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Humility, thy name is greatness. Well, Shakespeare may not have said so. But one meeting with the living legend Pandit Birju Maharaj, Padma Vibushan, the indomitable exponent of Lucknow-Kalka Bindadin Gharana of Kathak, and one is compelled to observe so. For here is a dancer par excellence who has redefined Kathak without compromising with its essence or purity, and who has every reason to preen if not exactly gloat over his never-ending list of achievements and honours that also include Kalidas Samman and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. Yet the dancer, who has influenced generations of dancers with his easy grace and scintillating footwork quips: "I want to remain a student till my last breath and continue with my quest that began in childhood." Just as a fish needs no lessons in swimming, he took to Kathak naturally. Born in the family of legendary artistes, both music and dance raced in his blood and he can not only play drums with consummate ease but has also given music for presentations like Romeo Juliet. He recalls how as a child of two years he would try to imitate artistes in his family.
Today, as he has surpassed what he imbibed from illustrious father Acchan Maharaj and uncles Shambhu and Lacchu Maharaj, all he says is: "Its God’s grace but then I was fortunate to have learnt the finer nuances from more than one person. It was like Ganga, Jamuna, Saraswati coming together in me." With his feet firmly grounded in tradition, he went on to enthuse new life into the dance form, constantly reinventing its idiom and expanding its frontiers in myriad ways. "The beauty of Kathak", he says, "lies in its naturalness and its ability to reflect life as it exists and draws from real life postures." Only the legendary dancer acquired the ability to weave choreographies not only around traditional myths and literature like Roopmati Bajbahadur, Kumar Sambhav but also simple every day happenings. "I am inspired by life and record it on my mind’s camera and refine those images later on." So if one moment he is busy writing a kavit like "mein jangal ki laakdi, mera na kahi mol," at another time he prepares a choreography dovetailing the life of a piece of iron, newspaper and even abstract concepts like editing. "Kathak", he agrees "is a dance form that lends itself easily to innovation." But he, who has juxtaposed his Kathak performance with flamenco dancers and more recently mesmerised audiences with a jugalbandi with ghazal king Jagjit Singh, too, is dead against experimentation for the heck of it. Says he: "When artistes can’t hold an audience with the power of their art, they resort to gimmicky. But I refuse to sell plastic flowers. I create a bouquet of fresh flowers." Thus in a career, nay tapsaya, spanning four decades, he has never resorted to short cuts and knows there are none en route to success. Thus he, who runs a dance school Kalashram, is amused by parents who expect him to transform their children into artistes overnight. "As if I possess a magic wand that will make them dancers in a jiffy." The magic of Kathak, however, he feels can be compressed in a few minutes, too. Not just in cinema where he composed and sang for Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj Ke Khiladi or trained Madhuri Dixit for a thumri in the movie Devdas but also in programmes like the Independence Day at New York when the schedule so demands. He smiles, "If Lata Mangeshkar can delight listeners in a three-minute song, why not classical artists?" On the changing face and tastes of audiences he says: "Audiences today are a divided lot. Anyway those who care to visit a night bar are unlikely to come for my performance. But I have my fair share of aficionados." And an equal measure of disciples, too, spread all over India and abroad from various countries and continents, besides, of course, his son and daughter. He quips: "In our
generation, our sisters were not allowed to dance but now times have
changed." Not that the going is smooth for male dancers. Says he:
"Women are endowed with natural beauty and grace. So male dancers
have to work twice as hard to make their mark." Only few like him
are not only born to dance but blaze a path, ordinary mortals would find
impossible to tread on. But then he is God’s chosen one for whom his
art is an instrument for communication and divine communion.
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