'Aap ke paao haseen hai inhe jameen par na rakhiye maile ho jayenge'... this is the famous line from the classic film Pakeezah. The film portrays the life of a tawaif - a professional dancer.
The above lines are addressed by the hero who falls in love with the beautiful pair of feet adorned with red alta and silver anklets. He leaves this note near the feet of the tawaif who is in deep sleep on a train journey. This note makes her believe that there is someone who is madly in love with her and she feels a surge of unknown joy invading her being. But, this is a temporary feeling as she soon faces the hard fact of her life.
It is an irony to ask a tawaif not to place her feet on floor, which goes unsaid in her profession. The plot plays around this bitter fact and its repercussions on the love story.
Still, the note is potent with yet another irony. The beautiful feet which play a key role in the life of tawaif can be taken as a metaphor for her art and soul which might get soiled by the corrupt eyes of her patrons. This is the tragic fact of a tawaif's life.
Tawaif was the community of talented female dancers. They were well versed in poetry and literature and were the divas of the Lucknow court. There were many categories of tawaifs who used to entertain the courtiers and their families. They were an institution in themselves in respect of art and fashion. It was a trend among the young heirs of nawabs to undertake training in courtly manners and etiquettes from the tawaifs.
Tawaifs played a great role as custodians of dance and music. Many of them were trained under gharanedar male Kathak dancers and legendary singers. Gauhar Jaan a renowned tawaif could sing in multiple languages like Hindi, Urdu, English and French. It was only after the act of moral purity by the British, that the tradition of tawaifs descended to unfortunate profession. That was not easy to accept for many of them who were forcibly thrown in the dungeons of darkness.
It was not the tawaif who defamed dance, because the tradition of ganikas and rajnartakis is age old in India. They were the gems of Indian courts like the most celebrated Amrapali. Many of the courtesans and tawaifs were advisors to the king, and had actively contributed in the struggle for freedom.
The association of dance with courtesan was not looked down upon in early eras. Had it been that way, the tradition of dance would not have flourished in the following centuries. The ignorant British rulers who could not appreciate the art of Indian dance banned the art of devadasis and tawaifs leading to their downfall.
The irony that hit me about the love note....paao jameen par mat rakhiye maile ho jayenge.....is that the art of tawaif became malign on the soiled ground of the so called moral purist.
Today, tawaifs are generalised as women of low virtue, but before making this assumption one must try to understand the institution that was tawaif.
Dr Varada Pandit
Really true & nicely written 👌👌
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