Freedom is every man’s birthright and it’s not just about seeking it from an oppressive foreign misrule, but also from one’s own internal demons.
Fetters like drug addiction, alcohol abuse and criminal offences paralyse a person’s feet from taking a flight towards life with the wings of his wish-fulfillment. Hence, to break free of such shackling barriers, a therapeutic balm becomes an essential antidote to the sufferers. Putting forth a curative performance, well-known artistic director and choreographer Alokananda Roy has retrieved many a distressed soul to the tracks of redemption. Currently, winning accolades for her latest rendition Mokshagati, which means independence and attaining a spiritual nirvana, the danseuse continues to lend that much-needed healing touch to troubled minds, so that they turn over a new leaf and pave a positive path in life.
All set to stage the show at the premier management institute, IIM Joka (Behala in Kolkata) come August 2, the prime-mover and key conceptualiser behind the colourful spectacle informs that this is her fourth project on the rot. “When I did my maiden production Brothe-rhood Beyond Boundaries with the inmates of a correctional home, my initial thought was to lend them a feel good experience, more than seeing them reformed. I remember, we held our opening show at Rabindra Sadan, and the audience gave my troupe of dancers a standing ovation,” shares Roy. “Look, the perpetrators get punished for the evil they commit in life. But, post a strict phase of penance, they deserve social acceptance. At least give them a second chance to atone for their actions and evolve as better human beings. You see they always appear gratified when they are treated as artistes. It offers a cathartic effect on their lives,” she further endorses. The journey, which started as a mere workshop of music and dance, has now scripted history by enlightening a lot of drifted individuals who once deviated from the mainstream.
Narrating a tale of surrender, forgiveness and salvation, Mokshagati is a dance-drama adapted from the inspirational life and deeds of the great Indian historic figure, Emperor Ashoka. With his transformation from ‘Chandashok’ to ‘Dharmashok’, the samrat has set a tremendous example over centuries which is still so relevant to the youth of the contemporary age. The story follows the journey of Ashoka’s life, his coronation, his wedding, the famous Kalinga war etc. The most interesting part of the play’s narrative is to weave out a tapestry of dance forms, ranging from the martial arts to steps of Kathakali, Odissi, and Kathak moves, with a bright background screen-projection.
“As the theatrical piece is considerably involved with warfare, so including martial arts skills and movements into it was highly imperative to its context. And I have more number of boys than girls in my group. Therefore, displaying the masculine strength and virility was important on this occasion,” explains Roy.
Introducing the Kalinga plot as a crucial character in the play, Roy stresses that nothing is nobler than forgiveness. “If we can overcome our self-imposed ego and forgive the delinquents, then I guarantee you, it will be their biggest defeat,” she notes. “I do abide by the philosophy of non-violence, or ahimsa propounded by Gandhism. As a matter of fact, all great minds preach the tenets of love and compassion. In a way, violence falls to the feet of pardon. Fact is, we can’t rewind the hands of the clock and undo the events. But we can certainly repent and make amends for it. The current need of the hour is an ethical ablution to rid the human society of heinous crimes,” she further espouses. Abstaining from the eye-for-an-eye dictum, Roy subscribes that “it will ultimately make the whole world blind. Wouldn’t it?” Earlier in June-end, Mokshagati was performed by the residents of Presidency and Alipore Correctional Homes at Kolkata’s G.D. Birla Sabhaghar auditorium, in association with Mukti Rehabilitation Centre, to celebrate the latter’s 10th anniversary in delivering philanthropic projects and providing a holistic care and rehabilitation to the addicted. Ahead, a string of Mokshagati shows is lined up in Mumbai and Delhi. “During the Pujas, we’ll head to Mumbai to present the play on all four days of the festivity, followed with a performance slated for the Pragati Maidan in the capital,” she dispenses the dope. While appreciation and acceptance by the society are the greatest rewards for the strung outs, getting them attuned to the ways of this world is also a task that seldom few Samaritans like danseuse Alokananda Roy takes up on her own shoulders. And it’s through her craft that she attempts to provide a magic potion to sober down the diverted minds. Her famous stage-presentation Valmiki Pratibha is a fabled overture from her illustrious oeuvre of works. A timeless Tagore piece, Roy ascertains that “the bard serves up everything on our platter. His dance-dramas are so relevant even in today’s era. The transformation from bandit Ratnakar to Valmiki, the sage is like every man’s eternal saga on this earth. After all, life is a mishmash of both virtues and vices. Which road you will choose is up to you. But, often unavoidable circumstances and unwarranted situations force a man to pick up the wrong pebbles instead of the right ones.”
It is true that despite returning to the outside prosaic world after walking through fire from behind the caging bars, the yesteryear prisoners often have to bite the dust and wade through difficult times even to get a toehold for bare survival in this society. From finding a job to getting married and also to be inducted back into the family is a chain of lengthy processes that a rectified offender has to forever cope with till he is alive. “Sadly enough, we don’t easily forgive them, deep down from the bottom of our hearts, do we?” she contemplates.
Instead of driving a wedge between the law-makers and breakers, Roy appears determined to bridge the gap between them. “Probably, I’ll do a piece with the police and the miscreants, where there will be no wall between the two battling factions,” she divulges. Titled Evolution Of Our Protector, a brigade of 250 trainees under Kolkata police troops will render an 8-minute performance, designed to tell a tale on the emergence and growth of the guardians of law and order, right from the erstwhile jaagte raho watchdogs with lathis and canesticks in villages to modern-day cops with arms, batons and patrolling vans in cities. Precisely, a taste of such progressive medicines is required to improve the society which has been constantly submerged in dirt.