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Voicing it with verve

Unconventional and undaunted, Mallika Sarabhai has always held her own — on stage and through walled up minds, finds BHUMIKA K.

Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.

Straight talk Mallika Sarabhai: ‘Capitalism and globalisation are by definition violent’

“Are you going to dance?” “Oh it’s a play, is it?” “What is Unsuni all about?” “We will use the carpets this way...we need to make this place look dirty” Amidst a whole host of curious enquiries, and updates from her team members, the enigmatic Mallika Sarabhai sips some chai, answers all questions with a smile, and settles down to do some talking.

Unsuni is the latest production from Mallika. And just the example one would use to describe her. What does one describe her as? Danseuse-activist who would rather talk about the beggars on the street through her expression of art tha n do a varnam on the pining devout waiting for her lord. Feisty feminist who takes on intellectuals, the government, politicians, the judicial system and more, because she has an opinion and voices it with verve.

One can go on trying, but Mallika, I realise, is not one who can be confined to definitions. “I have seen the power of performance in bringing home something unpalatable,” says Mallika, reminiscing about her mother and legendary dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai’s efforts to talk about dowry deaths way back in 1969 when the term hadn’t been prevalent. Their Ahmedabad-based Darpana Academy of Performing Arts has redefined the way people look at dance as an art form and medium of communication.

“When I started talking about serious issues in my dance performances 17 yeas ago, friends warned me that no one will invite me to perform. But even today there is more demand for my radical pieces than my kutcheris. If I have carved a niche for myself it’s in this use of every kind of art form to talk about things that matter.”

Bharatanatyam is more of a battery recharger; it provides her energy to do other things. “Some people go climb mountains... If I’m depressed, I dance.” Her interpretations of Shakti, the female power, of the Goddesses from the Hindu pantheon have been in the eye of many a storm. “I find it practically impossible to do a varnam about a simpering woman who says ‘My lord come and kick me’. I can’t do narratives that seem false, submissive or d erogatory to women. In terms of bhakti I understand these pieces but in today’s gender politics, it has ramifications unacceptable to me. I find it difficult to do the Geeta Govinda today. We have in our tradition, repertoires of feisty heroines. I would rather do a thinking woman’s padam.”

In the 90s she had choreographed V for… lashing out at the violence in society; violence against women and human beings in general has been the focus of many of her works. “Capitalism and globalisation are by definition violent. Globalisation rapes the earth. Violence is also usually about making money. Anyone who feels powerless will take it out on someone…there is an ‘eat me’ chain out there.” Media’s glorification of consumption only adds to this, she avers. “We are pushing toward a less equitable society. Nobody glorifies kindness.”

Mallika faced dramatic remonstration from the Modi-led Gujarat government when she raised her voice against the post-Godhra violence. “It’s taught me who my friends are,” she smiles, stating how the persecution continues even to this day. Even today in Gujarat people are terrified to speak. Things haven’t changed much in the last five years and the instance of the M.S. University in Baroda, only further demonstrates it, she says. Hardly two artists from Gujarat came out in protest. “What is most frightening is the self-censorship.”

The whole culture today in the country, especially in politics, is “How much can I make and how quickly”, she rues. “I find a disconcerting absence of a larger vision for the country… I would ideally like to start a political party, getting together about 300 people from all over the country who will put away any party-based politics and work for a better-governed country for a term of five years. People are continuously asking me why I’m not going into politics. But I’m not capable of the little shady things today’s politics demands.”

For someone who comes from an illustrious family with scientist Vikram Sarabhai for a father and Mrinalini Srabhai for a mother, Mallika says if there is any pressure and expectation to live up to, it is to be able to give back to society more than what they already have.

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