Beyond words

“In 2004,I had choreographed for one of the tracks of VCDs of Lata Mangeshkar. And while didi appreciated my work,the manufacturers of the VCD asked me to do an entire VCD based on representation of Marathi abhangas in Bharatnatyam. Spiritually inclined as I am,for the first three months,I went through the writings of almost all the saints in Maharashtra thus selecting about eight to represent different rasas of bhakti,” says Swati Daithankar.

Every abhang written by saints in Maharashtra- be it Sant Tukaram,Sant Dnyaneshwar or Eknath or anyone else is not mere poetry by a verbalisation of the occult experiences that they went through on their spiritual path. Consolidating the compositions in dance form was thus a balancing act between- not violating the rules of Bharatnatyam and at the same time not touching the valuable meaning that the abhangas carry. “As a santoor player,I had not thought on the lines of a composer. But the preciousness of the compositions showed me the way. I used ragas such as Ahir bhairav,Puriya dhanashree and at the same time a rare raga like Parameshwar to give music to these abhangas. The amalgamation of rhythm,raga and emotions came out after a collaborated effort by the two of us,” says Dhananjay Daithankar.

An unusual experiment that has successfully drawn appreciation from across the country as well as globe irrespective of the language barrier,Swati Daithankar recollects some of the experiences saying,“After my performances in Europe,people have come to me and cried saying they understood everything I wanted to convey without words. Similar were the reactions by connoisseurs like Babasaheb Purandare,Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and so on.”

And while the appreciation from the audiences is just the visual outcome of the programme,six years of journey of Rajas Sukumar has been an enlightening experience for the danseuse who says,“I have witnessed inner change in myself since day one. The very nature of abhangas is such that it curbs one’s ego and then,during each performance I realise that I am just a medium of expression. On 111th performance,though the presentation remains the same,my journey of self-discovery just moves one step ahead giving me the energy to perform again.”

(Rajas Sukumar will take place at Tilak Smarak Mandir at 5.15 pm today)