The Sufi sojourn

In a soulful presentation, Rani Khanam traversed the emotion of love – from earthly to ethereal plane

April 20, 2018 01:00 am | Updated 01:00 am IST

AN ENRICHING EXPERIENCE Rani Khanam at the event

AN ENRICHING EXPERIENCE Rani Khanam at the event

When seasoned artistes take to the stage, they are bound to cast a spell with their performance. The reason is not far to seek, for one, it will not be the run-of-the-mill and a stage show is planned only when the artistes have something special up their sleeve which is worth a watch. Rani Khanam’s ‘In search – a journey of Ruhaniyat’ presentation was a sort of voyage into the Sufi stratosphere where the emotion of love traverses from earthly to ethereal plane, shaking off its temporal shackles. But then, this transition doesn’t just happen like that; it is a journey of the soul (rooh) which is very rooted in the body, subject to only sublime emotion of love whose manifestation is as much mundane as spiritual.

This esoteric cruise was like a guided tour through the songs of Sufi saints/poets like Khwaza Usman Harooni Rehmatullah (Persian), Kabir, Baba Bulle Shah which got translated into an exotic dance by Rani Khanam. To mould Kathak into mudras (classical dance hand gestures) to convey imagery seemed her forte and that too with astounding clarity! Adept at footwork, the artiste embellished it with her facial expressions that spelt every word of the verse as the songs went by. The graceful tihayees hedged the Sufi world as if protecting it with care and devotion. Her gossamer, pristine white costume with subtle changes in the upper veil to golden, etc were in keeping with the theme. Manifestations of the divine in the form of flora, fauna and Nature per se derived their forms on stage with the dancer’s deft picturisation. For instance, the gait by which she balances the celestial planets on both hands, the ghungroo footwork to the first drops of rain as they touch the earth and the joy that exudes within our heart, the swift fish in the waters, the birds in flight and then a shift to the bonds that bind the soul to this earthly paradise and the yearning to reach the Supreme are some of the highlights of Rani’s sensitive creativity. The orchestra reached a crescendo as she shows the soul’s reach out to godhead which enriched the aura created by the dancer. An unseen thread links the songs together to show the gradual development of spiritual union. The rotatory chakkars were reminiscent of the Sufi dervishes seeking blessing from the heaven and passing it down.

Love-smitten devotee

The ode ‘Zara kholo ji kiwariya..’ (by Hameed Kalkattawale) to Khwaja Moinuddin Garib Nawaz (saint of Ajmer) was all about the divine love-smitten devotee who is struck by arrows of passion to reach her beloved; the seemingly hedonistic love turns her into a ‘jogan’ (mendicant) who is unmindful of social norms and is insanely pining for the Supreme Being having arrived at His threshold. Only a seasoned artiste like Rani who is deep into philosophy of life could bring such abstract thought and concretise it through dance. Her sancharis to Kabir and Bulleshah’s compositions said it all –‘boondey padi, boondey padi..’ preceded by ‘bismillah’ had a telling effect as the dancer launched into a Tarana where the vibgyor is interpreted as a heavenly drizzle of divine love (nor) that drops on the devotee in which she is joyfully soaked to the bone. The number seven assumes a significance in this context – be it seven musical notes or days of a week or seven spiritual footsteps. The ecstasy of her circling movements towards the finale as if in trance touched a similar chord in the viewers. The live orchestra made the show at Habitat Centre an enriching experience.

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