Narthaki Nataraj was ridiculed and criticised by her family for belonging to the third gender before she found her heart’s calling in dance. During a recital, she tells Utpal K Banerjee that she strives to propagate the style of the Tanjore brothers
In the arena of Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam dance, there was a lucky break in the early 19th century when a conclave of four brothers gathered in the Tanjore court of the Maratha King Sarfoji-II. Called the ‘Tanjore Quartet’, the siblings were Chinnaiah, Ponniah, Sivanandam and, the most gifted and the youngest, Vadivelu. The latter learnt music from the iconic composer Muthuswami Dikshiter and introduced violin into Carnatic music when the brothers moved to the royal court of Swati Thirunal in Travancore. Contribution to Bharatanatyam, including its margam, still followed by the Quartet has been legendary. Guru KP Kittappa Pillai was a descendant of the Quartet’s family, who died at the turn of the century.
There was a recent Bharatanatyam recital under the ICCR by Narthaki Nataraj, a direct disciple of Kittappa Pillai for several years. She began her recital with sollukkattu, a pure dance accompanied by the syllables of the music. This was followed by shlokam, a hymn to Mahalakashmi — Kaarunya purna nayani. The abhinaya (expression) was adequate, although the rhythm on the footwork seemed to be a little lapsing. Then came the major abhinaya piece — a lullaby by the poet Subramanya Bharati, Chinnam chirkariye, sung in raga Malika. The dance with the little Krishna by his mother appeared less putting the baby to sleep, but more appeasing to his pranks, as done in the famous song Krishnani begani baro, in Balasaraswati style.
Next followed a folk song of south India, Kanani sindhua, narrating a mother’s anxious search for her daughter who has vanished in the forest looking for her divine lover, Muruga (Kartikeya). The abhinaya went well, but what caused serious reservation was the choice of the song that described the girl as a pre-puberty maiden. It was an embarrassment for the viewers, to say the least. The finale was a tillana, in the rare, beautiful raga Nalinikanti. Normaltillanas are executed in a fast tempo, but here the dancer missed the verve. Narthaki defended, “My over-all slow style is that of the Tanjore brothers, whose legacy I’ve made my life’s mission to propagate. I admit that this is more akin to that of the devadasis.”
Before the performance began, it was announced that she belonged to the third gender. The true story she brought out in a long-distance interview was replete with pathos. In her own words, “When I was born, my gender was uncertain and my parents were confused. Ours was a Tamil village in Madurai and, giving me benefit of doubt, they named me Nataraj after their presiding God, Nataraja. You see, he too was unique, with his right leg raised upwards. His consort, Goddess Meenakshi, was also unique — been born with three breasts and raised as a boy, until her third breast fell off at the sight of Shiva at Mount Kailash.”
The danseuse continued, “By the age of five, it became clear that I belonged to the third gender. This led to my parents nearly discarding me and our neighbours virtually despising me over the next 11 years. Even during a very difficult upbringing, I was attached to the performing arts and got admitted to the Tamil University of Tanjore in the department of dance. I was attached to guru Kittappa Pillai for the next 15 years — till he passed away in 1999 — and was privileged to be his assistant teacher. Now I’m established and independent, running my own institution, Velliyambalam, at Mylapore, Chennai. I also go to deliver lectures in the UK and the USA.
Before she signed off for the evening, she gave a heart-felt message for the transgender community, “Don’t ever lose heart and strive for excellence in your own chosen field.” With the highest honour of Kalaimani from her State and as a national Sangeet-Natak Awardee, she has her point.