My mother has been the principal creative inspiration in my life. Like most daughters who spent their adolescent and youth fighting with moms, appreciating their true worth only in matured years of their own lives, I also realise her value now. She is in hospital at the moment. I am fervently praying for her speedy recovery because I’m missing those fights.
In the 1970’s, my mother Mrs Suvra Mukherjee founded the Gitanjali Troup.
Born out of her love for Rabindranath Tagore and singing, the group was formed to present Tagore’s music and dance-dramas to the Tagore lovers in the capital, also to introduce uninitiated audience to the delicate melodies of Rabindra Sangeet. An interesting feature of the group was that all the performing members were proficient, but not professional artists. The early Gitanjali was a strange cocktail of a doctor, an anthropologist, few government servants, housewives and students, sharing their common love for Tagore and music. My involvement with Gitanjali started from my school days, participating in group dances, slowly graduating to lead roles. The performing experience gathered in those early years proved invaluable. There was music, dance, roars of laughter over silly mistakes. Sometimes, there would be tension and ego clashes. Ma handled these situations gently, but firmly. She was not only the creative fountainhead, the artistic director of the group; but also a mother figure to all the members, helping them even in their personal matters. She was, and still is a beloved “Baudi” (Bhabi) to all the past and present members of Gitanjali.
Under her direction, Gitanjali slowly metamorphosed from a loose gathering of Tagore-lovers into a serious, professional group of artists presenting Tagore’s works all over India and many countries abroad. Gitanjali created many new experimental productions, bringing to the audience Tagore’s message of universal peace, love and harmony. Recently, I came across a collection of CDs presenting a fusion of Rabindrasangeet and Indian classical music. Ma did that way back in 1980s. She also got the lyrics of many of the Tagore dance-dramas translated in Hindi and presented those for a wider audience. The first such production was “Chandalika”, premiered in mid-1980s. It was a big hit.
Gitanjali was very active throughout 1980s and 1990s. Then, due to ill health, Ma had to stop all activities of Gitanjali. A few years ago, she suddenly decided to start it all over again. She called me one fine morning; and much to my horror, she declared her intention in her usual manner, gently but firmly. I tried my best to dissuade her, thinking she will not be able to handle the stress of presenting a show. But her indomitable spirit prevailed over every obstacle. She gathered her old group members, got some new ones, scripted and directed a new production, booked an auditorium, got hundreds of invitations sent including old Gitanjali fans, and presented the show perfectly to a houseful audience.
I could describe her and Gitanjali Troup’s journey by quoting a line from her favourite Rabindranath Tagore: “Tomar pataka jare dao, tare bohibare dao Shakti”: To the one you give your flag, you also give him/ her the strength to carry.
The writer is a Kathak dancer based in Delhi.
mukherjee.sharmistha@gmail.com