Striving for merit, 25 years later

[1]

Odissi, which is perhaps the only form of classical dance to have been mentioned in the Natyashastra, has come a long way. In the early 50s when it was undergoing refinement, there were a lot of creative heads who came together to unify the process of Odissi. The one institution which has been spearheading the process of research and development within Odissi, and keeping the spirit alive has undoubtedly been the Odissi Research Centre, also known as the Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Odissi Research Centre in Bhubaneshwar. The institution, which celebrates its silver jubilee this year, has undergone a lot of changes, seen various ups and downs, and yet emerged strong.
As it completes 25 years, the lady who runs the show, Sangita Gosain says that things had seen a lull, but have gained momentum again. “The last two-three years weren’t exactly the best of times that the institute had seen. But things have improved again, and it’s once again on the upswing,” says Gosain. Years ago, when Gosain joined as a trainee, the research centre was still in its nascent stages and was just developing. “I became a staff member in the later years. In the initial years Kum Kum Mohanty, who was at the helm of all affairs ensured things went ahead and made some progress. She was a hard taskmaster. I still maintain that those days the passion was exciting and we had the best team. Guru Kelucharan Mohaptra, Raghunath Panigrahi, Sanjukta Panigrahi and many other illustrious names actually ran the centre,” says Gosain. She reminisces how Guruji would come to check at five in the morning if the students were up and practising. “The research centre selects 10 students for dance and music and gives them intensive training. The productivity was extremely good and the first four batches were extremely successful. They produced the best dancers we have today,” states Gosain. She says that over the years the standard and quality of students deteriorated.
“It’s just that due to various issues, we’ve not had good students enroll. Many students opt out in between the course. Also, the demand for other professional courses like medicine and engineering took such a leap that many others were left behind. And very few would come to performing arts. But things have been changing in the last year. There have good students coming to the institute and we’re witnessing the same kind of spirit being enthused among students once again,” says Gosain adding that the Orissa government has taken a lot of efforts to ensure that the research centre does well. “Of course, more needs to be done, but it wouldn’t be right not to the mention the amount of work that the government has done as well,” she adds.
Gosain says that funding has been a huge problem, but has improved since the initial days. “In the beginning, we had lower salaries and very few hands to work with. Fortunately, that has changed today. Earlier, one could not manage in that kind of salary. But today the financial pressures are less. We are yet to receive the salaries as per the Sixth Pay Commission and we hope that we receive that soon,” says Gosain.
Considering that Odissi has seen different styles emerge from the eminent gurus in Odissi, the Odissi Research Centre acts as an umbrella absorbing all styles. “I don’t know what led everyone to believe that the Centre follows only one style. All dance styles are actually more or less the same with very basic differences. Just because it was named after Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, it doesn’t mean that the different styles by other gurus are not followed,” says Gosain.
Research and development is the need of the hour and Gosain says that they are trying their best to archive and document everything. “Our approach is different and we want to achieve the best. We’ve been documenting over the years and that effort will go on. At present my desire is to let excellent artistes prosper, artistically and financially. I am hoping to develop it holistically,” says Gosain.