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 Yamini: The enigma - Leela Venkataraman e-mail: leelakaverivenkat@gmail.com August 12, 2024 Words fail me even as I try hard to capture in writing, the magic of that meteor, streaking across the skies and illuminating the dance world - adding a different texture to Indian dance history. Even amidst changing socio/political contours with dance trying to steer a path between flagrant sensuality and punctilious religiosity, Yamini Krishnamurti burst on the scene - the sheer exuberance, joy, sparkle and effulgence of her dance making all arguments meaningless. The formal contours of Bharatanatyam, of Kuchipudi, of Odissi apart, what Yamini's magic gave to the dance was something that came from within her. It was Yamini's dance, which could not be replicated. The minute she stepped on the stage, that switch was turned on, and carried the audience along with its ecstasy. There will never be another Yamini! For one who embodied movement at its twinkling best, the still, mummified figure inside the glass dome, at Yamini dance school, seemed an affront. It was exactly sixty years back, when I was expecting my son, that my father took me by car from Chittaranjan, where he was based, to Asansol, a Railway headquarters township, to watch a dance performance by Yamini Krishnamurti, at the railway club. The inexplicable effect of that dance, with sister Jyotishmati singing melodiously, made me feel punch drunk and I was on a high - and my father wondered about the wisdom of taking me to such a show when I was in a delicate state of health!  Much later when I met Yamini when she came to Bhubaneswar, and later, off and on in Delhi, when she was not performing, she was like the 'girl next door'- totally without artifice of any kind and so matter of fact that one wondered if the two identities I had come across - one on stage and one off it, belonged to the same person! Totally without guile, she was also fearless, always upholding the dignity of a dancer - never running after and seeking VIPs. They acknowledged her presence in gatherings. Standing out amidst innumerable impressions, are those of her performing for the Ashok Hotel Cultural Theatre. She was the only dancer, even amongst the "Prima Donnas'' as the Cultural Executive A.J. Jaspal insisted on emphasizing whenever one mentioned her, for whom the sliding wooden partitions on both sides of the center of the enormous Convention Hall, had to be pulled to one side, to accommodate the huge gatherings which came to watch her dance. Yamini's father with his British accent, intoning away in my ears (at that time the official compere), that she was not just Yamini but Yamini Krishnamurti, the rapturous audience, the standing ovations, and the very satisfied and happy look on the Air India like turbaned face of A.J. Jaspal, are ineradicable images, for me. Yamini's feel for rhythm was instinctive. I remember her rehearsing the intricate Trikala teermanams in a varnam she was to present for a much advertised program the next evening, with P.V. Subramaniam (Subbudu), the critic nonpareil, watching from the sidelines. He felt what she was attempting with such a jump, was too difficult and would present problems in synchronization with the nattuvangam. Yamini's gazelle like leaps were a phenomenon, and the next evening she executed the jump, to land on the last syllable of the rhythmic cycle as the refrain of the song was taken up, nine times - with immaculate precision and coordination between dancer/nattuvangam expert and singer. Yamini is a time bomb read Subbudu's byline in the Statesman the next morning! Yamini's graceful leaps were a feature in themselves - even though the overdose of jumps was severely criticized by late critic Sunil Kothari, who on the occasions that Yamini performed in prestigious Delhi events, always managed to come to Delhi from Kolkata where he was based, with the Patriot paper's head for the Culture Page, Ramesh Chandra (Charlie as he was called) asking me (the official dance writer at that time for the paper) to step aside, for a guest and senior critic like Sunil to review the program! Though Sunil, when I came to know him in later years, had words of great praise for Yamini, in our private conversations, I never managed to find out what the animosity was about - that made him write the way he did, and if what he had to say about this dancer was based on his inner convictions. Yamini called him the Sani in her horoscope - a title Sunil, in one of his lighter moods said was an embellishment he was crowned with! Yamini trained under renowned Kuchipudi Gurus like Vedantam Lakshmi Narayana Shastri, Chinta Krishnamurthi and Pasumarthy Venugopal Krishna Sharma. Every great guru, in conversations, put Yamini's performances of Krishna Sabdam in a class by itself. The minute Jyotishmati would begin singing the refrain "Yadhuvamsha sudhambudi Chandra, Swami Ra Ra” and the dancer entered, it was magic ensnaring the audiences. Not even the Almighty could have resisted responding to that invitation of the Gopi! ("The moon of the Yadhuvamsha is rising beyond the ambrosial Seas, come my Lord, come”). The lyricism and rapturous enticement of Yamini's dance were unequalled. Yamini's Krishna Sabdam, presented in Rashtrapathi Bhavan before visiting dignitaries, with small distinguished audiences, at least on a couple of occasions resulted in the kind of overly ecstatic reactions from the Chief Guest - a departure from the customary starchy formality in such events. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, very mindful of the niceties of protocol and wanting to steer clear of any future diplomatic embarrassments, quietly sent word through her Social Secretary Usha Bhagat, to A.J. Jaspal (who looked after these cultural events), that the said dancer should in future avoid this item on formal occasions in Rashtrapati Bhavan! Jaspal mentioned the details to me.  When I saw her dance to an Odiya composition learnt from Guru Pankaj Charan Das, the evocative response of the audience was something to experience. I once asked the Guru why he had not taught this to his other students the same way. His answer was, "My teaching is not different for anybody. But what comes out on the stage after the teaching belongs to the student - and in Yaminiji's case, obviously there is that inner spark of alchemy that makes the performance exceptional!” For a person who radiated and gave such joy to others through her art, Yamini's record in the area of human relationships makes a sad story. It was as if in the later years, after the father's death and an abortive marriage entered into for all the wrong reasons, she became a recluse. Attempts to meet her at home proved futile, for she never answered the phone and the person/persons looking after her seemed to have built an impregnable wall round her, that few could penetrate. How much of this isolation was forced upon her by those who were over protective of her and how much of it was through her own choice, is difficult to say. On the few occasions one happened to see her, the slow gait with an ungainly limp, thanks to a leg condition, seemed an irony for one whose twinkling feet had moved for years at a pace that musicians and nattuvangam conductors found a challenge to keep pace with. Alone with no family beside her, she never looked well cared for, and the haggard face seemed to speak of one who had stopped caring - and others, it seemed, had stopped caring for her! When I went along with Arshiya Sethi, to pay my last respects there were just five persons - all dancers in the place. Jyotishmathi too came a little later. Painter Jatin Das arrived and wondered why there was no wreath from the SNA. and why no condolence meeting was announced. I am grateful to destiny that I was able to see Yamini in action. For me, dancers may come and dancers may go... But memories of Yamini will go on forever!  Writing on the dance scene for the last forty years, Leela Venkataraman's incisive comments on performances of all dance forms, participation in dance discussions both in India and abroad, and as a regular contributor to Hindu Friday Review, journals like Sruti and Nartanam, makes her voice respected for its balanced critiquing. She is the author of several books like Indian Classical dance: Tradition in Transition, Classical Dance in India and Indian Classical dance: The Renaissance and Beyond. Post your comments Please provide your name and email id along with your comment. All appropriate comments posted with name and email id in the blog will also be featured in the site. |
