Role of Art Education in a child’s holistic growth

Introduction :

The discourse on modernity which emphasises that human beings are geared towards creating a society based on the tenets of super speciality, objective knowledge, capitalistic drive, technical efficiency, quick results and competitive spirit leaves little space for the artistic growth. More so art is seen as antithetical in the contemporary times. It is termed as traditional, old-fashioned and highly subjective. It is also seen as a part of an elitist section of the society and not catering to the masses reducing it to be popular only amongst a selective few who are considered to be gifted with artistic sensibilities.
Art is interpreted as some kind of a luxury as against the day-to-day needs of a human being which have to be looked after first. This existential thought limits a person to strive towards acquiring a secured life (food, shelter, security), and leaves no space for him to indulge in ‘higher’ forms of aesthetic expression.
Following this line of thought the present day education system is focussed on preparing students for a highly competitive world which is structured around market driven economy. Curriculum is compartmentalised as sciences, commerce and humanities leaving no space for art education. There are hardly any schools which incorporate art education as a part of basic education system. By bracketing art forms into extra-curricular activities they are doing a lip-service to the idea of giving a child a holistic education.
This paper questions the idea of education in a child’s development. It attempts to understand the place of art in the over-all training of a student. The discussion touches upon the idea of knowledge in a curriculum based set-up, identity-formation in education, theory of multiple intelligence, the relationship between tradition and modernity, role of media in contributing towards art appreciation, parent’s contribution in nurturing the artistic sensibilities of a child and consequences of an educational system which is devoid of art,. The paper contextualises the discussion in the present day Indian society and attempts to briefly explain why and how is art a basic need of every human being.

• Idea of knowledge in a curriculum based set-up

In a country like ours - which has been nurtured by many civilisations, which speaks innumerable dialects, which practices diverse religions, which shares distinct lifestyles - it is indeed difficult to define the idea of knowledge which can be compartmentalised and presented in a concise manner within a formal education system. We are also a product of a colonial heritage which has percolated deep into the present day society. How it has affected our education system is evident from the following words of Penny Mackeon
‘Macaulay argued in 1835 that providing education based on Sanskrit and Arabic in India is of no use for India’s development, and argued instead for education based on English literature. He envisaged creating, “a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect”. The Minute is based on an idea that English education is not just superior in ‘science’, but would also inculcate superior morals, etc. that were responsible for making the English superior. We can see in the Minute, an early precursor for debates to come on the role of institutions in development.’
But it is important to question this very idea of development which was imposed on the people of India and its direct consequence can be seen in the way we situate our study of art in a curriculum based education. By targeting our classical languages, Macaulay hit at the very fabric that connects our multifaceted culture.
Now we are in an education system which partitions knowledge and expects children of various cultural, social and economic backgrounds to fit into a regiment which caters to a market driven society. Children are engineered to gain information and reproduce it in ways which are conducive to the present times. Britzmen comments
(This) curriculum organization is fragmented into instructional activities reduced to discrete blocks of time, thereby isolating subject areas and teachers, abstracting knowledge from its socio-cultural roots and political consequences, and decontextualizing knowledge and skills from their practical existences’
Which explains why children are made to absorb knowledge and re-cycle it rather that trained ‘how to think’ (Sullivan). The education system seems to work under a constraint of serving a dominant ideology which expects it to cater to the activities of a contemporary society. Seldom do educationists realise the purpose of education and especially the role of art in it. They neglect the fact that arts can contribute in giving a child a better sense of reality. As Don H. Krug and Nuhit Cohen Evron reflect
The arts contribute to this inquiry by adding knowledge from aesthetics, art criticism, art history, and art production. An important characteristic is its emphasis on personal and collective interpretations of a subject, idea, or theme. These interpretations help contextualize and broaden the range of meanings of a particular area of study. Interpretations through the arts can increase student’s opportunities to view realities other than as the organization of objective facts.
Different thinkers have commented on the role of art in understanding society and its relevance in education. Gandhi wanted art and higher learning to be social responsibilities only so far as they have a social utility whereas Tagore believed much of art and higher education must to be completely unrelated to society's immediate needs. Humayun Kabir explains that for

Tagore, the mind is nourished in truth; the imagination is nourished in art; and the world of relationship is nourished in sympathy for the created universe.

The aesthetic sense became the synthetic principle in his conception of holistic learning.

Earlier the Indian society functioned in a syncretic manner wherein the arts were incorporated into the daily life as a part of a child’s knowledge but now there is a clear cut demarcation wherein education is rated as essential and art as a vocation. It is this secondary treatment given to arts which curbs the artiste in many children, stifles their potential and limits their capabilities. Devi Prasad says,

We are facing the consequences of Keynesian theory which led the West towards pursuit of economic happiness and rejected morality, thus gearing education to greed and deceit

• Idea of identity

Following questions are intrinsic to the idea of education because they delve into the concept of identity – of an individual and the collective.
What kind of person is a child trained to become? How is this training addressed to her role in a collective? How is a sense of belonging inculcated in the education set -up? How does education develop a feeling of responsibility in the child towards one’s history, culture, and ethos?
School is a place where children from different backgrounds collect to share a part of them in order to re-invent themselves in the present day world. This active engagement between students is very crucial in building a sense of identity in a child. Children share a ‘syncretic experience’ which allows them to not only grow together but also develop their individual identity wherein art plays a very crucial role as it engages in

building an under- standing of the nature of perception, the capacity for reasoning (Ralph Smith 1970 )

We construct ‘stacks of knowledge’ in a system of education at various levels. Cole explains how each child is a product of a lineage which has a bears on her psyche. She brings with her a baggage of her culture and a sense of individuality which slowly flowers when she comes in contact with others. This interaction which takes place within a geographical area and a disciplined curriculum leaves lasting imprints on her which she carries forward in other walks of her life. It is this very interaction which acquires a unique dimension once art education in incorporated in it. The sensitive quality and aesthetic appeal of arts make knowledge acquisition a multi-sensory experience which not only nurtures a child’s personality but connects her to a wider spectrum called society.
The identity crisis which many children of the present generation are facing is because they are exposed to western culture on all fronts. Without being given grounding in their indigenous cultural expression in form of inputs into religion, aesthetics, art, philosophy their sensibilities are just being eroded by cultural symbols and images which do not form a part of an Indian thought. These children live here but dream of West. They are completely alienated from the cultural fabric which binds us as a thriving civilization. They have a very limited understanding of who they really are. –what does it mean to be an Indian and how has this nation evolved. It is this

‘serious shrinkage of background knowledge and information that people bring to their efforts in communicating with and understanding one another.’ (Smith 1968)

An art form is not just and expression. It is the culmination of many sensibilities across time and space. It is the crystallised form of a collective history; it is an expression of a continued dialogue between the individual and the collective. Because the child does not get introduced to different forms of arts and is only exposed to images of the here and now, her link with a cultural continuum is lost. She does not have any grounding as an individual. Neither can she relate to her past nor does she have a sense of direction regarding her future. A limited understanding of herself shrinks her world into an existentialist reality which is manipulated by the dominant forces of society. It is a calculated and well thought of agenda of these forces to keep people ignorant and culturally deplete so that they can be pushed into thinking and acting in a desired manner. People are used as puppets.
Hence it is crucial now more than ever that a child is given a sound footing in her heritage which is only possible if she is educated in arts.

•Theory of multiple intelligence

Human beings can think in myriad ways. They are a storehouse of many talents. No two human beings are the same. These sentences might sound like clichés but it is very important to understand that in the present educational system all the children are
expected to think in limited number of ways which can help them score marks in their exams and later secure a seat in a covetable university. The entire education system is geared towards pruning the sensibilities of children and preparing them for a harsh world which only understands the language of higher and higher percentages, digress from acclaimed seats of knowledge and high salary jobs in some prestigious companies. The education system does not give enough space for a child to get in touch with the artiste in her. In fact there is deliberate effort to curb the artistic potential of a child and make her master subjects which fall into the framework of the present day knowledge. Why should a child who might be good in painting, or sculpture, or dance, music made to go through the regimented course schedule of 12 years ? Why cannot she be trained in that specific area of knowledge and allowed to specialise in that field ? All the acclaimed minds in sports or arts are not university products. Point is how many individuals can afford to break away form the system and follow their pursuits – very few. It is the fault of the system which has not generated multiple systems of knowledge; Howards Gardner came up with the theory of multiple intelligences which says that IQ is not the only scale to measure a child’s intelligence. According to him, there are 7 intelligences which influence the workings of a mind. They are ,
1. Linguistic intelligence (as in a poet);
2. Logical-mathematical intelligence (as in a scientist);
3. Musical intelligence (as in a composer);
4. Spatial intelligence (as in a sculptor or airplane pilot);
5. Bodily kinesthetic intelligence (as in an athlete or dancer);
6. Interpersonal intelligence (as in a salesman or teacher);
7. Intrapersonal intelligence (exhibited by individuals with accurate views of themselves).
Since the traditional schools only emphasise on logistics and linguistic intelligence the way they teach only revolves around these two aspects. They do not explore other forms of knowledge which can train children in different skills. It is also important to understand that a child can be good in maths and also in music, she can dance and do chemistry, he can play very good piano and excel in computer networking. The education system does not bring together different intelligences thereby limiting not only the potential of the child but also the possibilities of her excelling in multiple fields.
Devi Prasad comments that

for the balanced growth of the personality of the child, the growth of the mind, and the body should be inter linked and integrate

• Relationship between tradition and modernity

Arts are treated as a mis-fit in today’s jet set world. Youngsters criticise art forms by labelling them as boring, archaic, old-fashioned, fossilised, slow, and esoteric. Parents who actually grew in a society, in which these arts thrived, are caught in their own confused state of mind as they want to connect to their children but do not want to invest time in inculcating artistic sensibilities because it takes effort and patience.
The popular belief now is to let go of past in order to connect to present in an anticipation for a better future. But this understanding of modernity is highly biased and incomplete. It emerges out of a cultural vacuum which fills the lives of many people because they have lost touch with their ethos.
A person is always a part of a legacy. The responsibility rests on the education system to preserve her legacy by teaching her how to connect to it, grow with it, embellish it and transform it into a new form with respect to space and time. If this link with the past is not established then a socio-cultural lacunae is formed which will keep widening


As Devi Prasad says

modern education based on the educational foundations laid during colonial period is expediting the rapid extinction of these traditions

Hence it becomes highly important that a conscious effort is made by policy makers, educationists, teachers and parents to incorporate art in the overall education of a child. Ralph Smith has clearly explained this in following words

The inculcation of a general capability and informed attitude toward both the art of one's own era and the art of the past in one's own and other cultures is a significant educational objective. The arts are important to the development of a rich personal lifeworld; they also contribute, together with other experiences, to an individual's ability to articulate the significance of personal life world values to others

Modernity germinated in Industrialization. Man started mastering the nature for his needs. This urge to go beyond nature, changing its motifs, modifying its expressions, bringing it into the fold of a mechanised world affected not only his relationship with nature but also how he related to fellow human beings. Human expressions which earlier tried imitating nature, which experienced her in different forms and ways, expressions which became a part of self-exploration slowly started to die out.
It is only in arts that people still see this connection between human being and nature. Art celebrates culture, which is born from the coming together of nature and human being. And Art Education is a process to understand culture. This network between human being , nature, culture and education is very important in a child’s growth and it is the responsibility of a society to nurture this network.

• Role of media in contributing towards art appreciation

Doordarshan as a public broadcaster of India is the only channel which telecasts programme on art and culture. THE HINDU is the only newspaper which focuses on cultural issues. Barring these two there is no space in print or on air which informs people about issues related to art. Contribution of Cyber space cannot be neglected but what children need is a well designed series of programmes on art and culture.
There are innumerable reality shows which claim to identify and nurture real talent in children, But at what cost? Children are put through tremendous pressure to perform well. They become stars of the nation overnight and by a popular voting are dropped out of the show the very next day hence playing as a victim into the hands of ‘consumerism of culture’.
Appalling are ways in which young children dance and sing all kinds of composition from Hindi movies. Neither do these songs suit a child’s age nor are they conducive for her /his sensibilities. But parents feel very proud that their ward is seen on a national channel. Producers of the show and cell phone companies make millions out of such shows. But the child gets victimised in many ways which does not alarm anyone. The entire nation silently witnesses innocence of young children being paraded on a television channel.
People still remember the cartoons of NFDC, aired in 1980s and 90s which talked about different issues - national integration, unity, diversity, education, team work, Simple and melodious lyrics touched everyone’s heart and communicated the message to one and all. It was a deliberate effort to educate children through stories, music and animation. The fact that people still remember those images speaks for the fact that arts can be entertaining and educative as well if packaged in a sensitive manner.

• Parent’s contribution in nurturing the artistic sensibilities of a child

Child gains knowledge from school but how this knowledge is integrated into the overall upbringing of a child is the responsibility of parents. John Dewey says that earlier there was not much difference between what the child studied and what she experienced but today there is wide gap between the two. Today’s parents want their children to master everything. They want their wards to score good marks, excel in sports, and get trained in dance or music. But most of them hardly spend time to actually understand what the child is capable of. There are parents who do make an effort to put their child for music or dance but only during vacations. The child is ‘socialized’ to think that arts are always secondary and a matter of hobby. Artistic sensibilities of children are hardly nurtured. Parents justify their act by blaming the system which insists that a child has to score 90% and above in order to get a seat in decent university for higher education. If the child fails to do so then there she/he has no future. This is entirely the fault of the system which insists on creating a work force out of its citizens. Art is never seen as a lucrative field for a job. This is partially true because there is no financial security for any artiste. Attached to this is the manner in which society rates arts. A software professional is considered to be reputed, intelligent, modern and talented but a musician is not.
It is a lack of government will to bring art and culture into the centre stage. There is no cultural policy. Setting up organisations like Sangeet Natak Akademi , Sahitya Kala Parishad will not make much difference if there is no concerted effort made by educationists, artistes, parents to urge the government to make art education mandatory.
Parents and the education system interpret art education as limited to learning some skills during few extra hours in school time table. This is a partial and shallow understanding of what art education means. It is branch of knowledge which gives a student an insight into understanding the human ontology. (Egan) Ralph Smith explains that art education is a form of value education with human experience at its centre. And it is this vintage point from where parents need to understand the place of art in a child’s upbringing.

• Consequences of an educational system which is devoid of art

The entire discussion leads to one moot question - what will happen to human society if art is not incorporated into education. Sadly there is no particular empirical way in which the consequences can be measured but this will surely affect the society in the long run. Children will loose out on cultural values. They will become puppets in the hands of a system which only wants intelligent yet unaware minds to keep the system running. Creative capabilities of children will be curbed because with creativity comes originality and the present system does not want individuals who can think on original lines. Devi Prasad reflects on why art should be made a part of curriculum.

Art is divorced from our daily life and it is necessary to incorporate it in education as its most important aim is to inculcate in every human being an awareness and sensitivity to all the aspects of our environment , and grace in everyday life

It is this lack of grace which is slowly affecting our cultural ethos. Individuals do not give importance to relationships. Values are masqueraded in the most artificial way. Importance is given to how much an individual can hoard and flaunt. Instant gratification has become the mantra of the day. The subtlety, depth, inward –looking qualities of arts are rarely nurtured in today’s child. Art education is about creativity, originality, developing a sense of wonder, persistence, and in-depth knowledge. Ralph Smith describes it as a critical activity which engages a child’s mind in description, analysis, interpretation and evaluation.
Experience in art is always a collective one which begins with an individual and spreads to everyone who comes in touch with his piece of creation. Art brings people together beyond geographical boundaries. It crosses all kinds of socio-cultural-economic barriers to connect people. Smith describes this art experiences

People can get things done n a general idea and standardized procedure but it is only when these things are absorbed in perceptual presence that a personal acquaintance is developed with the environment and the very experience becomes rich and intense

This phenomenon in philosophy of Indian art is called sadharanikaran - when a ‘particular’ becomes the ‘universal’. Art goes against the ‘atomised nature of social fabric’ and engulfs one and all in a heightened aesthetic experience.

Conclusion

Karl Marx says that
animals produce under the dominion of immediate physical need, whilst man produces even when he is free from physical need and only truly produces in freedom there from.

Like food, shelter, clothing and re-production art is a basic need of every human being. It is not related to the economic status of a person. Poor people also have their cultural expressions. With whatever little a woman has she still paints the walls of her hut with some motifs of nature.
Ralph Smith elucidates

One is reminded that "the cognitive, while contrasted with both the practical and the passive, does not exclude the sensory or the emotive, that what we know through art is felt in our bones and nerves and muscles as well as grasped by our minds, that all the sensitivity and responsiveness of the organism participates in the invention and interpretation of symbols.

Art is a human expression which reflects everything in nature and society. It is a multi-sensory experience of human sensibilities. And it is this very nature of art which makes it an inevitable part of a child’s growth. A child needs to experience herself in totality. She needs to develop a sense of wonder towards oneself and nature. She needs to grow as a sensitive human being and extend her sensitivity in everything that she does and art education gives her all possibilities for this kind of self-exploration. Avijith Pathak explains this beautifully.

To have aesthetic education is therefore, to restore meaning in life, to evolve a way of seeing, feeling and relating to the world .


BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Britzman D. (1991): Practice makes practice: A study of learning to teach, State University of New York Press, New York.
2. Cole, M. ( 1990): Cultural psychology: A once and future discipline?, Centre for Human Information Processing, University of California, San Diego.
3. Devi Prasad. (1998): Art: the basis of education, National book Trust, New Delhi
4. Egan, K. (1988): Primary understanding: Education in early childhood. Routledge, New York
5. Kabir, Humayun. (1956): ‘Continuity of Tradition in Indian Educational Thought’ , Philosophy East and West, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 13-33
6. Madeja Stanley, Kelly Harry. (1970): ‘A curriculum development model for aesthetic education’, Journal of Aesthetic Education, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 53-63
7. McKeon, Penny. (2002): ‘The Sense of Art History in Art Education’, Journal of Aesthetic Education, Vol. 36, No. 2 pp. 98-109
8. Pathak, Avijith. (2006): Modernity, Globalization and Identity: Towards a reflexive quest, Aakar Books, New Delhi
9. Smith, Ralph, Smith Christiana M. (1970): ‘Justifying Aesthetic Education’ , Journal of Aesthetic Education, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 37-51
10. Smith, Ralph. (1968): ‘Aesthetic Criticism: The Method of Aesthetic Education’, Studies in Art Education, Vol. 9, No. pp. 12-31
11. Sullivan, Graeme. (1993): ‘Art-Based Art Education: Learning That Is Meaningful, Authentic, Critical and Pluralist’, Studies in Art Education, Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 5-21

Is there a Tomorrow for the Dalits ?

Introduction
A recent report in THE HINDU carries news about five Dalit men who were lynched to death and the police sent a cow for post-mortem report. Three Dalit students in Delhi University were beaten with sticks and rods. The entire Dalit population of a village in Gujarat's Amreli district was subjected to an economic boycott — no water supply, no essential commodities, no employment, no freedom to leave the village and the District Collector did nothing. In Betul district, Madhya Pradesh, a woman member of a panchayat was raped by upper caste men and paraded naked with bells tied around her neck. This was `punishment' because she was having relationship with a man. Nothing has been done to the men who raped her.
The preamble of our constitution makes a pledge by the people of India to secure ‘justice’, ‘liberty’, ‘equality’ ‘fraternity’ for the entire society. In wake of such events these claims only seem to be reduced to clichés. Although the problem of Dalit subjugation in independent India is as old as our independence but this social phenomena goes back to the late Vedic era. The word ‘Dalit’ was not in vogue then and the society followed varna system but the roots of the present day problem were sown in that period itself. Why hasn’t our country been able to eradicate this social evil ? Even after having a Dalit as a president and a Dalit woman as one of our chief ministers why is it that millions are subjected to humiliation at various levels even today? Even after Dr B.R. Ambedkar led many Mahars to convert into Buddhism and by doing so paved a path of ‘emancipation’ why is it that even today there are equal number ( or even more) of Dalits who have no hope for a better tomorrow ? By trying to understand the magnitude of the issue at multiple levels of social interaction, the article brings together the views of various thinkers who have made detailed analyses of this issue.
How does the title ‘Dalit’ affect a social psyche
Although the Hindu community is highly stratified, the differentiations between various groups do not present themselves as apparently as in the case of Dalits. The ‘twice born’ castes do practice hierarchy but they all treat Dalits in ways which border on sub-human behaviour. When Risley conducted the census in 1901 he classified the shudras as those from whom Brahmins can take water, from whom they cannot take even water and those whose shadow if falls on Brahmin will impure the him to the extent that he will have to bathe to cleanse himself. This is certainly a blatant expression of marginalization. Since 1903 Dalits have been ascribed different titles like ‘Depressed class’, ‘Panchama’, ‘Suppressed Class’, ‘Pariahs’ etc. Simon Charsley asks the question ‘What is in the name’. But these epithets ascribed to certain sections of the society illustrate how the very psyche of a section of a society is attacked repeatedly generation after generation.


The Role of education
School is an institution where the mind of a child is groomed. S(he) is not only trained in certain skills but also exposed to realities of life which sharpen her faculties in order to develop a clear perspective about oneself and the society. It becomes imperative that children from all sections are made aware of the social differentiations so that they can play a role in eradicating them. But the present day educational system is only manufacturing intelligences in order to stunt the potential of a student to question reality thereby reducing him/her to become another tool in the mega factory of capitalistic culture. Kancha Ilaiah makes an astute observation when he writes in his book ‘Why I am not a Hindu’ that stories of Dalit Bahujans are not included in the educational system. Textbook morality is different from living morality. And hence students are distanced from the key issues of social stratification. Iliah recalls, ‘..a whole lot of us were made to see things upside down’. In such a skewed education system how can an interest in Dalit issues be created? How will the younger generations be made aware of the underlying atrocities of the society? Media and internet are possibly the only two sources through which people can get information but many times even news is reported in a biased manner. It seems there is a deliberate political project of hiding truth from people. When children prepare to enter the institutions of higher education they are segregated into various categories on the basis of reservation. It is understandable that the State is exercising certain practices under ‘positive discrimination’ but is this helping to bridge the gap between the Dalits and other sections of the society?
Emulation as a hope to get included in the mainstream
When Dalits realise that they will not be respected due to their ascribed status, they start imitating other sections of society who are treated with respect. This process stems from the stark realities of life. Gopala Guru in his article ‘Dalit Movement in Mainstream Sociology’ mentions that Dalit scenario is highlighted by total marginalisation and annihilation of the rural Dalits. B.R. Ambedkar in his book ‘Conversion as Emancipation’ recalls moments from his childhood which left an indelible mark on his psyche. No barber wanted to cut his hair. When he told a station master about his caste, the station master receded 5 steps. No bullock cart driver wanted to transport him. Such instances affected an extraordinary brain like Ambedkar then it is not hard to imagine how much ordinary Dalits must be facing. They are marginalised, excluded form developmental programmes, the rich Dalits exploit the poor Dalit. All these factors force Dalits to emulate upper caste people through Sankritization and other practices in social mobility. But even then it is only after two to three generations of such emulation that there might arise a possibility for them to be included in the mainstream. Most of them spent their entire lives hoping to be accepted.
Conversion as the extreme measure
Religion is an intrinsic part of one’s identity. But if it manacles a person, then it has to be discarded. Many Hindus are pushed to take the extreme step of conversion in a hope that at least the new religion will give them some semblance of life but the caste ascription is so hopelessly attached to a person that the situation hardly changes. Ambedkar saw conversion as an emancipatory measure because being a Hindu he felt caged in a Hindu society. The Law guarantees an untouchable ‘to wear decent clothes’ , ‘to fetch water in metal pots’, ‘to put tiles on houses’ but the society does not allow him to exercise these rights. The Law might guarantee freedom to the Untouchables but the society does not. Hence he asked in his speech delivered in Dadar on 31st May 193, if mind was not free then what is the point of having physical freedom? He said strength needs to be brought from outside and urger for the need for coversion. Three factors which according to him uplift an individual are sympathy, equality and liberty and all three are not there in Hinduism for the Untouchables. Rajni Kothari in her article ‘Rise of Dalits and the Renewed Debate on caste’ says, ‘marginalised sections have started seeking out their own future on the basis of their identity and numbers’ but it is also true that the phenomena of conversion is politically manoeuvred in order to cash on the vote bank which estranges a Dalit from one community and alienates him/her in the other.

Radical voices

‘Why I am not a Hindu’ is an example of an exposition in which the writer has targeted the Hindu scriptures, gods and goddesses, marriage system, family set-up, occupation, man-woman relationship from a highly critical standpoint. It is understandable why the narration is done with such vehemence because it voices the frustrations of many suppressed people. He talks of ‘Dalitizing the Brahmin’ and comments that Hinduism and Hindutva are the two sides of the same coin. It is understandable from which perspective is the writer commenting on the popular beliefs of the Hindus but such commentaries only widens the existing gap between the Dalits and other sections of Hindus. These narratives have their own place in the Dalit discourse and need to be contextualised. An alternative reading of the same text reveals the pain, frustration, anguish and anger which the writer is trying to communicate.

Is economic growth the solution ?

Although scholars like Gopal Guru say that economic growth is one of the major solutions for caste-based problems but the casteist politics is so deeply entrenched in society that development does not reach all the sections of Dalits society. Dalit movements with undercurrents of relative deprivation practiced by the State reveal monopolisation of available jobs by the upper castes. Within their communities relative deprivation and social mobility isolate one group form the other and prevent formulation of a critical consciousness. Possibility of development of a homogenised Dalit unity cutting across castes as well as region is suspended. Gopal Guru further adds that ‘Relative Deprivation diffuses social consciousness, promotes individual consciousness with atomising dimensions which isolates people within their community thus deviating from the historical responsibility that Ambedkar had rested on their shoulders for emancipating themselves’.

Conclusion

While the system exploits the status of Dalits it is also known that some individuals in the Dalit community exploit the system by cashing on their status for unwarranted privileges offered by the State. Reservation which started with an objective of giving justice to the oppressed sections of the society has now been reduced to a political tool to encash on people’s emotions. Unless caste is identified as a ‘disease of mind’, unless there is a multi-layered socio-cultural-political movement with a focussed approach of bringing radical transformations in the inter-personal relationship, words in India’s constitution will not be translated into action.

On religion and gender…

There is an innate need in human beings to connect to a power which is transcendental. Over millennia this power acquired a form as an icon, or as a symbol depending on the socio-cultural inputs which went into formulating a particular religion. The form bridged the gap between what human mind perceived as ethereal and material, masculine and feminine, inert and dynamic. It presented an ‘ideal type’ of what a human being wanted to be or wished to see in another human being. Hence he looked upto these forms in an act of aspiration, desire, and devotion. This relationship between the divine and the mortal grew over centuries into a social system which we now call a religion. Soon this system started churning out rules and roles for everyone. But what surfaces as the most paradoxical nature of this system is how feminine energy is projected as a divine entity and how a woman is treated in day-to day life. The article discusses the gulf between the divine nad mortal with respect to Hinduism and briefly touches on the issue o gender with respect to Islam and Christianity.

Concept of Prakriti and Purusha

Hinduism, especially Sankhya philosophy regards the universe as consisting of two realities: Purusha (consciousness) and Prakriti (phenomenal realm of matter). Purusha, the cosmic consciousness, is the basis of Prakriti, its material nature. They are the experiencer and the experienced. The play between prakriti and purusha at the philosophical level is the one between dynamics and statics, inert and covert. Cosmogony begins when Brahman the Universal Being separates the feminine principle from himself. When divided from Brahman the feminine principle becomes Prakirti, which is also often equated with maya( meaning illusion). Males contain, females are contained; males are active creative agents, females are submissive ones; male seed is the source of new life, the female womb is merely an incubator; males are allied with spiritual processes, females are allied with material—especially sexual—processes.


In Puranas the narration of creation at a cosmic level and its manifestation at the social level have many congruencies. Madeleine Biardeau, traces these patterns in her understating of the Puranas. And enumerates how starting from the abstract level of purusha and prakriti, representations of these energies turn into mythological icons which represent a social concept. The dichotomy arises when the society worships these icons with all pomp and glory but cannot place man and woman at the same level

Hindu Iconography

Lakshmi : Goddess Lakshmi is a symbol of purity, chastity and generosity. She is depicted as sitting on the Sahasrar Kamal , the thousand pettalled lotus which signifies the realisation of supreme truth. Bedecked in golden finery and dressed in auspicious red, she has four hands that symbolize her power to grant the four goals of human life- dharma, (righteousness), artha( wealth), kama(progeny) and moksha(liberation). Lkshmi holds Amrita Kalash(pot of ambrosia)and with the fourth hand gives boon of plenitude.

In India even today parents feel happy to name their girl child Lakshmi but the hard-hitting fact is that majority of girl children in rural areas are only reduces to learn house-hold chores and trained to become good mothers or wives and not pursue any profession which can give them a strong financial base. They do not have any monetary security and have to depend on the male members of the family for everything- thereby living a life of subservience. In urban India although the situation is slightly different majority of women are not empowered financially. At most of the places female workers are paid less than their male counter parts. Even at higher posts the woman has to constantly prove er merit and competence in the male dominated work place. Money also does not empower her in a complete sense because she has to face the onslaught of a dominant ideology.

Saraswati : The saara (essence) of swa( you own self). She who gives this is called Saraswati. Her four hands represent the mind, the intellect, the conditioned consciousness and the ego. The palm leaf manuscripts in the lower left hand point to the foundational role of knowledge. The rosary in the upper right hand signifies the power of focused thinking. With the other two hands the goddess holds Veena ( string instrument) thus symbolizing the need to harmonize the mind with the intellect to create the music of contentment. The instrument also establishes her as the presiding deity of all creative and performing arts.
In pre-Vedic era women were allowed to pursue knowledge. But in the Vedic times women were barred from studies of any kind. Natya Veda- the fifth Veda was composed by Bharata only because the other four Vedas- Rig, Yajur, Sama and Athrva were beyond the reach of women. Their minds were trained and nurtured only for the purpose of sustaining the basic needs of the society- food and progeny. In traditional Indian society girls were kept away from pursuing any forms of art -Music and painting to some extent but dance was a taboo for a woman who formed a part of general socity. This lacunae between what society wanted and what it practiced led to the system of Devadasis where girls were dedicated to the temple. They were at power with the priest in executing the ritual ceremonies but were not given a legitimate place in the society like other women. A devadasi was always treated as the ‘other’ as she was not allowed to marry a man in the brahminical tradition. Instead she was consecrated to the temple and married to the image of God and henceforth called ‘Nityasumangali’- eternally married. She had complete access to arts and literature but only by staying outside the boundaries of a regular society. She was treated as the bridge between the transcendental religious world and the social world , a connection between Man and God. This reduced her to an intermediate zone as far as the society was concerned. which is why the Devadasi system faced the onslaught of the Brahminical movement in late 18th and early 19th century championed by the British colonizers which finally led to the abolition of the Devadasi system. Woman has always had to choose between the two – the knowledge or the society and those who chose both have always had to tread a very difficult path in their lives.

Shakti : In her various forms, Shakti, the dynamic manifesting power of Shiva epitomizes the worship of the concept of universal mother. She is believed to incarnate on earth in different forms to relieve it from clutches of evil. As Devi Durga she is the ten-armed, lion-riding, goddess who vanquished Mahishasura the buffalo-demon. A warrior, protector, mother, wife and a daughter, Durga is the manifestation of the female godhead in its supreme form.
Contrasting images of violence against women are seen, heard and experienced everyday. Female infanticide is rampant, child marriage is still in practice, women are still tortured for dowry, prostitution levels are high and multi-layered, physical aggression, such as blows of varying intensity, burns, attempted hanging, sexual abuse and rape, psychological violence through insults, humiliation, coercion, blackmail, economic or emotional threats, and control over speech and actions. In extreme, but notunknown cases, death is the result. These expressions of violence take place in a man-woman relationship within the family, state and society. A woman is not powerful enough to fight the myriad forms of Mahishasura which confront her at various turns of life.
The seeds of violence against women are sown at a very young age in the minds of children by their own family members which metamorphose into different expression at various stages of a person’s life. Sheela Saravanan in her report on Violence Against Women in India says that

‘ the family socialises its members to accept hierarchical relations expressed in unequal
division of labour between the sexes and power over the allocation of resources. The
family and its operational unit is where the child is exposed to gender differences since
birth, and in recent times even before birth, in the form of sex-determination tests leading
to foeticide and female infanticide. The home, which is supposed to be the most secure
place, is where women are most exposed to violence. ’

Radha : The eternal love of Radha and Krishna has been the subject of great religious and philosophical imagery. It is interpreted as the relationship between the jeevatma(embodied soul) and the paramatma( universal souls) which forms the foundational basis of the Hindu Dharma. The love of Radha and Krishna is rooted in allegory. Radha is the personification of the devorted minds of the devotee, of the souls searching for the embrace of the universal spirit. Radha is the individual and Krishna is the essence of life.
Here again the imagery is crafted within a male dominated framework. There is not a single goddess in Hindu pantheon who is treated as the universal lover and man is see as the yearning spirit. Thereby the popular ideology propagates the yearning of spiritual union only as that of a female and not male.
Society worships the union of Radha and Krishna - Radha who is a married woman and even elder to Krishna -only because they are Gods. The same prototype when applied in society faces all kinds of oppositions as this kind of a relationship is termed as adultery.

Caste and Gender

There is also a deep connection between caste and gender. Caste is a ubiquitous aspect of Hindu religion. And gender is an issue within the framework of caste which faces a considerable amount of discrimination . Tracy Pintchman says

‘ there is no empirically verifiable biological basis for caste differentiation, whereas the biological realities of gender difference are obvious to all. But caste and gender tend to function socially in similar ways. Like caste, gender plays an important role in structuring social hierarchy in contemporary Indian culture, and both caste and gender have been invoked to legitimate inequitable distributions of wealth and power, differences in status, discrepancies in rights, divisions of labor, and hierarchical notions of inherent worth. ’

Perhaps one can even say that Gender is more fundamental than caste as a principle of hierarchy. And religion imposes certain measures on women to behave in a particular manner with respect to her role in a social set up. With each stage of her life she is expected to follow a set of rules which also have a significant connection with her sexuality.



Popular social codes with respect to Gender

Hinduism also lays down the dress code for a woman depending on her relationship with the man. When a girl attains puberty, indirectly meaning that she is now ready biologically to bear a child, she is required to dress as an elderly woman. Once she is married she needs to carry marks of her marital status. These symbols vary from region to region. For example in south she is expected to wear a thali (sacred thread), metti(toe rings); in Bengal she is required to wear bangles of ivory and lac, in parts of Himachal Pradesh she should wear a nose ring … there are no such rules for men in any religion. He is not ‘marked’ by society as the married one.

For widows each society again has a different code according to which the woman should detach herself from any ornamentation which adds to her physical beauty. She is divested of any ‘need’ to dress beautifully because it is believed that a woman should dress only for a man.
And these regulations for women are so much imbued n the psyche of a woman that she starts justifying them. In case any woman chooses to behave differently, she is marked as a deviant not only by men but by women as well.

Concept of Heaven and Hell

The Hindu society has been perpetuating these gender specific roles time and again. And this cycle of continuance has a deep connection with the concept of heaven and hell. It is believed in Hinduism that a son only is expected to perform the rites for the deceased so that the diceased can attain moksha(liberation). A girl is not even allowed to visit the burial ground of the dead person. This importance given to a mail child not only has connection to the death but also to birth . A son is the one who actually carries the lineage forward, not the daughter because in Hindu society it is indoctrinated in the mind of everyone that the girl does not belong to the father’s family but to the future family of her husband . Hence the seeds of separation are sown at the very beginning. Due to this belief it becomes imperative for a woman to bear a mail child and if she fails to do so she is ostracized by the society physically, and mentally.

Islam and Christianity

Similar dichotomies between deification of women and the status of women is society can be seen in Islam and Christianity as well. Many of the resurgent pre-Islamic cultural practices that have tragically come to be associated with Islam, such as forced marriages, female genital mutilation, bridal (as opposed to groom-paid) dowries, honor killings and the criminalization of rape victims, only resurfaced following the disruption caused by colonialism and the resulting disconnect between the common Muslims and their sources of knowledge. But even today majority of Muslim women are expected to wear burqa. There are no such dress codes for men. But surprisingly writers like Ben Adam validate this practice by saying that

‘ The Muslim woman who wears her hijab (meaning "to veil, to cover , to screen, to shelter"), declares her faith in humility and servitude before God. Only those given divine sanction - her immediate family and other believing women - may view her bodily beauty. In effect, she is saying: ‘Judge me for my faith, not my body - I give you no other choice.’ When faithfully implemented, as it was by its earliest adherents, Islam offers women the freedom, dignity, justice and protection that have long remained out of their reach . As for the veiled Muslim celebrating her womanhood, she is but a reflection of chastity, humility and dignity, a mirror of her devotion to and belief in God - factors which liberate, not subjugate - and for this she can expect a great reward. ’

But there are no such veils for men. Does that mean they are no devout ? does it mean that they lack in humility, dignity or devotion ?

In Christianity Mother Mary is worshipped as Virgin Mary. Why Virgin.. because female sexuality is seen as some kind of a taboo, a disgrace.. . The very process of creation is seen as an offence or wrongdoing and this basic need of the human being is always to be kept under control.
The account of the creation of Eve from Adam's rib in Genesis 2:18-25, for example, has often been invoked as evidence that women are inferior to men by nature and by divine decree. Different writers have pointed out that creation of woman from Adam's rib has been interpreted in the most literal sense for thousands of years to denote the God-given inferiority of woman. The creation of Eve from Adam's rib in Genesis echoes the male-as-container, female-as-contained imagery that is similar to the one in the Puranas. Aristotle proclaimed a similar understanding of procreation portraying the female womb as "merely the passive incubators of the male seed" that is the real source of life .

Conclusion
Hence, gender associations at play in Puranic cosmogonies and more generally in Hindu culture are not unique but exemplify much more widespread biases. Religion is a path to the divine but in society it is treated as a medium of power play which gets predominantly expressed through gender definitions.
Unless woman is treated as an equal to man no ritual, no custom, no rite can emancipate the human being to the level of spiritual being.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Adam, Ben 2006 . The Veil Unveiled: The True Status of Women in Islam available at www.Quran.nu
2. Banerji , Shyam. 2003. Hindu gods and temples, I.K. International Pvt Ltd. New Delhi
3. Website referred : www. Manushi.org

Right to one’s inner and outer Space

Catherin Mackinnon asked the question ‘Are Women Human?’ as a reaction to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. It is difficult to answer this question as a ‘Yes’ or a ‘No’ after reading the twelve narratives of women compiled in this book. Women have always been and will continue to be human in spirit but when we place them in the discourse of human rights and analyse their lives, it is difficult to understand them as humans. While some women have continuously struggled against the dominant patriarchal paradigms, others have protected the existing system and perpetrated the dominance. While some have broken away from the heritage of oppression others have operationalised the ‘culture of silence’. While some have wrecked the chain of violence, others have played the power game and supported the status quo. The book takes the reader into a journey of self exploration wherein one is compelled to delve deep into one’s understanding of women’s rights. Should there be separate rights for women? Who made the existing rights? Does the human rights discourse actually address the day to day struggle of a woman (which actually begins from the very moment she is conceived in the womb of her mother)?

The book brings into light lives of many women which are interwoven into one another, thereby making patterns of love and hate, freedom and bondage, expression and suppression. Is woman born or made? This question is asked whenever there is a conflict between nature and culture. Woman is understood as the nurturing force of a family who needs to operate within the male oriented culture and face violations of human rights through traditional practices executed as a part of the civilization. Culture has been philosophised, formalised, institutionalised and practiced with the understanding of the male members of the society. It gets entrenched into the system to such an extent that many times a woman is criticised if she chooses to move away form it in order to find her own path. Nabaneeta Dev Sen talks about her mother who was rebuked that she had voluntarily courted widowhood as she read books and gained knowledge.

Society has always treated woman with the bias- whether it is definitional, procedural or normative. Man is seen as the ‘Self’ whereas the woman is projected as the ‘Other’ who has to either live like his shadow , be put to submission , or incorporated into the system which places her at the ‘periphery’ as against the man who occupies the ‘centre’. This gets reflected in Nabaneeta Sen’s story which describes how Amartya Sen was supportive of her scholarly endeavours but never encouraged her to take up a job. Neither did he engage with her in her creative activities but expected her to maintain an establishment for him in different parts of the world

Justice, equality, liberty, autonomy – all are visualized from male’s point of view. Spike Peterson says that inequalities at various levels in social relations have their origin in physical inequality between the man and the woman resulting in the andocentric nature of the rights. Not only do they cater to the needs and position of male members but also relegate women to a position of a receiver or a follower. This is reflected in the life of Hema Sundaram’s mother who was silenced by a stinging slap across her face whenever she tried to assert herself.
J.S. Mill in his work ‘Subjugation of Women’ says, ‘for everyone who desires power, desires it most over those who are nearest to him, with whom his life is passed, with whom he has most concerns in common and in whom any independence of his authority is oftenest likely to interfere with his individual preferences’ ( Mill, 1975). He also adds ‘Men do not want solely the obedience of women, they want their sentiments… They have therefore put everything in practice to enslave their minds.’

Human Rights have always been a mechanism to build a relationship between the individual and the collective. It is about how freedom gets mediated between the members of the society. Liberal theory goes deep into this issue of freedom. Rousseau said that it was through ‘social contract’ that the individual submitted a part of his freedom to the collective for general goodwill. He also adds that curtailing a part of individual’s freedom was actually favourable for the individual’s interest because he gained security which he didn’t have in State of Nature. The word ‘he’ is deliberately used here because this contract was not made with consent of woman. She was never ‘born free’ and has continuously been in chains. When Paine says that amongst the four basic rights human being has given up on resistance to oppression, it can be clearly seen in lives of many women because most of them silently surrender to subjugation.

Liberal theory treats human being as atomistic individual. This analogy fails to describe women’s lives which are multi-layered and multi-dimensional. It is seen in some narratives that women were indoctrinated into the system to such an extent that they started justifying it and felt liberated by surrendering to it. Vina Mazumdar narrates that when her grandfather’s grandfather died his wife decided to become sati against the wishes of her family members who tried to dissuade her. Hema Sundaram’s grandmother endured the frustrations of her husband by consoling herself that it was her ‘karma’- a belief accepted by women across different strata of society justifying the existence of all kinds of inequalities and unjust practices. Were they liberated in real sense or were they imprisoned by their own mental inhibitions? Priti Desai remembers how her mother in spite of having an emotionally distressing marriage stood by her husband in tough times as she believed in the law of karma.

Society’s hypocrisy, its brutality, its inadequacy and injustice come into fore when one sees how a woman is restricted to the private domain and how a man keeps moving in and out of the public and the private sphere. Woman has been domesticated generation after generation wherein her work was reduced to bearing children and taking care of her family. Education was inaccessible to her and her very identity was defined by her relations. Like Seetha in Ramayana if a woman decided to cross the lakshman rekha drawn by the society she was punished. Feminist critique of human rights discourse questions the very idea and construction of private as it is defined and demarcated by patriarchal norms. Making women's contribution in the private sphere invisible obscures how dependent the public sphere is on the private. Vina Mazumdar recalls how her mother ‘protected’ her father from getting entangled with the ‘anxieties’ of bringing up the five children. A wife’s suffering has been repeatedly veiled within the private sphere and kept away from the society. Hema Sundaram’s husband put her through physical abuse and when asked by his friend brushed it off by saying ‘it was something personal’. Maithreyi Krishna Raj labels her sister’s life as a classic case of ‘middle class’s woman’s oppression’ wherein she was confined to the repetitive, confining and unrewarding domesticity.

The family has been subsumed under the civil society which socialises a woman into believing that she is inferior to man. The structural functionalist reasoning given in order to maintain the hegemony of patriarchal norms has dampened the sensibilities of women time and again making them believe that there is only one way of surviving and that is through oppression. Radharani was stripped off her jewellery, her hair was chopped off, and she was made to wear the borderless white cloth when she became a widow. When Zarina Bhatty’s grandmother was widowed at the age of 18 she was forced to only wear white throughout her life and not allowed to participate in any ceremonies or rituals. Leela Gulati’s mother was pregnant at the age of 14 and by 18 she had undergone three pregnancies. Menstruating girls were treated as untouchables by the family members, says Priti Desai.

In society women were not only the followers but also agents of the patriarchal norms. Spike Peterson says that women’s lives are characterized by personal connections, attentiveness and responsibility and the ethic of care rather than ethics of rights. J.S. Mill explains ‘All the moralities tell them that it is the duty of women, and all the current sentimentalities that it is their nature, to live for others; to make complete abnegation of themselves, and to have no life but in their affections. And by their affections are meant the only ones they are allowed to have — those to the men with whom they are connected, or to the children who constitute an additional and indefeasible tie between them and a man’ (Mill 1975). This can be seen in the life of Nabaneeta Sen who is blamed for not keeping her husband happy or Hema Sundaram whose siblings did not support her decision to walk out of the marriage. ‘While the elder brothers sympathized with me, they felt that ultimately I should try to adjust at least for the sake of the boys.’

There seems to be an invisible yet deeply entrenched nexus between the State and the civil society wherein different state apparatus work together to keep women disempowered. State is both the protector and violator of human rights and it changes its role depending on how well it serves the patriarchy. ‘ostensible individualism and egalitarianism of liberal theory obscures the patriarchal reality’ says, Carole Pateman (Patemen 1989) and she questions the possibility to achieve political equality without obtaining equality in private and public spheres. Female is seen as nature, personal, emotional, private, intuitional, moral, ascribed driven by love whereas male is defined as culture, political , public, achievement, who is driven by reason. When the two entities are diametrically opposed to each other and then how can there be a common set of human rights addressing their problems? There has to be a different kind of engagement within human rights discourse to identify and formulate Rights for women. And it will happen when every oppressed woman like Leela Gulati’s mother realises that the ‘mistakes’ of her life are not her own making but are the products of institutionalised discrimination against Indian women.

The book also brings together stories of women who not only were denied property rights and but also considered as property. Women across time space and cultures have been de-humanised and their individuality bartered between members of family, society and nation. Zarina Bhatty’s mother was not given any share of her dowry despite of the Islamic law in her favour. Leela Gulati informs about her rigidly patriarchal family, with lineage and property passing through the male line. Her mother was refused the house which her father had built with her gold. Mary Roy challenged the Travancore Christian Succession Act which violated her right to her father’s property.

The twelve narratives not only bring together the pain, sorrow, humiliation, suffering of women but also highlight how many of them decided to break away from the ‘culture of silence’. There have been women like Radharani’s mother-in-law and Vina Mazumdar’s Peshima who fought for the education of children especially girls and brought a change in the system which sowed the seeds of ‘critical consciousness’ in the future generations. The book salutes to the indomitable spirit of women who re-defined ‘human’. It is a dedication to all those souls who had to go through continuous cycles of suffering.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Friere Paolo, ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’, London, Penguin Boooks 1998

2. Mill, J S ‘ Subjection of women’, London, OUP, 1975

3. Mackinnon, Carol ‘ Are Women Human’ in Refelctions on the Univesal Declaration of Human Rights , Martnus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague, 1999

4. Peterson, Spike and Parisi Laura ‘Are women human? It’s not an academic question’ in ‘Human Rights fifty years on A reappraisal ed. by Tony Evans 1998 Manchester University Press, Manchester

Understanding the act of communication in Vilasini Natyam dance performance of a Padam by applying the theories of De Vito Joseph and Saussure

Introduction: -
Vilasini Natyam is the ancient dance form of the temple dancers of Andhra Pradesh which was practiced for several centuries in different parts of Southern and South–East India. These dancers occupied a high position in society as they were well versed in ancient religious texts, classical literature and mythology. They also were exceedingly talented musicians and dancers. Till late 19th century they received patronage from the temple, court and the intelligentia of society. And they also occupied a high stature in the eyes of the general pubic because of their calibre. The Devadasi system slowly degenerated due to several sociological reasons. The colonial rule added to this process and final blow came in the form of the Devadasi Abolition Act passed in 1950s which pushed these talented artistes into penury as they were thrown out of their profession overnight. Many devadasis went into oblivion and their art was shunned from the society for several decades till dance scholars and practitioners researched and brought their art back to the modern day proscenium.
Dancer-scholar Swapnasundari under the guidance of art historian Dr. Arudra went into researching and recasting the art of the Andhra Devadasis. After years of interacting with and learning from these erstwhile temple dancers she collated and re-formulated the discipline of the dance which was re-christened as Vilasini Natyam. It is presented in the modern times with utmost authenticity keeping in mind the present sensibilities of the modern audience. Originally this dance was performed in three contexts - in the temple as a ritual, in court and private chambers as an intellectually and aesthetically stimulating art and for the general public in dance –drama format wherein the sole purpose was ‘infotainment’. But in contemporary society the effort is to only present the art of Devadasis without reinstating the sociological practise of Devadasi system.
The essay tries to capture a glimpse in the wide array of the repertoire of Vilasini Natyam by looking at the process of how a text is communicated through body movements and facial expressions. The example taken here is that of a Padam - a love lyric. It is set to a tune and a simple rhythm. The tune is appropriately chosen keeping in mind the lyrics and the predominant mood of the song. Most of these lyrics were written hundreds of years back but they are still able to relate to a contemporary audience because human emotions are still the same. The imagery of the poetry might be ancient but the way it is brought out in the dance cuts across spatial-temporal barriers between the art and the present society. The process of interpretation of the lyric is briefly explained here by using the theories of De Vito Joseph and Saussure.
Following are some of the universals in the process of communication which De Vito Joseph has mentioned. Attempt here to explain the rendition of a Padam by placing it within these universals.
Context :- Since the society has undergone phenomenal changes it is inappropriate to re-instate the Devadasi system but their art is performed for its aesthetic quality in different dance festivals or concerts. The Padam is presented as a part of an evening performance in front of invited audience. Most of these love lyrics are written in Telugu because that was the language which was predominantly used by the Andhra Devadasis. While originally the devadasi did not explain the song and straight away went into its performance today’s dancer explains the meaning of the lyrics in English or any language which is understood by the audience even if some of them know Telugu. It is also important to state here that Telugu itself has undergone several changes over the years hence the language which is spoken now is not the same language which was practiced several decades or centuries back. Hence it becomes necessary for the dancer to explain the meaning of the words and place it within a well structured context.
Setting of the performance :-It is characteristic of Vilasini Natyam tradition that the Padam is performed sitting on the ground or on a platform. This is done in order to place maximum stress on the facial expressions which become the main ‘channel of communication’. The dancer does use her hand gestures and upper torso according to the meaning of the word but the main focus of the manner of performance is to explore the possibilities and techniques of facial expressions. Traditionally the expertise of the Devadasi was tested in this kind of a setting wherein she enthralled the audience for hours. Although the duration of the present day rendition is not that long but traditional setting is kept alive even today.
The dancer is flanked by musicians on either side. This is very critical for the performer because the number of times she repeats a word or a phrase or a line is not fixed. It entirely depends on her how she wishes to communicate the meaning of the words. And this is not pre-planned. Hence the eye contact between the dancer and especially the vocalist is very important. The number of repetitions is primarily guided by the scope of the lyrics but it also depends on the pace, the length and the tune of the song.
The dancer and the audience: - a dance performance is an act of communication which acquires different dimensions because a message is conveyed not only through words but also through melody, rhythm, gestures, expressions and silence. This communication takes place between the dancer, musicians and the audience. Interpreting a text into dance involves coming together of many sensibilities. The dancer is dressed in a neutral costume and make -up throughout the presentation but her enactment of different characters, landscapes, time zones is convincing and communicative only when she interprets the text properly and not just perform it as an action song.
What makes such kind of a performance a multi-layered cognitive process is that all the participants in the act are not on the same level of comprehension. The dancer and the musicians are somewhat at the same artistic plane but each member in the audience relates to the dance according to his /her level of involvement with the dance which is guided by one’s socio-cultural background. Some only enjoy the music, others are enamoured by the get-up of the dancer, for some the lyrics are very engaging but there are few in the audience who actually travel along with the dancer while exploring the text and the sub-text. It is this possibility of syncretic engagement which makes dance forms like Vilasini Natyam timeless.
Feedback and Self-feedback:- The ‘feedback’ process is very intriguing in such performances. The text gradually gets a new lease of life through a collective intellectual and aesthetic engagement of the dancer and the onlooker. The meeting point of the word, the music, the rhythm, the interpretation of the dancer and the involvement of the audience creates a heightened aesthetic experience called the sadharanikaran – the universalisation of the particular. The audience give her their feedback after the performance but during the performance there are different emotional reactions which people encounter within themselves. For example if the dancer is performing the role of a devotee addressing the Lord there are people in the audience who cry in reverence. The devotion in dancer evokes such powerful responses in the audience that they actually ‘see’ their God in the eyes of the dancer. The ‘feedback’ happens very powerfully when the audience feel choked with veneration.
The ‘self feedback’ of the dancer reaches artistic heights when the camaraderie between her and the musicians is excellent. It also gets affected by the audiences’ response which she feels intuitively.
The feedback process is also guided by the nature of the society. Art cannot survive in isolation and no matter how aesthetic it is in its content art is influenced by the cultural factors which also effect the social environment. Hence the dancer and the audience who are also a part of bigger socio-cultural set-up have to constantly mediate between their connections with the art and their interaction with other forms of communication which are omnipresent.
II
Saussure’s principles of communication are used to understand how the text is ‘deconstructed’ by the dancer in order to re-construct different meanings. Before actually going into the actual text it is necessary here to mention his ideas about language and society and how a language evolves with time. Saussure says
No matter what period we choose or how far back we go, language always appears as a heritage of the preceding period. A particular language is always the product of historical forces and these forces explain why the sign is unchangeable i.e. why it resists any arbitrary substitution.

This aspect is crucial to understand not only the language used in dance performance but also dance as a language of classical society now being used in modern times. Many debates have happened between dancers about the relevance of a classical dance form in modern era as dance cannot exist in isolation and there is a dialectical relationship between the art, artiste and the society. But after lot of discussion it has been accepted that the aesthetic quality of such art forms make them timeless and also boundary-less. There are umpteen examples of how an Indian dance form is accepted with lot enthusiasm on a foreign land not just for its exotic presentation format but also the content. As mentioned earlier the dance rendition of a lyric is coming together of word, sound, gesture, meaning and rhythm. It is not a linear ‘labelling exercise’ which is what makes classical dance different from an action song. In Saussure’s words,
Some people regard language when reduced to its elements as a naming process only – a list of words, each corresponding to the thing that it names. .. It assumes that ready-made ideas exist before the words.

There are no ready made ideas in a classical dance performance of padam. There is a structure within which the dancer contextualises her character, the setting, and the time period but when she engages with the lyrics it is completely impromptu.
As mentioned earlier the attempt here is to understand how a Padam is interpreted. It initially begins with the Raga (musical scale in which the lyric is tuned) played on the flute or the violin during which the dancer slowly enters and takes her position on the stage. She begins with singing the opening line in order to set the pace of the song. This is very crucial as the tempo is decided according to the meaning and tune of the lyrics so that the dancer gets enough scope to expand her ideas. But once the tempo is set in the beginning it does not change during the performance.
To illustrate how a dancer communicates the meaning let me use an example. The opening lines of this Telugu Padam are
‘ Aadadani janmamettina phalamemi, Athivaro Vyarthamamma ’
‘ What is the use of being born as a woman O Lady it is an utter waste’

The song is tuned in Sahana Raga which is generally rendered with lot of pathos and is set to 7 beats which gives the song a lilting cadence. This is done with the purpose of bringing out the protagonist’s pain. The following lines of the song tell us that she is married to a person who is very rich and has a lot of property. He bestows her with lot of jewellery and clothing but she asks her friends ‘what is the use of all this if he does not pay any attention to me and spend few moments of togetherness.’ The opening two lines which are called Pallavi set the mood of the song. Following two lines are Anupallavi
‘Meddalu Middelu mendu galiginanemi, Eedaina Vibhunito Kudi Undaka Pote’
‘What is the use of having palatial houses with rooftops, if my man is not with me’

Anupallavi states the ‘crux’ of the situation. And rest of the stanzas called the ‘Charanams’ elaborate the problem stated in Pallavi and Anupallavi wherein each time the dancer finishes the Charanam she comes back to the Pallavi like a refrain.
The progression of performance :- The dancer enacts the opening line only with her eyes and facial expressions. Then she uses minimal hand gestures to again give the literal meaning known in theory of Abhinaya (expressional art) as ‘Padartha’ [ pada+artha which means meaning of the word]. Even then it is not a uni-dimensional exercise as the language does not hang in some vacuum. Moreover what give this kind of a rendition, an added dimension are the gestures and expressions. Relating this to what Saussure said,
‘linguistic sign unites not a thing and a name but a concept and sound image the latter is not a material sound, a purely physical thing but the psychological imprint of the sound the impression that it makes on our senses’

In this example when the dancer says what is the use of being born as a woman? It is not literally the word ‘woman’ which is meant here but the attributes of being left alone, being treated as a piece of furniture in the house which actually point to her predicament of being born as a woman. Hence the link between the signifier ‘aadadaani’ and signified ‘lonely woman’ is not arbitrary. There is a bond between the two which is established through facial expressions and body movements in order to bring out the character’s anguish. There is also the link between the hand gesture and the word it signifies. This bond is between the ‘visual signifier’ and ‘auditory signifier’. Saussure explains this beautifully,
The linguistic entity exists only through the associating of the signifier and the signified. Whenever only one element is retained, the entity vanishes; instead of a concrete object we are faced with a mere abstraction.

Although dance is an abstract art but it moves between abstraction and the obvious.
After dancing the entire line, the dancer picks a word and elaborates on it. And every time the word is said not only as a stand alone word repeated again and again, but also when Pallavi is repeated the dancer depicts a different meaning for it. For example the rendition of ‘aadadani’, meaning woman, is done in two ways. One method is when the singer continuously sings the word ‘aadadani’ during which the dancer goes into detailed description of the character’s beauty. In the dance parlance it is called ‘nakha shikha varnana’ which means toe to head description. The dancer uses different metaphors to illustrate the beauty. For example she says
‘my face is like moon, my hair is as black as the sky, my eye brows are of the shape of a bow, my cheeks are like mirror. The shape of my chin is like the crescent moon, my lips are like petals of the lotus, my forehead is like half moon, my neck is in the shape of a conch’

This phenomenon is explained very succinctly by Saussure.
When Gentleman is repeated several times during a lecture the listener has the feeling that same expression is being used each time and yet the variations in utterance and intonation make for appreciable phonic differences in diverse contexts….a word can express quite different ideas without compromising its identity. … Each utterance is a new phonic act and a new psychological act. The bond between the two uses of the same word depends neither on material identity nor on sameness of meaning but on elements which must be sought after and which will point up the rue nature of linguistic units.


After giving a detailed description of physical beauty of the character she moves on to explain how intelligent she is, how cheerful she is. The purpose here is to communicate the idea that the character has so many qualities but still all of that is a waste because there is no one with whom she can share either her beauty or her intellect. Such kind of exposition is termed as gudaartha abhinaya which means hidden meaning, wherein the dancer slowly meanders between different sub-texts. As Saussure says
The characteristic role of language with respect to thought is not to create a material phonic means for expressing ideas but to serve as a link between thought and sound ,

What is unique to a dance performance of a text is the ability to project the complete opposite meaning of the text in order to bring out the meaning of the same which is called vipareerthartha abhinaya. Towards the end of this particular song the dancer who has been through all the Charanams describing the futility of being a woman caught in the web of loneliness, tells her friends ‘I will wear all the jewellery I have, I will dress up in the most expensive attire and decorate my house in the most beautiful way’ when in the background the singer is actually singing the Pallavi ‘Aadadani janmamettina phalamemi, Athivaro Vyarthamamma’ is an example of how the dancer weaves the word and the meaning in a peculiar way in order to bring out the purport of the lyrics. In this way she creates a new text through dance over a given text which is understood as meta-poetry.
What is unique about this kind of a presentation is that the dancer can move back and forth in between the text. During a charanam, which is the stanza after the Anupallavi the dancer can dance the whole charanam once and then move back and forth dancing to one word or phrase repeatedly. Saussure says that ‘Language is a system of interdependent terms in which the value of each term results solely from the simultaneous presence of the others’. This is exactly what happens in the dance performance. Even when the dancer is elaborating on one word the images she uses have co-relation to the context and the lyrics. The sole purpose is bringing as many meanings out of the text in order to interpret it in an aesthetic form. This is unique to Indian tradition which celebrated the relationship between the poetry the melody and the dance. The web of interpretations which a dancer creates is not to complicate the meaning of the text but to delve deep into it in order to engage with it in many ways. This also opens up the creative, mental and aesthetic faculties of the audience if they are receptive to the dance - which is why in Indian aesthetics a receptive member in the audience is called ‘patra’, the container. If the patra is empty one can put some content in it. Similarly if the audience is fully present with the dancer then the dancer can ‘pour’ her knowledge through her dance into the minds of the audience.
Conclusion:-
How sensitive and attentive the audience is towards a performance is deeply connected to how much it lends itself for intense involvement with the art. When Vilasini Natyam evolved the society was very relaxed. People’s attention span was more. There were no alternate methods of entertainment. And the creative and cognitive ability of the people to engage with ideas, to enjoy the intricacies of the meanings, to connect the word with the melody and then see it flower through body movements was very high. Saussure says ‘Every means of expression used in society is based, in principle, on collective behaviour’. This is also true in classical art. The metaphors used in order to give a fuller meaning of a word are connected to nature because the art grew in a society which not only worshipped, and celebrated nature but also communicated with it. But in today’s age when technology rules everybody’s lives in some form or the other and people seldom connect to nature it becomes a challenge for the dancer to bridge the gap between the art and the audience.
Vilasini Natyam and many other traditional dance forms are like languages which communicate by engaging different human faculties at different levels simultaneously. It is a highly scientific yet artistic way of understanding a text and moving beyond it in order to create one’s own interpretations of it through imagination because ‘Without language thought is a vague, unchartered nebula.’ (Saussure , 112)




BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. De Vito, Joseph A. 1994 Human Communication (6th edition), New York: Harper Collins Colege Publications
2. Ferdinand de Saussure 1966 Course in General Linguistics Tr. by W. Baskin . New York: McGraw Hill.