How was the beginning?
I was introduced to Indian dance and music when I was 14. Mr. and Mrs.Ghanshyam, a couple from Calcutta who were trained under the great Uday Shankar in Almora, had set up a centre for dance and music in Karachi. I had my first lessons here. In 1983, I went to India where I studied Bharatanatyam with Leela Samson, Kathak with Ram Mohan and Odissi with Mayadhar Raut at the Sriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra. Six years later, I got a scholarship from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) to study Odissi further with Aloka Pannikar in Delhi. Upon my return to my country, I started teaching and performing Odissi in Karachi. I was the first dancer to introduce Odissi to Pakistan.
How difficult was it for you to be a dancer?
It was not merely difficult but quite dangerous to be an Indian classical dancer. I was the only dancer in Pakistan to continue despite numerous hurdles and death threats throughout the regime of martial law under General Zia-ul-Haq. After the general elections of 1988 when Benazir Bhutto came to power, I could proceed to India on the ICCR scholarship to study dance.
Dance has not only been discouraged but banned. There are no public performances and I have to seek special permission to perform in private gatherings. There are many who oppose my dance. They say that it is “Hindu” and “Indian” and does not belong to “us”.
So how do you find your audience for the dance form in Pakistan?
I believe that dance cannot be divided or defined on religious grounds. For me it is part of my culture and my heritage. To counter the argument that it is not part of our heritage I created a ballet “The Song of Mohenjodaro” and showed that there was dance, music and theatre on this soil since 2,500 B.C. The show received rave response from our people who realised that Pakistan and India were a part of the same civilisation and they share a common cultural heritage. I have been offering talks, workshops and lecture demonstrations on the history, significance, beauty and importance of Indian classical dance forms for years and I believe my efforts have helped in the awareness and acceptance of the classical dances here. I have groomed a number of very committed students who are now part of my troupe. They perform with me all over the world. Those hundreds of students who have acquired a brief exposure to an art form that is dying due to hostility from fundamentalist quarters are the future of Indian classical dances in Pakistan.
Are people in Pakistan fond of Odissi dance today?
Yes. People here do enjoy the form. They say it is so beautiful. Besides the accompanying Odissi music is more akin to the North Indian music with which people here are more familiar unlike the Carnatic music. Many girls have come forward to learn Odissi from me and most of them have mastered the form to qualify to perform in my shows as well. One of my students showed serious interest in Odissi and I sent her to India for further training with the renowned dancer Madhvi Mudgal.
Do you dance the typical Odissi in Pakistan?
Yes, I do. But I should add that I often use the form and technique of Odissi and choreograph to poems and lyrics in Urdu language. I have choreographed a manglacharan (the invocatory number in Odissi dance repertoire) to the lyrics of the famous Sufi saint Bulleh Shah. I have also choreographed abhinaya to poems of the immensely popular and internationally acclaimed Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz. In fact, I have a couple of pallavis but the abhinaya that I perform has Urdu lyrics. For me this is the most interesting aspect - the challenge to create new concepts in Odissi.
What is your ultimate goal as a dancer?
Over the years my concern has been to try and evolve a form that we can call our own. I believe that even though I pursue several dance forms that I have learnt from foreign soil, it becomes mine when I perform it. It gets coloured by my experiences, my understanding and my environment.