CALL OF THE MOUNTAINS
- Hema Iyer Ramani
Costume designed by: V.V.Ramani
It was pouring away when I walked into her studio, but she was already rehearsing. I made myself comfortable on one of the chairs. She swirled, she whirled, moving furiously , and then she calmed. I realized the rains outside had stopped, but in the studio, the rain had begun in all its completeness…Indira Kadambi was dancing to a piece she had choreographed, called Varsha . She brought in the entire experience of the rain…from the drizzle, the joy of it falling on the leaf, the face, rain on the street slowly breaking into a puddle, the flash of the heavenly cameras creating flashes of light….the fearsome thunder, the mirth of rain by man and beast in nature was so beautifully encapsulated in her dance . By the end of her performance , I found myself wishing for the rain…if only to relive the magic of her rain dance.
Training under conventional set up brings about the classical flavour of the art. Yet there is a kind of magic when there is a certain uncertainty, an element of unpredictability , when you expose yourself to the vagaries of Nature. I had admired her for her creative style of dance before. But after her regular trips to the mountains,there seemed to be a change. I mentioned it to her, and she smiled in acknowledgement.
Travel had always fascinated Indira as a child just as dance had. “ I love routine, as much as I love to break it”, says Indira. While her Classical training kept her rooted, the wild called out to her and appealed to the adventurous side of her. It was Nature that taught her to accept, to step back, to look with detachment, she said.
Scaling a peak may be the end, but if we do not concentrate on the where and how of it, we miss out on the beautiful process of reaching the goal, she opined. In dance too, she found she was able to adapt this, because the mountains taught her an important lesson- to enjoy the moment, to bask in the glory of the process without a thought for the end, to find bliss without the final act of performance !
Costume designed by: V.V.Ramani
Watching the clouds sail by, watching the flight of birds, the animals, the trees, the waves…it would seem to an onlooker that she was just sitting in silence watching blankly ahead. But Indira absorbs the entire process, the tempo, the sounds, the movements, the silence too into her system. In fact, she has just danced to the stillness of silence- understanding that there is something that Nature teaches us- that it is not necessary to be talking all the time, there is need for a quiet- within and outside of us.
I understand this call of the mountains, because when you see around you high up on the mountains, seldom do you see the things around you- there are layers of misty clouds seemingly mysterious. Yet, when you wait patiently, the clouds clear to reveal the truth outside. The mountains perhaps taught her to step back, to relook. The mountains most importantly taught her to trust , and to explore, to acknowledge the greatness of the mysterious Nature, learn and respect . The mountains do engage in lessons of persistence and fortitude – they teach us how to stand strong and proud and be courageous to weather all situations. The mountains teach us to melt too just as the hard rock finally yields and breaks into little pebbles over the persistent cajoling of the seemingly gentle flowing water.
The mountains allow her to look within and realize that no matter how much of travelling one does, there are still “ miles to go” and many more peaks to climb.
