REVIVING THE GURUKUL TRADITION

The Chintamani Ashram conceived Guru Mani, founder of the Kalasadan Institute Of Fine Arts, will impart both Carnatic and Hindustani Music, all styles of Dance, Yoga and Sanskrit in a Gurukul atmosphere.

Guru Mani, born in a village called Veembil near Thrisoor, Kerala, came to Bombay in 1942. As a sprightly young scholar of English, Sanskrit and Mathematics, He landed an attractive job with India Book House. His major interests, however, were dance, dramatics and music.

The arrival of dance guru Smt. Karunambal and her husband  Govindaraja Pillai in Bombay was an added impetus. Young Mani, had the good fortune and honour of being an attractive contributor in establishing the first south Indian dance school in Mumbai, Sri Rajarajeshwari Bharata Natya Kala Mandir at Matunga. Reminiscing about those early days, Guru Karunambal says, “Mani left his job to learn from me. Even though he learnt for a very short while, his ardour for the art was very impressive. His guru-bhakti is such that he visits us to pay his respects on every Guru-Poornima and on Dussera day.”

Guru Mani founded the Kalasadan Cultural Society in 1954 and has a record 1000 students on its rolls, today! But, there have been allegations that their students who were put on the stage fell far short of the classical standards expected of them. Acquiescing this, Guru Mani says, “There was a certain phase where parents put extreme pressure on us, to see their children on the stage. Today, we have a five-year course. We arrange group arangetrams to fight rising costs.”

What he allegedly lacks in artistry, Guru Mani, amply compensates with faith, courage, indomitable will-power and magnitude of vision. In 1947, he took one step when he helped establish Bharata Natyam in Mumbai. In 1977, his next mammoth achievement was the first ever All India Dance and Music Conference (A.I.D.A. M. C.), in Bombay. Mild, soft-spoken and quite unknown till then, he strode like a colossus among the artistes after the thundering success of the convention. Now in 1991, he is poised to soar greater heights and leave an indelible footprint on the city.

Mani’s dream to build an art complex in Bombay may soon become a reality. The Chintamani Ashram to be built at Titwala has been conceived as a massive institution, where classical music and dance will be taught in a gurukul atmosphere. Students will reside here with their Gurus and freely interact with other departments. Both Carnatic and Hindustani Music, all the styles of Dance, Yoga and Sanskrit will coexist in Chintamani-- speaking volumes for the catholicity of the founder.

The more ambitious part of this Shiva Linga shaped complex, the auditorium, will be built in the second phase only. The practical and down-to-earth Guru Mani explains, “We are beginning with the basic structure. We have to first build the classrooms, a shopping arcade and a bank facility to become self-sufficient. The shops will sell and repair musical instruments, paintings, antiques and other artistic requirements.” How does the word Ashram fit such a modernistic, concrete structure?  “An ashram also connotes a disciplined life, doesn’t it? That’s what I want to emphasise------ healthy, sensible values of life must be imparted to youth,” the Guru replies.

Shades of Protima Bedi’s Nrityagram? This Ashram or Dance village near Bangalore was built brick-by-brick media coverage, inaugurated by a Prime Minister and collapsed without a whimper. Guru Mani denies any knowledge of details about this utopian venture, but humbly asserts, “One has to build from the foundation, with sincerity and devotion. If Goddess Mahalakshmi wills it, I may see it completed in my lifetime. The funds are being collected by painstakingly organizing music festivals and soliciting donations. Our students and their parents are our real pillars of strength. They have generously given their time and any resources available to them.” Guru Mani describes a touching incident. “From 1979 when I first conceived the idea of an Ashram, I have been depositing One rupee per month per student, in a separate account. In fact, it was this corpus which we used, to pay for the land in ’89.” Around 27 classrooms representing stars of the Indian almanac will be named after the donor who pays amount of Rs.1.25 lakhs, for its construction. Hema Malini, the film-actress and dancer, has already made the first offer. She is a long-time friend and patron of Kalasadan. Mani’s wife, two sons and four daughters have dedicated their lives to art, ----- or more precisely to their father’s ambitions. They are running the classes, while the septuagenarian Guru is embroiled in all the mundane formalities which precede the laying of the foundation stone.

Kalasadan’s noble aim is the reviving of the age-old Guru-Shishya tradition. This is the only way of learning our classical arts, which are steeped in divinity and requires complete dedication of one’s body, mind and soul. Living with the teacher, one absorbs much more than just the art, the philosophy, the politics and close encounters with other greater contemporaries.

Yet another septuagenarian, Nikhil Ghosh, is still battling with problems of finance for his truly precious project, --------- an encyclopedia of Indian Music. Chintamani may well turn out to be a Bharat Bhavan, a Santiniketan or a Kalamandalam, in this part of the country.

This was first published in The Independent (TOI)