On the second day of SICA’s ‘Nrityotsav-2017’, noted Bharatanatyam artiste Chitra Visweswaran, with her Chidambaram dance company, presented an unusual ballet ‘Meera-The Soul Divine’ at Ravindra Bharati. Besides Chitra Visweswaran, the other attraction was the ballet’s music, scored by noted vocalist Bombay Jayasree Ramnath.
The Meera bhajans were in Hindi with the interpretation in English. The costumes were in Rajasthani tradition in keeping with the history of the story being narrated.
The subject Chitra presented was the spiritual journey of Meerabai. For most of us Meerabai is a historic figure known as princess of Mewar. She was married into royalty of Chittor. A great devotee of Krishna, she devoted her life in his devotion singing and praising him. There are plenty of Meera bhajans that found place even in the repertoire of song and dance. There were group dances and in some jati presentations by students. This was an abhinaya-dominated theme. Meera’s story, as she grows, is depicted in different hues. As a child she happens to see a marriage procession of a prince with a girl. She innocently asks her mother who her bridegroom would be. And her mother playfully replies, “Giridhari”. That was when Meera surrenders her heart immediately to her Giridhari, Krishna.Then on, Meera, the princess of Mewar, was immersed in thoughts of Krishna. Braving ridicule, social ostracism and attempts of her life, Meera remained steadfast in her devotion.
Her devotion to Krishna makes Meera to break all family ties, including marital one, and move to Brindavan and then to Dwaraka. She craves to see Him and finally she could only see him within herself. Different dancers in Chitra’s troupe portrayed Meera at different stages of her life. Chitra appeared as the grown up Meera.
This being an abhinaya-oriented drama, Chitra impressively portrayed this prime role. For Chitra, performing to Meera bhajans was a cakewalk.There were group dances in the celebratory mood or in devotion that were quite good. Chitra’s abhinaya in the last act was a lesson in itself.
