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Photo: S.Subramanium Photo: Anu Pushkarna

POISED FOR APPLAUSE Gitanjali Lal and (below) Ranjana Gauhar in New Delhi

By then she had already trained under Roshan Kumari for four years. “I was born in Baroda,” she recounts. “I had my schooling in Bombay, and I began my formal Kathak training under Roshan Kumarji at six. Then she moved to Calcutta, and I switched over to Gopikrishnaji. Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje had just become a big hit, and it was all the rage to learn under him.”

Her father, Professor Rajnikant Desai of SNDT College, Bombay, was a vocalist, a disciple of Ustad Faiyaz Khan. When he was posted to Srinagar as Principal of the Institute of Music and Fine Arts, the family went with him.

“It was thanks to my father that I was encouraged to learn dance, since in those days it was not well looked upon for a girl to dance. I learnt music from him also,” she recalls. In Srinagar, Gitanjali was cast as the heroine of a film produced by the Kashmir government on the poet Mahjur. “Parikshit Sahni was the hero. Balraj Sahni was in it too. It was called Shayar-e-Kashmir Mahjur. It was the first colour film made in Kashmir,” she says. “Prabhat Mukherji of Calcutta directed it. It must have been 1968-69.”

Before that, as a child of nine, she had made her first stage appearance, dancing before Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. “I was a nine-year-old. There was a little boy playing the tabla for me. It was Zakir Hussain.”

She remembers that first programme well. “I went with Roshanji to get a new costume. I admired her like anything! She must have been only around 18. She used to let me touch her dressing table. I would examine her lipsticks. And when I watched her practise, I couldn’t see her face. She was like a spinning top when she did chakkars.”

Child prodigy or no, the times were such that Gitanjali did not aspire to glory, either celluloid or stage. “My guru made it clear that if she let me go on stage, it was fine, but otherwise I should not even dream of it. There were not many opportunities either.” Life was all about studies, music and dance.

“My father was strict too. The only time I saw a film was when I acted in one. I even learnt the santoor for some time in Bombay, under Mohammad Aziz. Later I did my B.A. in music in Srinagar. Bhajan Sopori was my professor. I also learnt Bharatanatyam, just to know about the form. It all helped me in later life.”

Returning to Bombay after her graduation, she continued her Kathak under Guru Kalyanpurkar. In 1970 Gitanjali debuted as a soloist in New Delhi’s Sapru House auditorium. One day she saw the brothers Devi Lal and Durga Lal perform. “Till then I thought there was no one better than me,” she says frankly.

“But I saw them, and it was like aandhi, toofan — brilliant.” So she was particularly pleased when Doordarshan asked her to do a duet with younger brother Durga.

“In 1973 I married Devi Lalji,” she continues. “I learnt from him a bit before marriage and after marriage too.”

Devi Lal’s untimely death meant Gitanjali had to take up regular work. She joined Kathak Kendra as a staff dancer.

“I learnt a lot working under Birju Maharaj and also seeing the work of other choreographers like Kumudini Lakhia,” she remarks, adding that teaching since ’86 has widened her understanding of her art.

“It was at a time when I was training to be an Odissi dancer but was not ready to go on stage. I already had leanings towards the theatre, so I took it up as an outlet for my creative urge,” explains the former member of Abhiyan theatre group of the well known theatre director Rajinder Nath. “In a way I would say theatre has enhanced my understanding of the stage, of lights, of teamwork and other aspects,” she adds. “It was a very good training.”

Often solo dancers lack this spirit, she feels. “Because they always work in isolation, they forget that this is nothing but teamwork. All this came naturally to me. And of course it was a lovely experience and gave me an understanding of life,” says the artiste who has acted in plays like “Ghasiram Kotwal”, “Natak Kolampur Ka”, “Ali Baba”, “Mahanirvan” and others.

Having rubbed shoulders with Sushma Seth, Ravi Vasvani and other celebrated names, she says, “I am honoured to have worked with them.” After seven years of theatre work, she found her acting submerged as Odissi took over. “But I would love to go back to theatre,” she adds.

Odissi is still centre-stage though. This award corroborates the fact. “It’s a beautiful feeling. When vasant comes you don’t think about it, it just comes and one must relish it, one must be grateful,” says the disciple of Gurus Aloka Panikar and Mayadhar Raut.

Her short films on Odissi and other themes have been featured on various platforms. “I still have many ideas, but I’m not finding the opportunities to apply these. I think also, I’ve got too much wrapped up in dance,” she admits. Having authored a comprehensive tome on Odissi, she is toying with the idea of another book, but it is too early to discuss it. Writing a book is “one of the toughest things,” she points out, “because dancers never sit down.” Who said life on twinkle toes was cushy?

Vidyadhar Vyas – Hindustani vocal

Govardhan Mishra – Hindustani vocal

B. Krishnamoorthi – Carnatic vocal

Vidya Sankar – Carnatic veena

Sucheta Bhide Chapekar – Bharatanatyam

Meghdoot theatre, Rabindra Bhawan

Deepti Omchery Bhalla – Mohiniattam

Gitanjali Lal – Kathak

Ranjana Gauhar – Odissi

Kalamandalam Sivan Nambootiri – Kudiyattam

Sadanam Krishnan Kutty – Kathakali

Festival on till March 4

26 February at 6 p.m., 27 Feb. – 4 March at 6.30 p.m.

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