Saturday 4 December 2021

Dancers & Ayurveda

 

Dancers & Ayurveda


Ayurveda is a holistic medicine system originated and developed in Bharat more than 3000 years ago. In fact, our healing is a divine gift given to us by the deity Dhanvantiri who appeared during the Churning of the Ocean of Milk.

Ayurveda understand the highest truth that the body is made of the Pancha mahabhutas or five elements namely earth, water, fire, air and ether. It understands the importance of the role of the mind and its strong hold on our body. Many illnesses are psychosomatic. Therefore, the treatment emphasizes the need to heal the mind, body, and spirit.

It is a life science which is aimed at a correct way of maintaining our health by adopting a principled way of living. It teaches the importance of healthy living. This century has seen the alarming rise of serious health issues which affect the young and old.

As dancers or musicians, our body is the medium of expression. This profession, like those of athletes, is high pressure living sandwiched between practice and performance. Anxiety of procuring performance opportunities, anxiety before the curtain opens, and currently, anxiety because we are dancing for just art’s sake with a lean bank balance.

As a dancer with endless domestic duties, and as caretaker of a child with special needs, my knees and back gave way long before I reached the age of forty. Knees and back! I can imagine dancers nodding their heads affirmatively as they read this. So many of us have knee problems, weight gain and lower back problems. My experience with Ayurveda started when I decided to take recourse to this healing system for my son. I saw firsthand how it helped him, me and other patients recover and improve miraculously.

I have read about the Wimbledon Tennis legend Boris Becker who is an ardent believer and practitioner. The west has adopted Yoga and Ayurveda while we still hesitate to respect and recognize our heritage.

We have seen how Kathakali artistes perform their vigorous dance carrying heavy costumes right till the ripe age of 70 or more. This is because the Kathakali dance kalari incorporates oil massage, a simple organic diet and herbal medicine.

Regular sabbaticals from the performance race to have an Ayurvedic Panchakarma treatment is my advice to all dancers. Teachers, start your students young.

My recent ten-day experience at the Agni Ayurvedic village resort near Mumbai city reinforces my belief that at every stage in life you need to go back to our organic holistic systems and maintain our health in these times of endless pandemics unleashed on us.

#Panchakarma #Ayurveda #Kathakali #Dancers #Oilmassage #Herbalmedicine #Kalari #Yoga

#BorisBecker #Kneepain #Backpain #Dhanvantari #Panchamahabhutas #agniayurvedicvillage #Holistictreatment #Bharatheritage

Thursday 18 November 2021

Tread The Path of Virtue:Tyagaraja's Message



#AuthorIndumatiRaman My spiritual engagement with Sri Tyagaraja began when I was in school and heard my mother sing the soulful kritis. After I returned from Kalakshetra’s gruelling training, my mind was full of images from those kritis transforming into dance. My first attempt was the Saurashtra kriti Sri Ganapati. It became a permanent item of my repertoire. I began to study the thesis of Dr. V. Raghavan in the book ‘The Spiritual Heritage of Tyagaraja’ by C. Ramanujachari. And gradually the concept of “Sumathi Tyagaraja”, an Ekaharya presentation took shape. The beauty of his musical compositions magnetized me as much as his philosophy, his life events and the spiritual message carried in them. I studied all the books on him, some were available in our home library and bought others.

Soon my obsession translated into writing a dramatized novel of Tyagaraja’s biography based on his life. I discovered one of my earliest published articles about Tyagaraja’s message to humanity.

#SriTyagaraja #Tyagabrahmam #Thiruvaiyaru #Tyagarajakritis #SumatiTyagaraja # #SpiritualHeritageofTyagaraja #TyagarajaAradhana


 Tread The Path of Virtue: Tyagaraja’s Message

 

[ This article appeared in Bhavan’s Journal dated January 1-15, 1988, to coincide with the Sri Tyagabrahmam’s annual Aradhana celebrations held at Thiruvaiyaru (Thanjavur). This is  an unedited version]

Our country is a punyabhumi of saints and seers. They have shown us the way to peace, personal, national, global. One such was Tyagaraja (1767-1847). Born on Monday the 27th Chaitra, Sarvajit, Shukla Saptami, Pushya, corresponding to May 4, 1767, at Tiruvayyaru, in Tamil Nadu. Sri Tyagaraja poured out his adoration of Sri Rama in songs of matchless verbal beauty, melodic charm and poetic appeal.

 

According to our religious faith, each individual soul should aspire to free from the cycle of birth and rebirth. To achieve this, sacrifices, baths, fasts and endless rituals are practised. Although nurtured in an environment steeped in sacred lore, Tyagaraja did not hesitate to decry the blind performance of rituals; the first pre-requisite for higher aspiration, was the purity of the heart and mind.

“There are those, who in ignorance

Claim sacrifice leads to bliss

Are there any fools perchance

Who believe indeed it is?

Traces of past births compel

Sensuous joys and avarice

True wisdom is lost and Sensitivity to life, too.”

(Kriti Yagnadulu. Jayamanohari Raga)

 The saint spent his years chanting the Lord’s name with intense love. He expostulated that this alone would lead one to eternal salvation. A pure mind was the only pre-requisite for a true aspirant. Meditation and telling of beads had no value if the mind wandered. Neither high birth nor bodily strength would guarantee Brahman. Pilgrimage was an unnecessary exercise to seek what was already in one’s heart. Saffron robes did not make one spiritual. A dip in a sacred river or a diet of medicinal leaves would not wash away the sins of our mind if it was full of greed and pride.

“Let us surrender feats of muscle.

The mastery of tounge, art or mime.

Knowledge rings not a bell

At Heaven’s door at the end of time

Worship of the Lord alone

Purity and truth, O Mind!

When by the devotee is shown

Bliss is granted by the Lord so kind”.

                   (Kshinamai in Mukhari Raga)

The enlightened saint further derided those who pledged their actions and life to the planets. These statements must have been considered blasphemous in those days when society was rigidly ruled by orthodox priests and scholars. Tyagaraja realised the futility of pinning faith in the benevolence of the planets, to bless our present and forecast the future.

 

“The nine benevolent planets

Of what strength theirs combined?

 A mere glance gently sets

on the devotee pure of mind.

The Lord’s mercy and power.

Destroy lust and sin.

And choice blessings and shower.

On whom to Tyagaraja are akin”

(Grahabalamemi in Revagupti Raga)                                          

                                  

Even today events like marriages and journeys are undertaken after piously consulting the stars, their formation, and the possibilities of escaping the malevolence of the planetary combinations. Tyagaraja berates the commercialization of this highly scientific subject. Every calamity that befalls, one is blamed on the horoscope. A pure, devoted man leading a life of virtue can never be harmed by planetary malevolence.

Today religion is still the dynamite which shatters our minds with anger and pride- with grievous results. Communal disharmony rears its head again and again weakening the fibre of unity. Our roots are common, but custom and belief separate our countrymen. Tyagaraja himself was a staunch devotee of Sri Rama. He sang hundreds of songs describing the Lord in his multi-faceted glory.

 But he also made it plain that he condemned as useless disputes over different faiths. He described those who aroused sectarian differences as inferiors with a false sense of pride. Tyagaraja refers to corrupt practices in society and they are as true today as they were in his life-time.

  

 This indeed is the Age of corruption

When men build homes of stone

And gather men to serve

Enrich the body, hunger the soul

Forget duty to their kin

Slothfully eye ill-forgotten gains

Shrewd to trade, blind in lust

Prey to disease, inheritance dwindled

Decried by society, overlooked by God

only to be born and born again.

Despair wrought by foolish minds

Will not wisdom prevail?

To reveal that unfortunate deal

With men of cunning, results

 In honour, lust and also wealth? 

Will not wis prevail?

To reveal, that to covet

What evaporates like the dew,

is fool’s paradise indeed. The only thing of permanency

 is Love and Service to the Lord.   

(Kriti Enduku Baga Teliyadu in Mohanam)

In another song, (Sarijesi Veduka), he says how often we see that only those who are well-versed in enjoyment of the senses and indulge in flattery get appreciation and reward: pure and simple men who have followed the path of devotion sincerely, are objects of ridicule.

 The pattern of today’s society is still the same, and the solution too remains the same. It is only the path of virtue which will help the progress of men.

 

 

 

 

 

 



Friday 24 September 2021

Gotra System. A Husband Is Responsible For The Gender Of Their Child

 

 

 The Gotra System 

 

                                   The sapta rishis from whom we receive our gotra.(pic courtesy Internet)

 

So, when a daughter–in-law is taunted because she gave birth to a girl, grave injustice is being done. It is not her fault.

The gotra system is in the news again as a misinformed script of an advertisement or designer apparel chooses to confuse the act of the father giving his daughter away in marriage to a sale or barter.

In 2011, honour killings increased and a film called ‘Khap’ on the subject, was sought to be banned. A belief deep rooted in our tradition and widely prevalent in various parts of India is the prohibition of marriages within the gotra. Families are known to chase and murder the couple who secretly elope, ignoring the laws against sa-gotra or same gotra marriages. A TV serial based on this subject has a great following among viewers.

I found this article “Why Is Gotra And Parampara Reserved For Males?” by Gnanasekhar in the Tamil monthly Aalayam dated July 2011. I am attempting a translation as I found the information to be of value to all. 

‘Our ancestors always believed that the male line determines the family line. It was the male who determined the ancestry. Why? Is it because a girl is inferior or because she leaves her paternal home for her marital home? Why does her gotram change to her husband’s? Modern scientists claim to have discovered DNA, a subject our ancestors were already knowledgeable about.

When a marriage is arranged, the family enquires about the kulam and gotram. This is to prevent an inadvertent possibility of incest. Those who belong to the same gotram may be related by blood. Marrying first cousins is usually prohibited in the Hindu dharma. There are two reasons, medical and the necessity to protect the strength of our human line.

The Rishis who established the gotra system and those who preserved the sanctity of the system were brilliant when compared to the modern scientist. Our ancestors knew about DNA without cutting a piece of flesh for a biopsy or breaking cells up to unravel chromosomes and decide the DNA of a man.

There are eight Rishis who form the root of the gotra system. Angirasa, Atri, Kashyapa, Bharadwaja,  Bhrigu, Vashistha, Gautama and Kuthasa. Today there are 49 gotras. The gotra of the groom must be different from the bride. The bride takes on her husband’s gotram after her marriage. This is formally done during the marriage ceremony where the father hands over the daughter’s gotra to the groom’s lineage. The children born of this union also belong to the father’s gotram. Even if the families are strangers, they are still considered blood relatives.

To understand this, we have to analyse and review the facts about reproduction.

‘A child is born with 23 pairs of chromosomes, that is, 23 chromosomes from each parent. Female chromosomes are called XX and a male’s XY. If the embryo is formed with the male X and female X it is a XX or, a girl. But if the X of the female and Y of the male unite, it is XY or a boy. X is common to both genders. Y is seen only in males.’ (It is important to understand here that it is the husband who is responsible for the birth of a male child, for he possesses the Y chromosome which determines the sex of an embryo. 

‘Every male child inherits Y from his father, grandfather and so on. X is inherited through females, i.e., girl inherits X from her mother, grandmother and so on. Thus, the male is considered the preserver of genes and much importance is given to his role in inheritance.

‘A girl gets only the X chromosomes from both. The Y chromosome is a pure trail and is not polluted by contact or infected by any other Y chromosome. Only a male can give his Y chromosomes to his child. When a child is born, he/she assumes the gotra of the father.’

‘Brothers of the same gotram inherit the genes of the family, including diseases. Following the gotra system helps to inhibit this.’

‘When you examine the XY chromosomes of a male, the Y is weaker than the X chromosome. It is amazing why a male becomes stronger than a female after birth. If a family has only daughters, then that family line comes to an end. (Hence the mourning if a girl is born). Ironically, this makes a woman pure XX but a male is a half female XY.’ (We can understand the Shiva –Shakti philosophy which projects this scientific fact in a beautiful manner.)

The single chromosome Y has been copied (like a Xerox) over the centuries. This has weakened it even further. This is the reason why our ancestors have created the gotra system to protect their clan. Marriage between cousins on the paternal side or maternal side is prohibited by the gotra system precisely for this purpose. That is why gotra is important as it preserves the clan and the male genes. Unfortunately, it is possible that Y becomes so weak that it can be destroyed eventually. Then the male may cease to exist. It is possible for women to give birth to females only.

This is why the birth of a male is celebrated more than a female.

 

 Key words #Gotra, #Lineage, #Saptarishis, #Marriage, #Gender, #Chromosomes, 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

Thursday 24 June 2021

Freedom Movement in Delhi 1930-31

 

T. S. Swaminathan (1909-2007)

Today, June 25th, is my Father’s birthday. For me every day is Father’s Day. I miss him today more than ever. Chocolates and cashew nuts were the only gifts he would accept. Endowed with super encyclopaedical memory he could quote from Sanskrit, Tamil and English literature.  He dedicated his youth to his country and later to his work. A devout follower of Sanatana dharma, his day began with chanting Vishnu Sahasranamam. Our summer holidays were road trips to Thanjavur, museums and temples. In his younger days, he mastered chess and photography. He built a dark room in our bungalow for his equipment to develop film.

One of the first Actuaries in India, he was instrumental in establishing Life Insurance Corporation in 1955, and later after retirement was re-commissioned as Chief Custodian for the formation of General Insurance Corporation. After he retired for the second time, he was employed for 28 years in a company which had overseas dealings. He studied the U.S. Law as their Legal and Financial Advisor. He was 95 years old when he stopped working at this 9 to 5 job.

But what his colleagues and officers will remember about him is his strong incorruptible character and as a fearless votary of Truth. I found among my papers this interesting jotting describing in his own words, his involvement in the freedom movement.






Freedom Movement in Delhi 1930-1931

Delhi in 1929, was surcharged with nationalist sentiment. I was in Delhi in June that year in search of temporary employment. I was preparing for the ICS competitive examinations two years later. Bhagat Singh and his friends were in the Lahore Borstal jail. The sensational news of the uprising was constantly in the newspapers and with the launching of the Salt Satyagraha movement in 1930, it became impossible for me to complete a career as a government servant. I gave up the goal of becoming an ICS Officer. I also felt that one could not keep oneself away from this movement. Failure to participate in the national struggle cannot be explained away. I became a part of the national movement but without any official position therein. As soon as the Salt Satyagraha was announced, boycott of foreign cloth, became an important part of the programme. Delhi at that time was one of the most important cloth markets of Northern India, the other centres being Amritsar and Kanpur. At Delhi I was having my residence in the New Cloth Market on the Queen’s Road near the railway station-and more important, close to the Company Bagh, where all political meetings were being held. The boycott was very systematically organised in Delhi. We knew all the places- Katra, Kusha and godowns where there were stocks of foreign cloth. Volunteer guards were posted at all such places; any attempt to move the cloth out of Katra or godowns resulted in slogan shouting by the volunteers and the resulting crowd of Congress sympathizers effectively prevented any movement.

The volunteers were there day and night. Unofficially, I used to take one or two rounds every night to all these centres- all in Chandni Chowk. I was just brushed aside and left with a bleeding injured foot. This attracted the attention of the Press and the local leaders.

My nocturnal rounds to the Katra and godowns became generally known. This system was so effective that for nearly four or five months there was no movement of foreign cloth.

The Delhi merchants became desperate and some decided to brave the odium of the shouts of “toady bachcha hai hai” and defy the boycott. One fine morning in October 1930 there was a truck standing right in front of my residence in the cloth market loading cloth from the opposite shop. I started shouting and tried to stop the truck; the police took me into custody and charged me under the picketing ordinance. The effect of my arrest on my immediate circle of friends was electric. Two of my friends followed me into the jail by attending and trying to address a banned public meeting.  Others were meeting us daily at the jail gate and giving us news.

 

I was sentenced to six months rigorous imprisonment placed in ‘B’ Class and transferred to the new Central Jail in Multan (now in Pakistan). In those days all state level leaders were in Multan and the rest in Attock. At Multan the “B” class prisoners consisted of representatives of all districts of Punjab.

From Lyallpur and Sargodha Montgomery to Hissar and Rohtak, as well as had been transferred with me from Delhi.

Life in Multan in winter was bearable because of the company. The ‘B’ Class prisoners formed a jolly good group as they were allowed rations and convict servants to cook food. There was no real hardship. We held a mock round table conference in the barrack.

However, I was attracted by the idea of further sacrifice when I found that a very respected leader Sardar Amar Singh Jhalbal and one Dandi marcher Krishnan Nair were in ‘C’ class in the same jail.  I obtained a voluntary transfer to ‘C’ class. Here, life was more tough; very rough blankets and shirts and bad food. No vegetables except radish and turnip. I sustained myself on bad rotis and gur in lieu of cigarettes as remuneration from the work done in the jail. But I had good company and I was able to improve my knowledge of Urdu by having Premchand’s short stories (some volumes were in circulation in the barracks) read out and explained to me. I formed some friendships which continued even after the release from the jail.  Amongst those in the jail were Batukeshwar Dutt -a co-accused with Bhagat Singh in the Lahore Conspiracy Case, Chaudhary Sher Jung -a scion of the princely house of Nahan (Sirmaurr)-turned-revolutionary and Kharag Bahadur Singh, a Nepali inmate of Sabarmati Ashram who was a Dandi marcher.

The release from jail in March 1931, was a wonderful experience. We were welcomed everywhere. I was travelling to Delhi with Kharag Bahadur Singh who was travelling to Rohtak (about thirty miles from Delhi).

The local public insisted that I too must get down at Rohtak. We were then taken in procession through the streets of Rohtak.

After his release from Multan Jail, one of my friends visited me in Delhi and we spent a few days together discussing the future course of action. Revolutionary activity was not excluded. Unfortunately, this was not to be. A bomb that he was carrying exploded killing my friend Chand Singh instantly. The Police found my address in Delhi among his personal effects. A police constable arrived in my office at Chandni Chowk- about a hundred yards from the Kotwali- to summon me for interrogation. Word got round that I had been arrested and there was consternation in the office. My Gujarati boss sent me on a round tour of the branch offices in Gujarat and Andhra to escape from the unwelcome attention of the Police. I returned to the office in Delhi after five months.

 

 

Saturday 5 June 2021

E.Krishna Iyer- The Champion of the Arts


                                     E.Krishna Iyer Photo Courtesy Meenakshi Viswanathan

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It was a strange coincidence that my father would meet a gentleman in his office who introduced

himself, in the course of the conversation, as the son-in-law of E. Krishna Iyer.

My father informed him about my training under Kalakshetra, work with Bhagavata mela

and asked if he could arrange a meeting with his wife. That is how I met Meenakshi Viswanathan

the daughter of E. Krishna Iyer. She was a trained dancer herself and accompanied him

on his travels to assist in the lecture demonstrations he held. I was excited and happy that I

could meet someone who was part of our cultural history.

Our meeting went on for over two hours and the end of it she handed over the

souvenir released on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday and some photographs.

 The souvenir had excellent information which I used as reference for this article.

when I saw an obituary notice of her passing away. I immediately called on the contact number

and spoke to her son Ram Kumar. When I launched my book “Bhagavata mela My Tryst with

Tradition” I invited Shri Ram Kumar for the launch as I wanted him to receive the first copy.

I was disappointed to know he that he will not be in town that day. On the day of the launch

I was delight to open the door to his sister Uma Sundari and her husband who decided to drop in.

I have paid a tribute to E. Krishna Iyer in my book as the pioneer revivalist of the arts in

South India. The country owes him a great debt for his tireless efforts to successfully

revive Bharata Natyam, Bhagavat Mela and folk arts. Although I wrote this a very long time ago,

it remains unpublished. I am adding it to my blog only now.

 

  

 

Thunderous ovation greeted the end of the play “Malavika-Agnimitra” staged by Suguna Vilasa Sabha of

Madras in 1924. The heroine, Malavika, had captured the hearts of the distinguished audience of artists

and scholars. Among them was Melatur Natesa Iyer, a veteran artiste of the Bhagavata Mela

tradition.

He went in to meet the young man who in female disguise who had demonstrated such skill and talent

in both music and dance and asked him if he would like to continue his training in art. Young Krishna

 Iyer - for it was indeed he - declined, afraid that it would distract his practice and study of law.

Finally, Natesa Iyer persuaded him, and at the young age of 27 came a turning point in Krishna Iyer’s

life and he was set at the threshold of a great new world and a great mission in life. For over 30 years

from then he was to dedicate his life to the revival of Bharata Natyam and the upliftment of artistes.

 

E. Krishna Iyer was born on August 9, 1879, in Kallidaikurichi, a village near

Tirunelveli district. His parents were Kailasa Iyer and Ananthalakshmi. As

was the custom in those days he was married to Parvathi Ammal when he was still in school.

After high school in Ambasamudram, which had a reputation of high standards and discipline

 he graduated from Madras Christian College before joining the Law college in

Trivandrum. He had two sons Kailasa Eswaran and Seetharaman and a daughter Meena.

His grand-children Ram Kumar, Kannan, Shekhar, Uma Sundari and Krishna are in

various professions.

 

As a young boy, he had a passion for history and developed great interest in the English language. In 1918,

 he took his Bachelor’s and was soon caught up in the feverish political activity in the country. He was

a native member of the Home Rule Movement under Annie Besant and the Students Convention under

 G.S. Arundale. He studied law and was called to the Bar in 1922. He entered serious politics in 1926.

 He toured all over the south frequently engaging in political propaganda rousing the people with the

high spirited patriotic songs of the poet Subramanya Bharati. He went willingly to jail twice for the

 cause of national freedom. Krishna Iyer became a member of the Madras Corporation Council and

for over a decade, he distinguished himself as a model City Father.

 

In 1943 he took to journalism and was Associate-Editor of “Free Press” a daily from Madras.

He was the first editor of the “New Age”, a monthly magazine He also wrote as art critic for Kalki,

Indian Express, Dinamani and the Mail.

 

Born with natural talent in music, Krishna Iyer developed a deep knowledge in music even in his youth.

He had a splendid voice which brought him kudos when he once played the role of Ratnangi in a

play called Sarangdhara. He acquired an insight into the essentials of the art and its purpose,

and developed a critical sense to appraise concert music. After his meeting with Melatur Natesa Iyer,

he trained himself in Bharata Natyam under him and later under the famous Devadasi Madurantakam

Thangambal. He was so inspired by the art that he determined to launch an efective propaganda to revive

and rescue it from near extinction.

Due to the biased propaganda by the Anti-Nautch movement initiated by one Miss Tenant, the

public mixed up the art with the evil. At every step, misguided social reformers looked with

contempt at his efforts to revive an art which was connected with the low and the lewd. Krishna Iyer

 was accused of bringing ruin to respectable family life by encouraging devadasis to perform in public.

It required great courage and unshakeable faith in his mission to do what he did. Undaunted by such

alarming accusations, Krishna Iyer preached that the spiritual quality can be brought out if  girls from

 respectable families would take to it. He dressed himself in a saree when he performed and lectured

in public. The most famous items in his recitals was the Cosmic dance. He began this item by dancing

 on a plate of water. With a concluding Thirmanam, he jumped on  to a big clay pot.  He then executed

 a complete intricate Thillana on the pot. This was no mere gimmickry but required tremendous skill,

practice and control of the body. A man of great courage and conviction, E. Krishna Iyer boldly broke

the spell of social stigma against Bharata Natyam by presenting it to the scholars and experts on the

Music Academy platform during the decade long Secretaryship of the prestigious association.

This enraged the followers of the Anti-Nautch movement and there began the historic press

controversy over the advisability of reviving dance in decent society. This controversy which

 can well be called an important milestone in the history of our dance, was begun by Muthu

Lakshmi Reddi. This aroused public interest considerably and the end of the heated dialogue gained

 a significant victory for E. Krishna Iyer. He discovered several outstanding devadasi dancers of

whom Sabharanjitam, Nagaratnam, Mylapore Gouri Amma and Balasaraswati are well-known.

 He also sent out a call, requesting girls from respectable families to take to the art. In fact, it was

after witnessing a performance by Rajalakshmi and Jeevaratnam, two devadasis that Smt. Rukmini

 Devi was so impressed that she decided to learn the art herself. Kalanidhi, a young Brahmin girl

was the first to perform in public. In 1934, Krishna Iyer was invited to an All-India Music Conference

in Benaras. He took young Balasaraswati with him and together with his comprehensive commentary

 opened the eyes art lovers assembled there. Rabindranath Tagore, who was present among the

august audience was highly impressed by Bala’s peerless art.

 

A man of inexhaustible enthusiasm, E. Krishna Iyer did not rest on his laurels and one mission

successful he promptly set himself another task. He now turned his attention to the dance-drama

form of Bhagvad Mela Natakam. It was due to his pioneering efforts, relentless research, and scholarly

 persuasions that the art of the forgotten villages of Melattur and Soolamangalam was brought to the

urban stage, He spent seven years on this mission and brought several modifications and improvements

in its presentation to suit a city audience.

 

The triumphs of Krishna Iyer in every field he took up, made him search for fresh pastures to work on.

Finding the classical had gained sufficient value and importance, he switched his interest to discover

 and reform folk music and dance. As the first honorary secretary to the Madras State Sangeeta Nataka

Academy, he toured extensively and organized an All-Madras Folk-Dance Festival at Tanjore in 1956.

He brought to the notice of the public, dances like Poikkal Kudarai Attam (dummy horse dance) and

Bommalattam (Puppetry). Krishna Iyer was convinced of the greatness of the folk arts and their

place in the cultural heritage of the country. With a view to educate public opinion and to improve

their tastes and standards in the arts, Iyer wrote numerous articles on the subject in both

English and Tamil papers. He also became a regular reviewer and critic for all art programmes conducted

 in the city.

 

Mr. Krishna Iyer’s reviews of dance programmes made criticism into the art. He was just, impartial

 and would never fear to write what he felt was the correct judgement. At the same time, he never praised

a dancer to the skies nor did he drop her to wallow in misery and self-depreciation. He steered a middle

path between the extremes and only an exceptionally good dancer could get an ecstatic review from him.

His words were worth its weight in gold and many a promising young dancer has been helped and

encouraged in her career by this great connoisseur. Having been through the discipline of training himself

and having faced the bitterness of failure and joy of success himself, he was naturally sympathetic to the

aspiring artiste.

 

Thus, Krishna Iyer’s fame as an artiste, writer and public worker spread and he was invited to give

lectures on Bharata Natyam and dances of Tamil Nadu. On many occasions he was accompanied by

 another graceful dancer, Saroja Khokar. Talking to Meena, one gets a picture of the sincerity and

 greatness of her father’s nature. Meena is the only daughter in a family of three.

Meena has trained under Guru Muthu Kumarappa Pillai and accompanied her father

for lecture-demonstrations. She reminisced, “He never had time for

family problems, but involved all of us in whatever work he was doing. So much so, the problems

of the nation were the problems of our family.” In 1957 a grateful gathering of dancers, musicians,

scholars and art lovers, held a public reception to felicitate him on his sixtieth birthday. Many expressed

their personal gratitude to him and hailed him as the foremost pioneer to whom the country owes

the retrieval of our rich heritage from the murky depths of ignorance and prejudice.

His single-handed championship of the arts deserves special mention in the history of dance and music.

 

If Krishna Iyer was fortunate to see the fulfilment of his mission in his own lifetime, he also saw how

 art could be exploited in the hands of money-making gurus and over enthusiastic parents. He lamented

the fact that young children of 7 or 8 should be presented on the stage, when they could hardly understand

 what they were doing. Again, short term crash courses of 6 months or one year will surely destroy,

he felt, the highly skillful technique which is the very essence of Bharata Natyam.

 

E. Krishna Iyer cherished a great desire to establish a central college for Bharata Natyam.

He felt that gurus specialised in one or more facets of Bharata Natyam. The central college

should engage the services of these specialists so that the student could avail of the experience

and knowledge of these experts under one roof. Rukmini Devi’s Kalakshetra is a dream come true

as the ideal school for training in the traditional Pandanallur style.

 

Keywords: E.Krishna Iyer, Rukmini ,  Bharata Natyam,  Bhagavata mela,   Melattur Natesa Iyer