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Melodic scales excelling in sensuous affect were the
hallmark of courtesan song and dance. These so-called rakti ragas
‘worked’ and secured their patronage, sometimes aided by love-potions or
other aphrodisiacs. Several compositions for dance hint at these
practices. For example, the padam “Patari varukutu” composed by Ghanam
Krishna Iyer (late eighteenth century) in the rakti raga Kambhoji and
tala rupaka, speaks of a love infatuation that causes trembling,
fainting and weakness. The dancer confides that her lover covered her
with maya-podi while singing raga Kambhoji. This refers to aphrodisiac powders that heighten the intoxication of love. (‘Sringaranta: Eros Fragmented in: music, dance and the art of seduction,’ by Saskia Kersenboom) |
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Over a phone call made to Rukmini Devi’s home in Adyar, Chennai, in
1977, Prime Minister Morarji Desai asked her if she would consent to be
President. “President of what?” she asked. “President of India,” said
the prime minister. She declined. Asked later why, she explained, “I
like to go about barefoot. How could I have done that in Rashtrapati
Bhavan? I detest arms and armaments. How could I have moved about with
an AdC bearing guns in front of me and another behind me? And also as a
committed vegetarian how could I have served meat to guests from abroad
who cannot do without it…? Besides my life is bound up with Kalakshetra,
the Theosophical Society, Madras. Delhi is … another universe…” (‘The woman who said no: How Rukmini Devi chose dance over presidency,’ Gopalkrishna Gandhi, The Hindustan Times, March 4, 2016) |
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Nawab Wajid Ali Shah himself was an artiste of merit. He wrote 40 works:
poems, prose and plays. He composed many new ragas such as the Jogi and
Juhi. It has been held that he was, despite his girth, an accomplished
dancer. He authored some fascinating plays on Krishna Ras Lila and is
believed to have himself acted in them on occasion. He wrote Babul Mora
Naihar, the haunting song describing a bride’s tearful farewell from her
beloved father’s home. Apocryphally, it served as a metaphor for the
Nawab’s own banishment from his treasured Lucknow. (‘King of the arts’ by Amish Tripathi, Times of India, March 24, 2016) |
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