There is little you will find about Gautam Badhhas’s wife Yashodhara. The pain of living without her husband and feeling of rejection is beyond words. Only a few in the literary and cultural world have shared a part of her life and brought out her feelings. Playwright director Gowri Ramnarayan has based her dance drama on Yashodhara. Her production, by Natya Ballet Centre, to be staged at FICCI auditorium on March 22 describes the feelings of Yashodhara when Gautam Buddha left the worldly pleasures and began his journey for self-realisation.
“The idea was conceived when I saw a beautiful carving on the entrance of Sanchi shrine. It was a lotus flower, rooted in muck, its stems were in water and petals were blossoming in the warmth of sun. If you connect it to Yashodhara’s life, one can easily find a connection. This was how her life was. I then read writings of Hindi poet Maithili Sharan Gupt and decided to work on this piece” informed Gowri.
She added, “It was a shock for her to find her husband missing one morning. She got to know that he deserted her for no fault of hers. I have showed her as a painter who paints her husband’s face and looks out for her answers in that painting. The inhumane attitude of Budhha towards his wife and son has been shown. What forced him to abandon them and escape one night, remains the question for YashodharaIJ She was left with no answers, but unbearable pain,” said Gowri explaining Yashodhara’s situation.
With the use of three languages — Hindi, Pali and English, this production presents the classical Bharatnatyam dance on the tunes of Hindustani music by Nisha Rajagopalan. Music is an integral part of the performance. “Doing it without words was a challenge,” said Gowri.
“Through Yashodhara I have presented the struggle of a woman. Yashodhara was from a Kshatriya family. She knew that her husband has go to the battleground. But she never imagined that he will leave her deserted. She could not eat or sleep, as she was deeply hurt. She just wanted him to acknowledge his mistake. When he returned to the palace after his journey, she didn’t go to him but waited for him. When he accepted his mistake and said ‘Kshama karo,’ (forgive me) all her anger went away.”