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Home > Kerala Articles > Kathakali My Perspective Kathakali, My PerspectiveHow far can the mind stretch? How deeply can the body bend in moulding oneself to fit comfortably into another culture? The heart being receptive and pliable, heeds the call. Youth and unbridled enthusiasm lead the way to kerala and so begins an immersion in studying the Kathakali, Mohini Attam, and the culture of a very different land. I came to kerala after having studied Mohini Attam for two and a half years in London with Tara Rajkumar and three months of Kathakali with Kelu Nair of Santiniketen. Twice during this time Padmasree Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair and FACT Padmanabhan came to perform with a full Kathakali troupe in London. I was amazed by the spectacle of kathakali and very attracted to its movement style and the emotional content of the stories, and the beautiful singing and drumming. India beckoned and i arrived in kerala in december 1974 and stayed until February 1978. This was made emotionally possible by all the many kind of people that befriended me and so openheartedly shared their culture and homes. Hello-you know who you are! Kathakali was flourishing in temple festivals and clubs and there was an abundance of performances to see. It was great fun to travel, somtimes several hours, by bus to a tiny village in the night to see Kathakali. I remember how exciting it was walking down a narrow dark lane to come upon a glowingly lit temple with an excited audience anticipating the night's performance. I saw many different stories enacted and was grateful whenever someone was able to explain them to me. Little by little I learned more about the stories and their characters. My dance studies began with Kalyani Kutti Amma in Tripunithura. I took class each morning for one and a half hours. Kalyani Kutti Amma , "teacher" as I called her, was patient and took great pains to teach me. She wanted so deeply to share the art she loved so well. Cholkettu Jatiswarams, panthadi, varnams - all the beautiful items a great challange for me, and the "ara mandali" so difficult never could I bend deeply enough, forever practicing the ardavus which i loved - all of them! Knowing i also wanted to study Kathakali, Kalyani Kutty Amma asked her husband, the illustrious Padmasree Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair if he would give me lessons. I had to be patient.One morning as i took my Mohini Attam class i saw him looking through the dance studio window. Later that day he said he would teach me and i began to study Poothana Moksham. I knew about Poothana Moksam having seen Tara Rajkumar whowas trained by Krishnan Nair Ashan perform it in London. Her Poothana was magnificient. So here i was in kerala studying Poothana which Krishnan Nair - miracle of miracles. He was a great and patient teacher - thorough and strict - always encouraging and hugely generous. He was able to impart to me in a single class a new movement, a step, a gesture, that i felt would take me weeks to learn, but saying firmly "di it" I had to and, therefore, i could. He was able to take a student to great heights one could never have imagined for oneself. To be able to sit at his feet and observe his Abhinaya was, of course, too wonderful to behold. Often mani "che chi" Ashan's daughter, would come upstairs to asist Ashan in translating the padams so i could learn the mudras and understand what each portrayed. I deeply thank all of the family members of Madhavi Mandiram for welcoming me into their home and culture. I also thank Ravi Achen and his family for endless visits to their home and endless classes classes with Ravi Achan who helped me study Malayalam and translate padams and talked about the puranas. At this time i began also to study with F.A.C.T Padmanabhan. He taught me Thodayam, Purappadu, and several veshams. I was fortunate to study with him and to try to emulate his graceful and expressive dance movements and beautiful abhinaya. Padmanabhaban ashan's other students were very kind to me and , in time; Imade life long friends - Radhika Varma and premila Vijayakumari and many more. I was very previleged to perform with Thripunithura's womens troupe and will never forget the magical feel of being in the green room, applying makeup, with all other actors. I was so proud to be able to put on the beautiful clothes and ornaments, to put 'chundapoo' into the eyes, and sprinkle the 'abhram' onto the hands and face. I loved making obeisance to the the stage, Bhoomi Devi, the musician and ones teachere before performing. Than to enact one's vesham, accompained by great musicians Kalamandalam Embrandiri, Hydrali, Krishnan Kutty Poduval, Appu Kutty Poduval, was just too wonderful!. I am greateful to have been able to step into the Hindu puranas and enact a role. Perhaps i too have amassed a little "punyam". In february 2008 I returened to Kerala after a thirty year absence. I'm sorry it took so long to return. It was no lack of desire but life intervened and a good life it has been raising four children with my husband Neal. I had been asked to teach yoga to a group of women on retreat to kerala. After traveling for two days from San Francisco, arriving in Trivandrum and then driving to Vakala we disembarked at our guest house at 2 a.m. and heard kathakali music broadcast loudly from one of Varkala temples. I pronounced "we must go their now". Our host rsponded that tomorrow would be another day and we would have lots of time to see kathakali. I said "no, please, I have been waiting thirty years to see another Kathakali in Kerala" so a few of us went to the temple and there, upon the stage, was Rugmangada charita and a large audience watching. Mohini had been the very last role i played with Krishnan Nair Ashan as Rugmangada before i returned home to the U.S. That was in February 1978 and this was February 2008. Being festival season i was able to see several Kathakali programs, a few more in Varkala - Devayani swayamwara and Bali Vadha. I was especially mesmerized by the beauty of the singing and the pathos of the stories. Staying up all night was difficult, but at daybreak my girl friend and i were the only woman left in the audience with several male spectators.What had we just witnessed? Was it just a dream? Completely exhausted, but thrilled, we walked happilly back to our guest house for hot chai. At a temple just outside of Thripunithura women's troupe perform Lavanasura Vadha. My friend Premila Vijayakumar was enacting Sita, and Remeshan Varma would be Hanuman. Several other friends of mine were performing along with their children .F.A.C.T Padmanabhan had trained all the actors of two generations. They performed so skillfully with great attention to body movement and abhinaya. I could see Padmanabhan Ashan's dedicated teaching in each and every one of them. I was deeply impressed with ashan's skilful and complete commitment to kathakali and his students and in keeping the art of kathakali alive. I coudn't help but wonder what it would have been like if i had remained in kerala and continued my involvement with kathakali and Mohini Attam. Maybe i too could have continued performing with the Thripunithura Women's Troupe. But it was not my "tala-il-azhutha" written in mind! I send my best regards to all Kathakali loving public. I wish i could be with you on january 11 for your festival and i hope it will be a great success. Thank you for asking me to write this article. From my prespective Kathakali is vibrant and relevant - a cultural and universal force revealing the intricacies of human nature. It inspires us to reflect upon our own lives and look deeply into the mysteries of our hearts.
About the Author: JAN ZEITLIN : American by birth, studied the classical dance forms of kathakali and Mohini Attam with Indian Teachers resident in Britain. From 1974 till 1978 lived in kerala, studing and perfoming these dances. Jan is affectionately called as 'Janaki Poothana' by late Padmasree Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair, her guru. Upon her return to the United States, Jan taught and performed those arts of kerala for the next twenty years.She did yoga studies with Linda lack the creator of The Thinking Body, The feeling Mind an aesthetically pleasing and intellectually chanllenging form of hatha yoga. Jan is now a certified teacher of this technique and has been teaching for sixteen years. Jan, an ardent lover of yoga and dance, is a member of Flamenco Arts Company in Santa Rosa, CA.Jan is married to Neal Katz and they have four beautiful adult children. [Click on the photos below to enalrge]
Article by :- Jan Zeitlin Courtsey: Makarajyothi 2009 published by Thamaramkulangara Ayyappa Seva Samithy in connection with Thamaramkulangara Makaravilakku 2009. |
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