As articulate as she is artistic, Aruna Mohanty is an erudite Odissi dancer-guru whose charming demeanour reflects the intelligentsia of Odisha for an outsider. A Masters in Social Sciences from London, Aruna balanced her career in UNICEF and dance for two decades before opting to make her first love her profession! “And it is my art that has finally bestowed national recognition on me with Padmashri this year. Very strangely, my name from Odisha was nominated twice for the award but it didn’t come my way then. Suddenly after a tiring journey post-performance, I was home when I got a call that said I would be getting the Padma award. Believe me, I thought someone was playing a prank on me and began verifying the caller. It was his turn to be taken aback with a sceptical me questioning the credentials of a Home Ministry official! I went blank for two seconds which drew a remark from him about my being unhappy with the prestigious award! I gathered my wits and acknowledged that I was stunned with joy,” her voice savours those precious moments. A pause, and she adds, “It really sank in when people known and unknown, my own fraternity began congratulating me; more so my students who were beaming. It made me feel so humble to know that I touched so many hearts. I’m indebted to my parents for encouraging me in the pursuit of art, my gurus who held my hand and made me walk the path and my audiences who gave a boost to my creativity with every performance. Above all, stands Jagannath, the lord of my dance; the stage is my temple and this Padma ‘samman’ is dedicated to all those who helped mould an Aruna Mohanty.”
Born into an intellectually fertile family, where her sister topped her batch in Civil Services, it is surprising that Aruna took to dance. “In Odisha, art and literature thrive in educated households, not to undermine academics. My father was a writer and theatre person. He had produced movies. So I was exposed from childhood to literary giants crossing our threshold in animated conversations with my father. In his theatre plays those days, there was a customary invocatory dance and a concluding one at that. I would watch these from the wings and finally I was put into learning dance and music as well. Those days to learn dance and even perform on stage was okay until a certain age; it was viewed as a hobby. But my father was a liberal, much ahead of his times. He would always say, ‘you should go by your own calling and once the choice is made, sky is the limit.’ I’m mentioning this to drive home the point that parents’ cooperation and love of art give a young aspirant the right environs,” she explains.
Guiding force
Aruna’s guru Gangadhar Pradhan was the guiding force of her journey of life. He would draw her schedule with a military precision and she had to follow it to the T. “There were times I envied my friends who were like free birds playing while I was put to the grind. It all is a part of childhood and growing up. However, I enjoyed performing. Guruji was very particular about maintaining the right body structure. Dance is a visual art and fitness is mandatory, he would say. Till date I’m a stickler to this regimen.”
Ask her about advocating innovation in Odissi dance and to what permissible limits can that go? She is crystal clear about what she terms, “healthy experimentation.” “New additions are like tributaries that only enrich the mainstream. For instance, now are we not talking of cleaning Yamuna or Ganga? Lord Krsna did the same by annihilating serpent Kalindi who was spewing venom into fresh waters isn’t it? I always try to establish a connect with my 3000 year-old art form. It has to be a live expression, not a thing of the past that finds little relevance in present times. My dance should reflect the nuances of Odissi lifestyle. But experimentation doesn’t mean random borrowing. First a perfect foundation and technique of dance has to be established before one ventures into all these. Now Odissi has travelled far and wide. So many non-Indians are keen on learning the dance form. But I feel that they should also be exposed to the lifestyle, its villages, its traditions, literature and music of Odia region; not just isolate dance and learn. Similarly, we too are taking our classical dance across the confines of our nation; not just to Indian diaspora abroad but to non-Indians as well. Hence the need to package it without losing grip on tradition. I feel responsible to spread the dance in its entirety so that today’s learners become able teachers tomorrow,” she sums up.
Odisha Parb
Coming as it does on World Dance Day, the Odisha Parba (fest) first of its kind in the capital is a three-day mega event, sprawled across India Gate lawns, will showcase 2000 years of Odisha from the pre-historic through Kalinga war by emperor Asoka, the sea-faring (2nd BC) colonising in eastern Bali region till the present times. A promising fest by Delhi-based Odia Samaj, where Aruna Mohanty plays a pivotal role in bringing out various facets of Oriya culture to the fore including folk and tribal dances being enacted on Rajpath. “The maritime voice of South-East Asia,” points out Aruna, “was not just exchange of trade. It was also a cultural exchange through art. We sold our dreams to each other. My ‘Bhava Sangama’ (confluence of thoughts) dance ballet is a unique presentation where the Balinese dance and Odissi converge on the same stage, retaining their individual identities, juxtaposing their styles, blending their common culture that came down through trade and finally underlining the nature of art to traverse geographical, linguistic boundaries. The landmark event was Asoka’s war which changed the course of Kalinga (Orissa). I’m using multi-media and the lore of Ramayana which is common to both cultures. Odisha is proud of its cultural heritage. This is our effort to bring out the nuances of our temple tradition, music, handicrafts, handlooms and cuisine.”
