After receiving a lifetime Achievement Award, Kathak dancer Kumuduni lakhia shared a few anecdotes with Utpal K Banerjee
In a recent glittering ceremony, Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra (SBKK) awarded its 4th Sumitra Charat Ram Award for lifetime Achievement to Kumuduni lakhia: for her outstanding contribution in Kathak. The Award — whose earlier recipients were the legendary Pt Birju Maharaj, ace musician Kishori Amonkar and veteran Odissi guru Mayadhar Raut — has already acquired an iconic status among the country’s cognoscente of performing arts: assiduously propagated by SBKK over last six decades.
Kumudini known as “Kumi Behn” was the dance-partner for the celebrated Ram Gopal when he toured the West in the late 50s and early 60s and brought Indian classical arts to the eyes of spectators abroad for the first time. Groomed in Kathak by the great gurus Shambhu Maharaj in lucknow gharana and Sunder Prasad in Jaipur gharana, her pairing with Birju Maharaj in Malti Madhav and Kumar Sambhav elevated Kathak to newer heights. In making dazzling innovations in Kathak choreography, she has never looked back since. Excerpts from her interview and talks:
First training
I landed in Delhi in 1957 armed with a scholarship from the Ministry of HRD to learn dance, but had no clue where I to stay. I found a make-shift room in Connaught Place, but very soon discovered that it was no place for a young girl to stay alone. I was in tears next morning when I went to SBKK and met Sumitraji, to inform her that I would give up the scholarship. She heard my tale of woe, took me back to my one-room tenement after the classes in her car and collected me, bag and baggage, to her home, biding me to stay there till I could arrange accommodation. later, whenever I made efforts to shift, the little children — Shobha, Deepak, Siddharth and others — would make a beeline to Sumitaji and plead with her to allow me to stay on. In consequence, I stayed in the magnanimous lady’s house all three years till I finished my scholarship.
Relations with Shambhu Maharaj
Guruji was a great teacher and an amiable person, but on training floor, he was a hard task-master. He kept his teaching-learning separate from the SBKK repertory.
When the idea of dance-drama Shakuntala came up for the repertory, my name was proposed for the lead role. Guruji was furious and wanted me to continue only training. The same thing happened for SBKK’s flagship production Ramlila.
Productions of Malti Madhav and Kumar Sambhav
Guruji wasn’t happy at all on my doing the roles of main protagonists, but he could do precious little. You see, he had brought from lucknow guru Achchan Maharaj, who was his elder sibling. He could hardly refuse him! For Malti Madhav, Birju bhai was too young, and Ram Kishan, a good dancer, was brought from Raebareli or somewhere. For Kumar Sambhav, Birju danced opposite me.
Choreography
In performance, I was opposed to doing traditional Kathak. I always wanted to add new theme and fresh approach to the powerful grammar of Kathak, other- wise, I wasn’t keen to repeat on stage what I had learnt in the classroom! Once I established Kadamb, my music and dance institute, in my home-town Ahmedabad in 1967, I stopped performing myself. I waned my students to get a chance with their choreography. While strolling in Delhi’s Bengali Market, I once met the great Hindi author-poet Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena. He enquired about my efforts at new choreography and offered his latest poem about a used coat kept hanging on a hook and the owner being depressed and dejected. I was aghast: how could I possibly do choreography on such a prosaic themeIJ But the idea grew on me and I did create The Coat. Today it’s reckoned as one of my most successful productions and is still performed!
Synchronising with the event, Kadamb showcased Dhruv-Gati, an unusual dance-composition based on dhrupad music by the well-known singers, Gundecha Brothers. It was a virtuoso performance by three gifted female dancers with one male. Slowly unfolding with dhrupad alap, the choreography gathered momentum — based on rhythms, geometrical patterns and body movements — as music moved through jod and jhala. Asked how she gravitated to dhrupad, Kumi behn explains, “I’ve always taken the least-trodden path. Having done Kathak with folk music, electronic music and Western music, I was requested to team up with Gundecha Brothers for dhrupad in Singapare. I had trepidations first, wondering how I’ll tackle the slow tempo of dhrupad alap. Gradually, I gathered my talented students and choreographed entirely on the flora imagery: slow blossoming of buds; flailing of branches and twining of creepers. Movements followed then…”