Expressions

I finally met up with the director of the Musuem, Kalpana Desai who informed me that the next show (beginning December 08,1997) will be on Mughal Patkas (sashes). It is being organised in association with Shri Martand Singh, chairman of Textile Art of India, New Delhi. It promises to be unusual in all aspects.

Painted mask

Kathakali troupes who perform in small village temples seldom pass through Mumbai. Even when they do, performances are staged in theatres and the audience is far removed from a dance form nurtured in the interiors of Kerala. This last week, spent in Kottakkal, watching young boys practising till beads of perspiration glittered on their oiled bodies, made me aware of the rigorous training the art form demands. The PSV Natyasangham, which has performed in the city at Matunga and Chembur, will return early next year.

It is a small troupe which stages attakathas including new ones like Ayyappachaaritham and Thilithama. In the guru-sishya tradition, young boys reside in huts surrounded by coconut trees and the sound of chenda (drums) reverberates all day as activities continue unabated: singing, dancing, costume design. Over the centuries, Kathakali has remained unchanged, timeless and now popularised via Arundhati Roy’s prize winning book which describes the Kathakali man as "The most beautiful of men. Because his body is his soul. His only instrument. From the age of three, it has been planned and polished, pared down, harnessed wholly to the task of storytelling.

He has music in him, this man with the painted mask and swirling skirts."

From the past

The Prithvi Festival has invited the well-known director Kavalam Narayana Panikkar whose rare brand of theatre combines many art forms, including Kathakali, Koodiyattam and folk. I remember meeting him a few years ago and being enthralled as he talked about diverse elements magically coming together. "You have to see it," he said. So naturally, the play Theyyatheyyam, being staged at the festival, is on top of my list.

During my stay in Kerala, I met K T Mohammed, a senior playwright and Central Akademi award winner. His play, This is Earth written way back in 1953, created quite a stir, offending religious sentiments. According to him, most theatre in Kerala today plays it safe’. I was surprised to learn that of the 1,000-odd plays staged every year in Malayalam, many are biographical, based on the life of Subhash Chandra Bose or Swami Vivekananda.

In a culture as rich as ours with its great epics, folklore and mythology, will our theatre remain grounded in the past? Mohammed agrees, "It’s difficult to deal with the present on stage. Indeed, to deal with the present is to question many established norms and often draw the wrath of fundamentalists."

Only brickbats

Writers in Kerala remain an outspoken lot. Kamala Das, who created shock waves by exposing the smug morality of the middle class Malayali, received the Vayalar Award, the same day Roy bagged the Booker. Characteristically, on receiving the award, she said, "When flowers are thrown, I’m a bit surprised!" She’s more used to stones.

Das was in Mumbai a few years ago for a Poetry Circle Award function and the large auditorium was filled to its full capacity — such is her following.The last wordASKED Ms Vulture to Ms Culture: When stones are hurledand fundamentalists cry foul’…Who comes to the artist’s rescue?State awards long, long overdue.