Chaithanya Unni grew up always hearing the name of ‘Indulekha’ in her household. It was in her teenage years that the daughter of O. Chandu Menon’s great granddaughter finally got around to reading the book. Before long, she was hooked, to the book and the character, who she says, still influences her.
“No other character has influenced me so much that I developed a kind of affinity towards her, bordering on hero worship. I even wished my parents had named me after her. I used to think whether this character was inspired from some real person. So, I always wanted to do something on my own with this work, but I was not sure of how to go about it,” she says.
Soorya Krishnamurthy's visit
It remained a personal wish, until Soorya Krishnamurthy’s visit to her house in Australia, where she is working as a doctor, running a medical centre with her husband.
“When I came to know that she is from the author’s family, I suggested to her the idea of doing a Mohniyattam dance-drama, since she is a dancer. I started writing the script soon after. I have not touched on the novel at all, rather the work explores the situation of that time and the factors that inspired him to write such a work during that period. Before writing the work, Chandu Menon had approached painter Rama Varma to draw a portrait of Indulekha,” says Krishnamurthy.
He has connected the social situation of that time to the present, with situations that are similar to Chiatanya’s own personal life.
“In 1889, this man was speaking about women’s empowerment, their educational rights and even love marriage, which is even now not fully accepted by society. I see some similarities in the story to my own personal life. I chose my life partner against all odds. I used to think where did I get the strength to stick to my decisions. I probably have imbibed something from the character and the author. When I revisited the novel recently after so many years, I saw quite another side of Indulekha, which I didn’t see on my first reading,” says Chaitanya.
The one-hour dance drama was staged to a packed crowd at ‘Ganesham’ on Sunday evening. There will be two more shows on Monday and Tuesday.
