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An era in pictures
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Artistes across India are celebrating Rukmini Devi Arunadale's birth centenary that falls this Sunday. ANJANA RAJAN meets Sunil Kothari, whose "Photo Biography of Rukmini Devi" will be released this Monday.
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Rukmini Devi Arundale in a Bharatanatyam posture... From Sunil Kothari's photo biography.
DR. SUNIL Kothari could be called the Narada of the performing arts world, not because he is suspected of conjuring mischief between various parties - like the heavenly musician who wanders across the universe, triggering off disagreements between mortals and immortals to help the course of destiny - but because he gives the impression of simultaneously being in several cities. Be it any important cultural event, Sunil Kothari can be spotted among the eminent spectators. It might be Kolkata one day, Chennai the next; if it was Bangalore yesterday, it will be Hyderabad the next. But today belongs to Delhi. This is where he is busy moving heaven and earth to get the exhibition curated by him, `Remembering Rukmini Devi' off the ground from Sunday at the Lalit Kala Akademi. And this is where his latest book, "Photo Biography of Rukmini Devi", published by The Kalakshetra Foundation, will be released by the Minister for Tourism and Culture, Jagmohan on Monday.
February 29 marks the 100th birth anniversary of Rukmini Devi Arundale, the pioneer of Indian classical arts and crafts who played a pivotal role in resuscitating Bharatanatyam and consequently the other classical dance forms that have journeyed from temple to proscenium and today stand proudly among India's export specialties. The idea of the publication came up while he was helping Kalakshetra - Rukmini Devi's institution in Chennai - in compiling its vast photo and film archives for the centenary celebrations that have been continuing over the past year and will conclude in the Capital. It was decided that a book was in order, to put Kalakshetra on the information highway through a comprehensive CD Rom still under production. "We also thought it would act as a record of the exhibition," says the dance historian who has authored several books on the classical dance forms as well as a "Photo Biography of Uday Shankar".
It was when he showed Rukmini Devi the latter publication that she expressed a wish that he compile one for her, says the author. "I really belong to Kalakshetra. My association has been from 1957 onwards," he says, adding on a practical note, "Since I was an outsider also, and acquired a certain position, with my association with Rabindra Bharati University, they supported me totally."When Rukmini Devi was alive - and her word was law till she breathed her last - Kalakshetra, though a performing arts institute, had no documentary records to speak of.
To get a recording, film, or a single photo - even a home movie! - was fraught with difficulty or subterfuge. No wonder the archives now being made available have been painstakingly collected from across the world, including the Monash University Archive in Melbourne, the International Theosophical Centre at Huizen, Holland, as well as the Theosophical Society, Chennai and numerous other individual and institutional sources. Sunil Kothari is lavish in his praise for the present Kalakshetra establishment, starting with its Chairman, former President R. Venkataraman and others who have helped him collate the data.
Rukmini Devi was such a multi-faceted personality, her interests covering the gamut of aesthetic expression and extending into the philosophy of what makes life beautiful - leading her to pursue activities as varied as Western Ballet, Bharatanatyam, revival of traditional weaving techniques, provision for Montesori training and animal welfare - that truly, only a photo biography could do her justice. This is what Sunil Kothari has attempted.
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