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DECEMBER 6, 2001 MALLIKA SARABHAI “In Search of the Goddess” The Mother Goddess has always had a central role in Hindu mythology and belief. In a philosophy which accepts the primary being as “Ardhanarishwara”, a being half female-half male. Devi or Shakti is the primal kinetic energy without whom the male remains passive and immobile. In this performance, Mallika Sarabhai explored the perception of Shakti through classical dance, storytelling and mime. Taking some traditional pieces from the repertoire of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi, she juxtaposed these with her own contemporary interpretations of the Mother Goddess, using her own writing and that of other modern writers.

She used traditional Sanskrit slokas for Devi avatars of Lakshmi, Saraswathi, Durga and Ganga. Draupadi and her turmoils were dramatized while in the story of Savitri, Mallika used a puppet head to symbolize Yama and Satyavan. As a finale, she used definitive verses from dance texts and drew a lion on a sheet with her dancing feet. In what context does she (Draupadi) explain Geetopadesam in the court of Duryodana?
The Geetopadesam is all about dharma and what your duty is and Krishna gave it when it was convenient because he wanted a war. But in fact, the first major breakdown of dharma and each of the husband's duties came in the gambling when she was nearly raped and stripped. So it was Krishna's convenience again which she questioned because then the Mahabharata wouldn't have happened. The real war of conscience should've been then. The basic question is if somebody has lost himself, does he wound somebody else? The question is whether Krishna wanted the story to continue or whether the main issue was of the teaching of dharma. Obviously the teaching of dharma wasn't the main issue. The main issue was that he wanted the war.

Why is it that there's a tendency to ask you a conceptual question rather than a question about art?
You must ask the questioner this, why ask me?

Because there seems to be a lot of emphasis on the concept and much less concentration on the art form as such.
What is art form? To me, my arts are a way of talking about issues, talking about things I want to convey. In the case of a Bharatanatyam kutcheri, obviously the context is different. But I'm not doing a Bharatanatyam kutcheri. Here, my use of Bharatanatyam, my use of theatre, my use of storytelling, my use of Kuchipudi, is to get the issue across, get the idea across. So, the show is about ideas, not about showing my Bharatanatyam skills.

Do you consider yourself a feminist dancer or a fake feminist dancer?
I consider myself neither a fake nor a feminist dancer. I consider myself a human rights person.

I think you are re-interpreting what has been universalised, kind of internalised by women. That's where you are different. It's like a kind of BJP rewriting. More women should come and do that.
Thank you.

You've put your mind, heart and soul into the concept. When do you think the society decadence is going to end and what is the solution?
If you ask me generally, I think a boiling point will come. Because we've been brainwashed into thinking we are either fatalistic or tolerant, our crucial boiling point is taking longer. But I think the fastest way of bringing it about, is to create a freer and more open society, a more humane society, is to have the courage to accept that in no way are we different or superior to the other person. We might have superior skills, but as human beings, we each of us have the same rights and same space as everybody else. And I advice women that one of the fastest ways of doing this is to bring up their children differently. If I can make my son and daughter see other people as human beings rather than as male or female, then I have already doubled the effects of change.

Your performances and the issues that you raise reach an elite audience more often than not. What efforts would you make to reach...
Would you call the 8000 beedi workers in Kedar district an elite audience? You are wrong. The previous performances of my show 'Sita's Daughters'…I've done 380 performances in 40 countries. From multiple rape victims in Kutch, 12 women, all of them who had been gang raped, called me. We did a performance just for the 12 women under a banyan tree. And a 90 minute show went on for 4 hours, because after each scene, one of them would break down and recount her story. From that to it becoming compulsive viewing for all SAARC supreme court judges as part of their general training, to it being taught as women studies and religious studies in 7 universities in the US, 8000 beedi workers inviting me 2 years ago on International Women's Day to perform in this massive maidan in Kedar...so, I don't think it's elitist. I don't perform only in English, I do in Gujarati, broken Bengali, broken Marathi...and I think the issues are so real. They are not elitist or mind issues.

These are women that everybody lives with. Every little girl in the village is told, 'Be like Savithri, be like Sita'. Everyone is told, 'Don't be ignoble'. These are not icons. These are women and men we live with everyday. In school, we are told, 'See, he looks like Bheema'. In a western context, we don't have someone saying 'He looks like Christ'. It's not the same relationship with our myths and goddesses. It's a much more personal intimate context.

You did a brief sketch of ragabeda, talabeda, gatibeda. What was the contextual relevance?
That is a traditional Kuchipudi piece. I have taken 2 traditional pieces as pieces, the panchadevi piece in the beginning is a Bharatanatyam piece from the traditional repertoire. Wherever I needed to change, wherever I needed to rewrite, I have done. The simhavahini is a piece extolling the one who saved the goddess. It is exactly as it is in the sampradaya.

Do you consider yourself to be a human or a goddess?
After the treatment meted to a goddess, do you think I would even dare? I would like to think of myself as humane.

e-mail: darpana@icenet.net


The Other Festival Q & A: Audience Artist Interface