Kathak exponent Uma Sharma tries to familiarise younger generations with the doyens of traditional Indian music and dance. By Saritha Saraswathy Balan
Clad in sari with red vermillion adorning her forehead, Uma Sharma with her long hair left untied looks every bit the danseuse. She communicates with her eyes, and evidently takes much pleasure in that which is left unsaid. She loves mehfils of the olden days, with its unbroken rapport between the artist and the audience. The woman behind the Swami Haridas -Tansen Sangeet Nritya Mahotsava, Uma tends to feature certain artists over and over again in her attempt to familiarise the younger generations with the doyens of traditional Indian music and dance. The 17 th edition of the festival began on Thursday.
“I keep repeating certain artists for the festival. I also invite the heirs of great artists who are no longer with us…Pandit Ravi Shankarji’s daughter Anoushka and Aashish Khan -son of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Then we have Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and Chhannulal Mishra. Who will play the flute like ChaurasiaIJ and the the way Chhannulal sings thumri…my God, out of this world. His gayaki (way of singing) is absolutely traditional. I want the youth to come, relax and listen to these legends, and hence develop a taste for traditional Indian music and dance. That is why the festival is free of cost for everyone. Traditional is what we have to preserve. I am so happy that now around 50 per cent of the audience is young. I want to make it 100 per cent,” says Uma.
“We also have the only person to play the mohanveena, besides his son, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt with us for the festival. This time he is doing a jugalbandi with langas -professional caste musicians from Rajasthan- and Manganiyars who are folk musicians, hailing from the same state. Then there is the senior-most artist Pandit Ulhas N Kashalka. I keep bringing them back again and again,” she chuckles.
She herself takes to the stage to allow youngsters to comprehend the legacy and style of her guru Pandit Shambu Maharaj: “My dance is nritya abhinay, in which facial expressions are galore. I have a tendency to spontaneously step on to the stage and start performing, without rehearsals of any sort. Accompanied by my singer Pandit Jwala Prasad and tabla player Mubarak Khan -we get along so well- we just go out there and do it!”
“After the festival my focus will be on the programme, on February 11 and 12, in connection with the death anniversary of Urdu poet Ghalib. Every year, on his birth anniversary in December, we organise a candlelight march from Chandni Chowk town hall to Galib’s haweli where he lived. Then on Sarath Poornima, which falls during the end of October or beginning of November I present Maha Raas lila,” says the Padma Bhushan awardee.
On her upcoming project she says that she will choreograph Inder Sabha, a musical play written by Amanath Ali in which Nawab Bajith Ali Shah played the role of Indra. Bajitha Ali was the last Nawab of Awadh.
Asked on how she was drawn to Raas she says that she used to go Brindavan quite often with the aim to learn Raas lila, part of the traditional story of Krishna described in Hindu scriptures. “I lived in an ashram there and learned Raas, from Pandit ladli Sharan Sharmaji. My contribution is combining the traditional Raas of Brindavan with classical Kathak. Maha Raas is based on the tenth chapter of Shreemad Bhagavad. I learned the chapter, improvised and choreographed it. I have placed Kathak in its true perspective for it as a dance for the gods and temple. Raas was a vanishing art and reviving it is my greatest achievement.I crated Maha Raas in 1968 or ‘69. Now it has been almost 25 or 3o years since I am presenting it on various stages,” she says. She continues: “The Swami Haridas- Tansen festival also began in Brindavan, gradually it grew and I brought it to Delhi”.
What about her relation with Krishna, “I believe that I am lalita, who was the first among the gopikas or Radha herself. Krishna is my hero, from childhood. I used to make garland for him inspired by Meera,” she signs off with a mischievous smile.