Dance like a Man

Although his family has been associated with this dance form for seven generations,Panditji says his romance with kathak began the minute he was born. “Main majnu ban gaya,” his eyes twinkle,as he tells tales of him dancing around the house as a kid,and learning from the best gurus,his family. “Like Ganga,Yamuna and Saraswati,their knowledge flowed into me,and I became a of confluence of gyan for them.”

With questions flying from all corners,Shobha’s and Panditji’s oldest shishya Saswati Sen’s little anecdotes punctuating and pausing the conversation,it became difficult to gauge Panditji’s attention. At 78,he might look old,but this luminous jewel’s mind,body and soul is alive,connected and bubbling with ideas. He speaks in lyrical prose and takes a poetic stance to every query. Most of the times,it’s the eyes and hands that do the talking and lend expression to his brilliance. “If you want to learn from me,then you have to know Hindi,invest in time and be patient,” he says,breaking down the complex structure of kathak for the young ones. “Like this three-year-old who couldn’t get the step right,so I correlated it with him eating a poorie,and set the beat to the process.” For Panditji,there is a story residing in every entity,living and non living,waiting to be unravelled and told. “My greatest source of katha is nature,she’s my first Guru,and it’s she who teaches me to borrow from her and dance.” As a result,everything finds a place in his grand ballet,in magnificently pieced together dance dramas…from a lifeless metal like iron to a piece of wood,from the morning newspaper to the working class,he manages to find laya and rhythm in every thing.

“There was a time when every move evoked wah wah,as if the dancer has recited a couplet. But times have changed,and people want something more than Radha Krishna’s raas leela. So,we did dance dramas on the working class called Laya Parikrama,how they work in a rhythmic form. Loha is a autobiography of a piece of iron,cut in two,as a sword and a temple bell. This was conceptualised during the days of terrorism. In Raas Leela,the flute is a wandering piece of wood till it becomes priceless on touching Krishna’s lips. Sampadana was a dance drama in rewind,a satire on how films are edited,” he talks of his productions that are reflections of time and comments on society.

He agrees that when it comes to Kathak,there are fewer males,for “it’s difficult to get that grace,expression and vision. It comes naturally to women,men,on the other hand,have to work harder,” he says. Dance to him is a piece of jewel,a diamond that’s cut to precision,has clarity and colour and the finesse. “Madhuri Dixit Nene had that…no one can dance like her,” he goes back to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas,the 12 nights of choreographing the Kahe Chhed Mohe song with Madhuri. “The depth in here eyes,the beauty of her movements are unmatched…”

Time’s running out,and Panditji has to leave,we are told quietly. But Panditji carries on,“just one more poem,and then we’ll leave,” he eagerly recites another one of his poems from the treasure trove of his life and work.