Pioneers united in their visions

MANY YEARS ago, when a national arts committee suggested that it should honour one of its own members, board member Rukmini Devi Arundale vetoed it saying, ``We are here to give, not to receive awards.''

She might have been speaking of one of her earliest disciples. Sarada Hoffman, 73, trained by Rukmini Devi, Pandanallur Chokkalingam Pillai and Mylapore Gowri Amma, has herself taught every batch of students in Kalakshetra where she worked for over 55 years. As performer and teacher, she has remained a perfectionist in her quest for excellence. From C.V. Chandrasekhar and the Dhananjayans to Leela Samson and Valli Subbiah, she trained a host of dancers and choreographers who went on to win awards and accolades. She herself remained in the background, with belated recognition coming her way in 1996, when the Sangeet Natak Akademi finally decided to acknowledge her existence.

It was fitting that Sarada Hoffman should be the first recipient of the Rukmini Devi Medal for Excellence instituted by the Centre for Contemporary Culture, at the inauguration of a photographic exhibition of the multi-faceted genius, followed by a seminar on Tagore and Rukmini Devi, at the Indian Museum, Kolkata (April 26- 27).

Earlier this year, the Centre had organised a similar event in New Delhi, with a discussion of Rukmini Devi's contribution to the renaissance of Bharatanatyam by eminent dancers and dance scholars.

In Kolkata, the dialogue focussed on the holistic vision of the Bengali poet and the Tamil artiste, in their individual creative expression, and in establishing internationally acclaimed educational institutions. Both had a background of training in mystic philosophies (Brahmo Samaj, Theosophy), and remained spiritually oriented throughout their lives, in varied spheres of prolific achievements. Though separated by decades, the two artistes had tremendous regard for each other. Tagore visited Adyar and composed songs set to some of Muthuswami Dikshitar's kritis like ``Needu charanamule'' (Simhendramadhyamam) and ``Minakshi memudam'' (Purvikalyani). Rukmini Devi produced one of Tagore's plays as a dance-drama (Shyama).

As reformists and revivalists, they formulated an anti- colonialist alternative system of education in idyllic woodland settings. They were inspired by the same liberal humanism which fired the renaissance in the subcontinent. Both realised the need to forge links with other Asian nations. They revered life in all forms, animate and inanimate. Both turned to their own culture for sustenance, but after much exposure to the West.

They possessed the discrimination to absorb truth, and reject the false. That is how they were able to reinvent old values in new contexts. To them education did not come with rhetoric and text book, but with dance and poetry becoming part of the daily routine. Far from establishing hothouses of culture as often alleged, they tried to make the arts accessible to every seeker.

The seminar included enquiries into the downslide in both Kalakshetra and Santiniketan, particularly since the government takeover. Scholars and artists of standing, who had served for decades as professors and Vice-Chancellors in both Visva Bharati and Rabindra Bharati universities, spelt out reasons for the decay of art institutions after the death of the visionaries who founded them. They also offered suggestions for combating the fall, for reversing the trend.

In the process a consensus emerged condemning State/Central Government taking over such art institutions. The role of the State was to support art centres with grants and concessions, not to undertake their management and administration. Every scholar with hands-on experience in working within the constraints of governmental bodies declared unequivocally that rules, regulations and red tape spelt ruin to artistic endeavours.

The seminar began with Sarada Hoffman's outlining of Rukmini Devi's contributions, visible in the dance-dramas she choreographed, but more importantly inhering in the values she upheld, in the example that she set in her artistic and personal life. Blending the best from the West with the Indian heritage, she made possible ``education without fear, art without vulgarity, life without cruelty.''

Eminent sculptor, Prof. Chintamani Kar, described personal encounters with Tagore and Rukmini Devi in his brief keynote address, while Prof. Ramaranjan Mukherjee dwelt at length on the inspiration from the Upanishads which charged their vision.

Dr. Avanti Meduri of the Centre for Contemporary Culture, adopted a socio-historic perspective to analyse both Santiniketan and Kalakshetra, started on small scales with great goals, faith in the unity of all the arts, and efforts to reach the global through the local. She dwelt on the differences - while the mind engaged Tagore, Rukmini Devi was concerned with the fine-tuning of the body to reach spiritual understanding.

Why have these institutions not been able to maintain their high standards after the death of their founders? How much is the decay due to unthinking, tasteless, government interference? How much are the founders themselves to blame for not plugging loopholes in their lifetimes?

With years of first hand experience in teaching at and steering the course of Visvabharati University as Vice Chancellor, Prof. Nemoy Sadan Bose had his own responses to the issues on hand. ``Successors are born, not made,'' he concluded. ``Our biggest challenge and responsibility, is to create an ambience where successors can be nurtured, given opportunities to develop their visions.'' Governmental interpolations were inimical to this task.

One of the speakers concluded that the voices of Tagore and Rukmini Devi had gained greater urgency in contemporary times, so much more arid and barren than their own. But there was a scanty audience even for the seminar, with its aim to generate debate and analysis on a subject so vital to our age which breeds violence in life, tastelessness in the arts, and competitiveness in education. Can we draw on the wisdom of pioneers like Tagore and Rukmini Devi to combat the mindless globalisation, which fosters inhuman uniformity?

GOWRI RAMNARAYAN

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