Clours of Life by V R Devika and carnatic vocals by Sushma Somasekharan at Apparao Galleries brought alive the festival of colours, Holi, entwining it with a few interesting anecdotes of the life and times of Lord Krishna during his early days in Vrindavan.
The scene is endearing - an enchanting evening by the banks of Yamuna where an enraptured Radha soaked, in her love for the lord and adding more passion to their kindling romance, is the melody of the flute that wafts through the serene evening.
Taking the audience through the early days of Krishna in Mathura, his raas leela with the gopikas who were enamoured by him and the love story of Radha-Krishna, the artistes alternated between singing and story-telling. However, it was not just an experimental collaboration. Devika’s presentation skilfully wove an insight into the life of Krishna and the significance if colours, drawing instances from the puraanas. She spoke of Krishna’s supreme love for Radha and his trysts with the gopikas. Among other interesting interpretations was the conference that was held in the late eighteenth century that debated the love of Radha-Krishna to ascertain whether it was legitimate or not. The conference that debated the topic for 6 months concluded with the decision that the love was indeed legal.
Young vocalist Sushma Somasekharan traversed through the back and forth narration with an evocative rendition of a few classical songs about Krishna. Accompanied by Jayanth on the flute, the songs recreated the ambience of Mathura.
Since the event was to celebrate the festival of colours, there were interpretations of the significance of colours- how yellow became the favourite colour of Lord Krishna, meandering to other colours like red and their psyhcological influence on the human psyche.