Modern nayikas brought to life

The event How Many Women Do You Know? brought ancient Indian literature to life at the Gallery Cafe. It played host to artistes from various fields like Madhu Swaminath, the Bharatanatyam dancer and actress, Kirti Kiran, a radiologist by profession and a singer, Akram Ul Haq, an ace guitarist and B.S. Prakash and Vijay Marur of The Little Theatre fame.

The event was an attempt to modernise the ancient concept of Ashta Nayikas, which was written by Bharata Muni in the Natya Shastra, the treatise of performing arts. The Ashta Nayikas are classifications of women into eight types and the artistes gave their own rendition of each of the Nayikas by way of music, dance, song and drama.

The evening began with a performance by dancer and actress Madhu. She not only had the most convincing expressions while she demonstrated each Nayika but also stayed in character as the other artistes performed.

Akram played a mellow tune on his guitar for the Virahotkantitha Nayika, the one distressed by separation from her husband. Next came selected Bollywood songs by singer Kirti Kiran. For this Nayika, she sang the song Khoe Khoe from the film Ayesha, which gave goosebumps to the audience.

Each round ended with the recitation of lyrics of a Country and Western song, by Vijay Marur. The beauty of the lyrics was basic and rustic but at the same time, uncannily relatable.

The blending of the performing arts happened so seamlessly that it was surprising to know that most of the event was impromptu. The event ended with Dr Mahesh Joshi, home healthcare CEO of Apollo Hospitals, taking to the stage with an old melody.

“We came up with the idea of performing the Ashta Nayikas in a contemporary fashion because they still seem relevant.  Many women will be able to relate to some of these Nayikas even today,” says B.S. Prakash, who was the compere. He adds that this was one of the many experiments that the group is working on.