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 Aekalavya - A shishya told a story of a supreme shishya - Pandithar Sivakumar Perumal e-mail: spandithar@yahoo.com December 13, 2023 A story always engages listeners, if it is told under a huge banyan tree which decked the stage of the amphitheatre on a beautiful evening at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune, on 1st December 2023.  The story of 'Aekalavya' was narrated through an elegant Odissi performance by Dr. Ileana Citaristi performing a choreography of her Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, with music composed by Prafulla Kar. The hallmark of her performance was the ease with which she created, lived the characters, the emotions of Aekalavya, Guru Dronacharya, his Kshatriya disciples. Varying egos of each of them was creative in presentation. Her bhava and abhinaya of the complex characters were simply expressed in her dance, her eyes too emoted them. After being driven away by the cruel Kshatriyas from the Gurukul of Dronacharya, Aekalavya's wife suggested to him to create the statue of his Guru. The precise point on the stage where the statue is created is visited by the dancer though dancing around. What goes into such perfection of an artiste? Definitely rigorous training, discipline and deep love for the art. The scene of Aekalavya offering his thumb as Gurudakshina to the Guru who did not welcome him as a shishya but demanded the dakshina was touching. A story crisply told, rasikas were attentive to it, and acknowledged it through rousing applause. Ileana Citaristi has devoted her entire life in the service of Odissi dance. She is the first foreign recipient of the civilian award Padma Shri. Her choreographies have also won national award in films. The first thing that comes to mind at the culmination of the supreme performance was that the legendary Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra resides in this disciple of his. The performance was part of Bhaashaa Mohatsav - an initiative in preservation of languages.  Pandithar Sivakumar Perumal is a writer based in Pune. |
