MANTHAN

                                     MANTHAN

Connecting Mythological Stories to Contemporary Times

A performing art is a socio-cultural phenomenon, and is highly influenced by the events taking place in the society. It comprises of the portrayal of human experiences and expression. These include philosophy, poetry, literature, history, mythology, all of which makes a huge body of written word. The performing art Kathak heavily relies on the above said sahitya (literature).

In the ancient times the Purana-s (mythology) was the most efficient way of documenting history. It was the fantastic blend of historical facts, imaginary flights and philosophy. The history was thus revealed in the form of stories which also taught moral values. Among these, the Krsna lore is the prime content of Kathak dance. The stories of Krsna offer valuable insights of the social and cultural scene in those times. Many of these stories have significant relevance even today.

Thinking on these grounds I tried to combine some of the mythological stories to today’s burning issues and mal practices in the society. This churning of thoughts gave rise to my production ‘Manthan’.

The Thought Behind ‘Manthan’

The famous Samudra – Manthan which took place between the devas and asuras, is the main plot of my choreography. This is metaphorically seen as the churning of mind which gives out the positive and negative elements. Laksmi and amrt being the positive and Alaksmi and vis being the negative elements. Each has its own effect on the human mind and in turn on the society.

The same metaphor can be applied to the Universal Mind. The churning of this mind brings out positive and negative elements embodied in personalities like Ram, Krsna, Ravan and Kaliya respectively. At every time interval the society is influenced by them in different way.

The poison of Kaliya still exists in form of plastic and other waste material that pollutes water and environment. The Ravan and Dusasan continue to abuse females of all age. The Govardhan lila gives us the message of protecting the environment. By worshiping the mountain Govardhan, Krsna reestablished nature worship which is still the need of time. Today we worship Krsna but do not try to imbibe the values that he tried to set in the society. The innocent prank of ‘makhan cori’ played by Krsna is celebrated today as ‘govinda’ festival. The celebration that we see today includes everything except the soul of Krsna. Moreover, it causes potential harm to the society.

On one hand we celebrate the festival of Navaratri, paying obeisance to mother Durga and Kali, and on other hand the women and child abuse cases are growing day by day. So, what is this celebration about? Are we still waiting for the avatars of Ram and Krsna?

Its time that we realize that both the positive and negative elements reside within our own mind. By eternal churning of the mind, one has to counteract the negativities with the positive power of the mind.

Presentation

The choreography of ‘Manthan’ is a blend of traditional and contemporary thought. The mythological episodes in ‘Manthan’ are choreographed in traditional format of gat-bhav, kavitt and gat-nikas. The contemporary scenes are choreographed in an innovative manner using pure Kathak technique.  To convey the message more effectively the contemporary scenes -like, draught, flood, child abuse, are illustrated on screen by projecting different slides, while interpreting the same in dance. The connection of mythological stories to the contemporary situations is brought out with the help of narration. The entire music includes only instrumental music and kavitts. The use of levels, light design and sound effect create the mood and environment of both traditional and contemporary pieces. The costumes and make-up are traditional, with a slight change in the hair accessory. Instead of a ‘gajara’ an artificial golden rose is worn by the dancers.

Conclusion

The performing art Kathak offers the scope for expression of mind and one’s creative ideas. As a part of society, it is vital that it should showcase the good and bad events happening in the society. The old mythological stories and the old art of Kathak go hand in hand since ages and both are still thriving with their inbuilt scope for interpretation. What is contemporary today becomes tradition tomorrow, making the tradition old and new at the same time.

Dr. Varada Pandit