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| ARTS TRIBUNE | Friday, July 12, 2002, Chandigarh, India |
Mohiniyattam — music of movement On painting roads
Even ads have a charm of their own |
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Mohiniyattam — music of movement
HER dance is ethereal, transporting you to the world divine where Parvati lures Shiva away from destruction or Radha playfully complains of Krishna’s long absence. Prof Kalamandalam Leelamma, a top-grade performer of mohiniyattom, has not only brought this dance from the world of deities to benefit humankind but also made it the most popular classical dance of Kerala. Professor Leelamma has taken this ‘lasya’ dance form to new heights by compiling novel items without moving away from the traditional approach. “Mohiniyattam signifies ‘music of movement’. Already rich in fluidity of movements and graceful body language. It needs new additions to break the monotony,” she explains. And she has done plenty in this direction. Professor Leelamma has added 60 new steps in her compositions. Professor Leelamma, who came to Chandigarh recently along with her troupe to perform at Kalagram, is working on a book, compiling all her compositions, including innovations, complete with graphic illustrations. “The book is in the final stage,” informs Professor Leelamma, Head of Dance Department, Kerala Kala Mandalam. “The book will be helpful to those interested in learning mohiniyattam, both in Kerala and outside,” says Professor Leelamma. Mohiniyattam which remained confined to the geographical limits of Kerala, is now slowly gaining popularity among the rest of the Indians and foreigners too. Professor Leelamma, alone teaches 200 foreign nationals on the nuances of mohiniyattam. To give it a national flavour, Professor Leelamma has incorporated a number of Hindi poems into her compositions. Professor Leelamma, who hails from the culturally rich Kottayam district of Kerala, started her dancing career in bharatnatyam, kuchipudi and mohiniyattam from Kerala Kalamandalam, when still a child. She later picked, mohiniyattom. “Mohiniyattam is the only feminine dance form evolving from goddess Parvati, dipped in ‘lasya’” she explains. Whatever may be the reason, mohiniyattom surely brings the best in her. Shy and soft-spoken, her timidity disappears as soon as she adorns her dance costume. Little wonder then that Professor Leelamma has been selected for senior fellowship by the Cultural Department, Government of India. She will do research on “New styles in mohiniyattam, introducing compositions other than the generally accepted ones.” Professor Leelamma was awarded by the state Sangeet Natak Akademi for her contribution to the growth of mohiniyattom in 1990. Besides giving the final touches to her book, Professor Leelamma is engaged in performing new ‘padams’ and ‘varnas’ by contemporary poets in the classical style. “The movements and facial expressions in mohiniyattam are so eloquent that language holds little meaning,” says Professor Leelamma. “Be it Sanskrit, Tamil or Hindi, if the theme is good enough to suit the moods of mohiniyattam, I do not hesitate to incorporate it into my compositions,” she adds. |
On painting roads
PAINTING roads may sound interesting and exciting to those who paint and admire art, but this form of art
has recently gained a new dimension of a significant strategy in the modern warfare. Therefore, painting roads no more the sole domain of the artists. The day I saw Sijo, a physically challenged Delhi-based professional artists painting the road despite being on crutches during the day-long campaign to paint the road at the Government College of Art, Chandigarh, recently, the same day I also happened to read a despatch entitled, “How fake guns and painting the roads fooled NATO”, by Robert Fisk reporting from Belgrade. It was surprising to know that NATO had been befooled by painting the roads in war. While the Principal of the Government College of Art, Chandigarh, Mr Braham Prakash, deserves all praise for shaping the idea to paint the road in the college complex so as to add colour to the college, Yugoslav military officials in Belgrade also had a reason to celebrate as their troops had discovered how to mislead by painting the road. Therefore, both the artists as well as the troops had something in common to achieve their goals having a different purpose. A number of professional artists, students and others had recently painted the road with different motifs and shapes at the college as the vast stretch of road provided them a “magnificent canvas” to express their ideas. They all might have painted to the best of their capabilities in the given situation to give vent to their feelings on the road, but the lone physically challenged artist, Sijo, appeared to be the hero of the event as being on crutches he had to bend his body to paint the road. Sijo had made a deep emotional impact upon sensitive minds by braving odds to paint the road. He was the one who chose to paint a pair of bleeding feet with a nail pierced through each of them. Perhaps he found this vast canvas a fine space to express his thoughts bottled up in his mind. His painting will make a lasting impact on the minds of those who had watched him at work and remind us of his bold attempt till the colours remain unfaded. His attempt should also inspire other handicapped persons. This is how painting the roads has not remained confined to the artists and has also become a major part of the modern welfare strategy. Whether the armed forces of other countries will learn a lesson from the Yugoslav troops on painting the roads, is a question to guess, the Principal of the Government College of Art says the idea of painting a college road may be followed by other institutions to add colour to their premises. Above all, the attempt of Sijo will certainly inspire other handicapped persons to consider themselves as an important part of the mainstream and continue to make significant contribution for the development of the society. |
SIGHT &
SOUND
MOST TV viewers consider advertisements the bane of their lives. I myself stop buying consumer items when their ads interrupt my relaxed viewing, particularly of sports events, at crucial moments. But if one must live with ads, and TV channels claim to live because of them, at least they should be pleasant, entertaining and, above all India-orientated so that one can at least get the point and not start thinking American. I would, therefore, like to list this week my favourite ads which sometimes add to my viewing pleasure. Top of my list, and this is a new one, is of the two-wheeler ad where three dear old gentlemen are trying to identify Sachin Tendulkar, the man on the motor cycle. They keep on saying. “We have seen you somewhere”, while Sachin smiles modestly. Then a gust of air blows away the cap of one of the old men. Sachin gives chase, with the gentleman sitting behind him, recovers the cap from a little boy who has picked it up, and the old man has enjoyed the ride so much that he asks for another ride. Then, as he gets off, he looks closely at Sachin and then says. “Now I remember where I have seen you before. You were in ‘Lagaan’.”Now that is a sixer, if ever there was one and I think Sachin enjoys the joke as much as we do. Still another ad charms one, and again it features Sachin, who is so credible in ads because he is just his own modest self. This time it is a young man who is leaning possessively against a car as Sachin walks up. “Nice car”, says Sachin. The young man looks even more possessive as he mentions the good points of the car. “Shall we go for a ride?” asks Sachin. Then as the young man fumbles in his pocket for the key, Sachin brings it out from his own pocket. As the former man looks suitably nonplussed, Sachin sportingly takes him for a ride. I cannot think of an ad where Sachin does not look his own, relaxed and modest self. And he does not mind pretending to be unrecognised. Now if it had been Amitabh Bachchan, who would have believed that any young man could not recognise him? Then, in contrast to the overdone shot-in-Venice and with Shah Rukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor, there is the really amusing one of Aamir Khan selling “thanda”, speaking a delightful folksy patois and meeting his match in a pretty girl who puts him in his place by deliberately calling him “Bhaiyya” as he tries to browbeat her. Children have been more misused in ads than perhaps women, but I like the quiet one where a little boy brings mineral water for his heavily pregnant mother and then pours a thimbleful of water in the cap of the bottle for the unborn one. A tender moment and the mother, instead of breaking into filmi dialogue or, as happens elsewhere, giving her son an elaborate technical explanation about how a certain TV will not hurt his eyes, just gently, lovingly and wordlessly caresses her little son in a way that conveys much more than a filmi dialogue. I also like the Bajaj ad where everyone, from the young woman with the sindoor setting her hair right in the mirror, to the young Sikh man who halts in front of the Golden Temple with his lady love and helps her cover her head with a dupatta, to the young boys carrying a sitar with aplomb, make their point about the
adaptability of the two-wheeler without over-stating its case. In addition, all ads I have mentioned are visually explicit as well as lovely to look at. And now to my hate ads, which are mostly those lifted intact from foreign or redone without retaining their original charm. I wish they would give up discovering new girls in new locales splashing about for the Liril ad. The first Liril ad done, if I am not mistaken, by my old friend Alyque Padamsee, remains a classic of its kind. It can neither be bettered nor does it need updating. They should leave well alone. The surrogate ads, with soda or apple juice filling in for hard liquor may be the only way out for a puritan government’s
inhibitions, but they are a clear case of deceit. Why don’t they fight it out in the law courts instead of this kind of silliness on the part of both the government and the advertisers? As for the blatant sexist angle and exploitation of the female body, the less said the better. A good start has been made by a Mumbai women’s organisation which has given its first lot of booby prizes to offending serials and TV programmes. They should also set up a watchdog body for advertisements. The worst offenders, as I have said before, are those for men’s underwear which are not only indecent to look at but also depict women as swooning at the very sight of men bulging out of them or planting kisses on a man’s torso when they have gone into a men’s toilet by mistake. I find these ads nauseating to look at and most offensive to women. |
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