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She put Chennai on world stage, without taking
centrestage
V SUNDARAM
She gave the world Bharatnatyam but denied herself the exalted privilege of
residing in Rashtrapathi Bhavan. She built Kalakshetra, the temple of arts
after bringing dance to the public domain from the confines of temples, but
refused to surrender the institution to the University Grants Commission's
control.
She is a distinguished daughter of Chennai. She is Rukmini Devi Arundale
(1904-1986). She was a towering, multifaceted personality who left her
impress in the multiple domains of Indian culture and the arts.
She worked for many causes, including the revival of theatre arts, crafts and
literature of south India, animal welfare and art education.
However, some saw her mainly as a Theosophist; as the wife of the
Englishman George Sydney Arundale, the third President of the
Theosophical Society and an advocate for global causes. But she was a true
Indian, a national icon, a parliamentarian, humanist, philanthropist and
institution builder.
She worked in close collaboration with Maria Montessori in the field of
pre-school education from 1940 to 1945 and founded five institutions,
including Kalakshetra centre at Adyar, from where she launched the Indian
cultural revolution in 1930.
The revolution began with her learning Sadir, the dance performed by
hereditary practitioners known as Devadasis in temples and courts of South
India in the 18th and 19th centuries. She learned Sadir despite strong
opposition from her family and the people of Madras city.
Though the opposition was immense because of the anti-nautch social
reform Movement which was on in full swing in the 1930s under the
leadership of Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy, the moral courage of Rukmini Devi
enabled her to overcome public resistance by articulating a new aesthetic for
Sadir in her maiden debut performance, which she presented on the
occasion of the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of the Theosophical Society at
Adyar in 1935.
The performance began with exciting introductory comments by Arundale,
who emphasized the importance of reviving Sadir as Bharathanatyam, the
spiritual dance of India. The new name was prophetic in that it associated
Sadir with Bharatha's Natyashastra, and with Siva/Nataraja, the presiding
deity of the Natyashastra.
In order to imprint a multidisciplinary dimension in the mind and imagination of
the viewers present, Rukmini Devi staged her dance with three large cultural
symbols of God, Guru and Temple simultaneously.
But that was just a beginning, the high point of her illustrious life was her
rejection of the open offer to become the President of India. She was polite
but firm when saying that 'no' to the offer made by Morarji Desai, the Prime
Minister of India in 1978.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, she said: 'The exalted post of President of
India would not give me that fullness of life that comes from fitting my ideals
into action'.
Another 'no' to the UGC also exemplifies her dedication to art. In 1985, when
the UGC sent a Committee to Adyar to accord 'Deemed University Status' to
the Kalakshetra, Rukmini Devi politely declined the offer of sumptuous grants
for modernisation, development etc in these clinching words: 'I appreciate
your concern and liberality to make Kalakshetra toe the line of UGC. But
unfortunately your rules and guidelines are diametrically opposed to the
ideals of Kalakshetra. For example, your UGC rules would say that one who
attains the age of 60 should be retired. But I would like to keep the
experienced master till the end of his life to benefit from his wisdom, age and
experience. Your UGC rules would say that I should open the school at 10 am
and close at 5 pm. But in our traditionally oriented system we will leave it to
the Guru, to teach whenever he felt it good. He may start at 7 am and later
continue in the evening till late. I would like to give him the freedom to impart
training as best as he can. Those who teach here are Maha-vidwans. They
are here not for money but out of pure love of their art. Your modernization
proposal has no direction. In the name of modernization, I do not want to lose
my soul. You may keep your offer and rules to yourself. I would like to run this
institution in our own traditional methods, with reverence and humility, suited
to our genius.
Rukmini Devi sincerely believed that aesthetic experience is the twin brother
of mystic experience. She often spoke of a 'state of grace' that cannot be
achieved by deliberate effort. This does not mean that no effort is required
for attaining craftsmanship. The chief article of her faith was while an artist
should all the time aim at perfection of his craftsmanship, the resultant work
of art is independent of the will.
This writer had the good fortune of meeting her several times between 1970
and 1986. She always expressed her views on art and culture in a clear
manner arising from her deadly earnestness. In message that she wrote for
the brochure brought out on the occasion of the Bharata Natyam arangetram
of his first daughter, who learnt the art under Vazhvoor Ramiah Pillai, Rukmini
Devi said: 'I think of art as a complete whole, of the way we live, everything
we do, everything we say. It will not do merely to put an art object in an
exhibition. It is meant for use. That is why I feel it is necessary to educate
young people, not only to train them as great artists, but also as cultured
people, to appreciate art, to be sensitive to beauty, and ultimately to be
sensitive to all humanity. If we are sensitive to beauty we also become
sensitive to ugliness. Beauty in life is love, is compassion; ugliness in life is
cruelty'.
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