She never looked at the half-empty
cup, only the half-full...gentle, soft-spoken, dignified, she was an epitome
of inner strength and spirituality. The half-empty - half-full cup formula
only applied to life with all its vagaries and not to any of my activities,
be it dance, music, poetry, painting or writing.
My sternest critic, she was also
my inspiration, my guide and my dearest friend. She gently encouraged me
at what I was good at and firmly wooed me away from what would never become
a strength with me. I remember the gentle smile, I remember the mischievous
twinkle, I remember the uncompromising, firm gaze, I remember that look...
at times pensive, at times deeply inscrutable, looking inwards... a look
that I came to understand only as I grew older.
She
was born the youngest in a family of eight children. Her father, TS Sankara
Iyer was a leading luminary of South Indian society in pre-independence
Delhi, the first Indian to become Financial Commissioner of Indian Railways,
a visionary, a social reformer and a great patron of the arts. Her mother
Seethalakshmi, a nine-yard clad Brahmin lady who supported her husband
in all his social reforms, wrote songs, played badminton and was commented
upon as being one of the most intelligent conversationalists by the then
Viceroy of British occupied India.
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Some memories live forever. They
remain by you – silent shadows of the past, they grow with you. Her memory
dwells in my subconscious like a protective canopy. For, she was one such
person whom it is not easy to forget. She was around all the time, her
wonderful personality spreading everywhere; she still is always around
now. Her presence exuded warmth and made the house into a perfect home.
She
shaped my life. She very deftly manipulated the reins she held and took
me unfailingly towards my destination. She became the master craftsman
of my life and executed her travail effortlessly, tastefully and beautifully.
She held my hands all through, lest I stumbled over the thorny paths of
life. She had understood what was best for me and led me assertively to
achieve my goals. She was my perennial source of encouragement, urging
me all the time to perform better. Sad, that the best things came when
she wasn’t there to see her efforts bearing fruit – it was ordained to
be that way.
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My mother Savithri Sabanayagam belonged
to an era when girls had to live by the rules and norms dictated by society
– she obeyed her parents implicitly – got married and the story of her
husband and children became her life. She did not deem it a great
sacrifice but derived great pleasure and pride in losing her identity and
living her life through them.
Born into an aristocratic family
– the eldest granddaughter of the Zaminder of Chunampet and the eldest
daughter of SS Rajan, landlord of Madurai - she was brought up loved and
protected. She was well educated and completed her graduate studies
from Presidency College. She was married to my father Mr. P Sabanayagam
IAS who rose to high levels of power and eminence in his civil service
career. This opened a whole new world to my mother. From a
much cocooned atmosphere she was thrown open to the outside world and her
adventure to all the good things in life began.
She made the best use of this exposure.
She became a very confident, articulate and a people's person and made
her presence and impact be felt wherever she went. She developed
an exquisite taste for sarees, jewellery, painting, and artifacts and her
greatest pleasure was shopping for her loved ones.
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(Lalitha Venkat speaks to Professor Ramanujam at Thirukurungudi)Professor Ramanujam is a well-known Tamil theater director, a writer, a translator and a keen revivalist. He has worked on reinterpreting classics from Greek and Latin plays and rewriting many famous Greek tragedies for Tamil theater audiences. He has been involved as professor at Thanjavur University and has also been a director of several Tamil plays.He has been associated with Na Muthuswamy of Koothu-P-Pattarai for over 20 years and travels extensively within Tamilnadu as consultant and as a lecturer about theater.For the last 5 years, Prof. Ramanujam has been involved in the revival and reconstruction of the 13th century theatre ritual of Kaisika Natakam in the temple of Thirukurungudi in Tirunelveli district in Tamilnadu. This is a project supported by Arangham Trust and it has involved his working with artistes, musicians and scholars, writers and members of the traditional arts community associated with temples. The first revival performance after a gap of 50 years was staged in 1998 on the day of Kaisika Ekadasi and since then it has become an annual all night drama ritual in the temple town of Thirukurungudi.
Born on June 16, 1934, with a career span of more than five decades on the stage and three on the silver screen, Kamala, the prime disciple of Natyacharya Vazhuvoor Ramiah Pillai, is acknowledged as the foremost exponent of the 'Vazhuvoor Bani', a style characterised by grace, finesse and aesthetic appeal.When did you start your dance career?I started learning kathak from Lachu Maharaj, Prof. More and Sunderprasad when I was 3 and half years old. My first performance was in 1939 in Mumbai at Astik Samaj when I was 5 years old. I remember it was on Sriramanavami Day. I also learnt Hindustani music from Shankar Rao Vyas.
