creation, Bhanusingher Padavali is a dance-drama based on the versatile poet’s rich collection of songs and poems. The spectacular production was also armed with a well-knit script, choreography, direction and recitation of verses in a recorded voice-over. Kudos to Dutt for spearheading such a prolific venture single-handedly. “There was a time when Bengal lacked a definitive pattern of dance genres to represent the province. This was noticeable even during the centenary celebration of Gurudev in 1961. The level of dance in Bengal was then set below the hallmark of quality and superlative standards. Tagorean dance or Rabindrik Nritya is particularly endowed with a figment of mix-n-match meshwork of features, drawn from different classical dance forms like Bharatanatyam, Manip-uri, Kathakali, et al. There was no specific state-based classical dance form to refer to. From there to thus far, time has changed drastically and now the quality of representation has taken a meteoric leap,” says the danseuse.
Ascribing Tagore as one of the nation’s top-league global cultural icons, the ministry of culture (Government of India) has decided to offer him a tribute on his 150th birth anniversary through projects undertaken by the ministry directly or by autonomous organisations with the support of the ministry under its Tagore Commonwealth grant scheme.
Under this scheme, the 25-year-old non-profit cultural organisation Ananda Chandrika has been chosen as a recipient of the Tagore Commonwealth Grant. “We thought it was befitting to stage the musical production of Bhanusingher Padavali on this occasion. The production combines Tagore’s compilation on the Radha-Krishna theme written in Maithili and in Bengali, the presentation of which being enhanced by Kathak. While at the same time, it retained the lyricism and expressive content of the poet Laureate, intact,” says Dutt.
Shedding light on Tagore’s global appeal and acceptance among compatriots, Dutt says, “Bengal unanimously loves Tagore. What Nazrul (renowned revolutionary poet Kazi Nazrul Islam) is to Bangladesh, Tagore is to the people of West Bengal. But his flavours and fragrance might not be as pervasive as popular culture. He is universal and so are his works. But across national frontiers, he is still confined to the regional belts and zones.”
Coming back to her stage-rendition of Bhanusingher Padavali, Dutt says that there are millions of devotees and disciples, who follow the cult of Vaishnavite poets. “Even the famous poetry of Vidyapati Thakur, who was an acclaimed Maithili poet and a Sanskrit writer, is still hailed among the Hindi speaking communities.
The members of Vidyapati Manch approached me directly with a proposal to showcase the illustrious Tagorean text on stage. I’m seriously contemplating on the offer, because I am always game for a cultural exchange,” she reasons.
Delving into Tagore’s subject, Dutt has interspersed her script with a couple of songs and odes penned by the bard from outside the Padavali anthology.
“I’ve streamlined my performance-piece by borrowing from Tagore’s other collections and viraha (alienation) poems. And as far as the dance bit goes, I’ve rather tried to induce more of the abhinaya (acting and body lingo) aspect of Kathak, than its familiar footwork and grammar. Here I’ve made sure to highlight the content to a greater degree instead of the classical codification. Because in this particular format, Tagore’s ideas took the pivotal pole around which the entire performance revolved. So his thoughts and themes were essentially fore grounded. There was a sense of passion, joy, rhythmic variations, songs, dances, raagas like purva and taalas (beats) like jhaaptal merging into one spectrum, thereby completing the whole canvas,” she says.