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BOOK REVIEW Now,10 beginthis fault-finding (not without Ang Kavya regret).the title of the fourth chapter. Finishing Positions, is not quite appropriate. No properly Birju Maharaj danced pattern merelyendsalthe sama.This ;: Har-Anand Publications, 2002 speciallytrueofthedancingofBirjuMaharajhim 85 pages; Rs.250 self.Inhisrecitals.asalso inprinciple.thesama (asarule)istheclimaticpoint.themomentwhere the pattern not merely ends, but flowers or This isunquestionablyapionee-ringattempt.and blooms.Where acollocation of boismerely fin I say so after 3.close reading of the book.Till ishestamely.ifcorrectly,theendinglookinsipid. before its appearance, we had regarded Birju Unfortunately.eveninthe'glossaryofcommonly MaharajonlyasaspellbindingKathakdancer,a usedterms' withwhichthehookends,samahas veryeffective teacher. and as one who has not beenexplainedinadequately.Thereisareasonwhy onlywonworldwiderecognitionandalmostevery 1sayso.Ourrhythmisessentialcyclic incharac awardopentoadancer,butalsothe respectand ter.As we followit,we notonly begin from(he admiration ofconsummate exponents of other firstbeatbutcomebacktoit.completinganavrti classical dance-forms. But now, with the orcycle.whereuponthe(so-called) firstbeat be appearance of this small but very basic and comestheaestheticcentre.Ageometricalcentreis significant book. this phenomenal artist has simplyapointofequaldistances fromallpoints established himself as an analytic interpreterof onthecircumference.Itselfitisinert.andtheway Kathak dance from the view point of beauteous it relates to circumference is only spatial. Our bodily configuration. dulyjustifying the litle of sama.on(heotherhand.isnotonlythefocusbut thework:AngKavva.Inmyview,however,what thedeterminantofarunbecauseallthepreceding hasreallyenabledhimtoproducesuchabasicand bois appear (in principle) to be heading for it innovativeworkisnotmerelyhisanalyticacumen This, 1repeat. is pre-eminently trueofthe way butalsohisremarkableabilitytoinvolvehimself the authorhimselfdances.Acarefullookat his intenselyinwhateverhedoes.(hatis,notmerely mannerofdancingwillrevealthatheIncreases-c. dancing. but singing and drumming. or even adroitly bydegrees.but at timesquite percepti recountinga funnyhappening! Idiomsoffigural bly-e-theintenseness ofthe few footfalls (~ beauty in dance can of course be picked thatprecedethesamaimmediately.makingitap~ readymade,sotosay- fromourrepresentational pear what il should, that is, the culmination of sculpture;buthowexactlytheyevolveandcome impact.ratherthanas3mereterminus.50.1con intobeing,instead ofappearingasmerefinished clude, to speak ofthe .'iuma as merely 'the first postures.canbebroughttolightonlybyonewho beatofatalawhich isusually mostaccented' is dances with his whole being. Before. however. notquitetruetowhatit(thesama)does.andhow I focus and comment on the work's povinve itactuallyappearsingood Kathakdanceofwhich featuresatsomelength. letme pointoutsomeof theauthorhimself.Irepeat,isalivingparadigm. itsobviousdefects,justbecauseIwouldbehappy Themoderatingusuallyis.however.welcome;for tosee themremoved before thebookappearsin thebeatinquestionisnotalwaysclearly(oraudi itssecondedition, whichitsurely deserves. bly)accented.AItimes,indeed.theemphasishere StJlIgUINtJltJJt. Vol.XXXIX. No.I. 1005 50 S.K. SAXENA may bedeftly withheld, delighting an authentic coming(nottobecome) isalsoanadmitted rasika with theoccasion provided to register the meaningoftheword. sarnamerelyinidea. 6. Saatwika: 'through contemplation, which Turn, now to naghma in the book's glossary thereby appears on face' (p.85). (p.83). Ithas been translated (very casually) as Comment:Herethetranslationexplainshow 'amelodicphrase...anytala'.This,again,iswrong. 'satvikaabhinaya'occurs,notwhattheword Intheregion ofmusic, aphrase isregardedasa satvika means. It simply means: genuine, run of notes making up an individually distinct truthful. Satvika abhinaya is the(involun part of a melody. Lehra is not the part of any tary)expressionofanemotionwhichcomes whole. Inunediately after its opening run-up to tobe actually experienced throughintense thefocalbeat,(sarna)lehraflowsrecurringlyfrom visualization. sarnatosarna;isthereforerhythmicallycomplete; 7. Meend: •A circular movement overhead andthereforenotamerephrase. connecting the spaces around' (p.85). Someothererrorsmaybequicklyindicatedas Comment:Thewordrathermeansaseamless follows: passage ofmusical sound across some 1. Anjuri(p.33). swaras which, initsaspect ofcontinuity Comment:Lookingattheauthor'sownpic not in that of melody, it is obvious-is turewhichaimsatillustratinganjuri,Ithink represented in dance through a rotative the word should be anjali; for it is anjali movementofthehead(/neck). whichshows'theopenhandplacedsideby Apart from the above, some howlers areas side and slightly hollowed' (Monier follows: Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, omIT(p. 84)shouldbeorrIir CorrectedEdition2002,p.754). mil(p.83)shouldbe 'I!iJ 2. Bhajan: 'Offering obeisance through a Butnowletusseewhatyetmakesthebookin devotionalcomposition' (p.72). questionhighlysignificantanddeservingofwide 3. Parharu: Torecite(p.84). notice. As its very opening page points out,it Comment:Both2and3committhemistake makesameticulousattempttogivenamestoevery oftranslatingnounsasverbs.Bhajanissim abstract (that is, non-representational) hand plyadevotionalcomposition;andparhant, movement (nritta hastaka) and foot placement just recitation of collection of pure dance (pada notpdawhichrelatestopoetry-bhangima. syllables, punctuated at times with some Whatismore,andhereagainIcitefromtheopening wordsaswell. page. to further help the work of identification 4. Natya:Theatrical,dramatic(p.84). reference, and understanding, 'these movements Comment: Heretheerrorliesinequatinga havebeencodified intoadanceshorthandwhich nounwithanadjective.Natyasimplymeans could greatly facilitate documentation...[Whatis mimetic representation; dramatic art more.] inaddition tothemajorlinesrepresenting (Monier-Williams,p534); the upper arm, forearm and wrist, a tinydot has...heenused.To...[indicate]thedirectionofthe 5. Bhava:Toexpressorbecome(p.85). palm...[and] the main [dance-] syllables Comment:Again,anounismistranslatedas corresponding tothe movementshavealsobeen averb.Inthecontextofdance,bhavasim mentioned. plymeans'sentiment,wayoffeeling,emo The author's analytic approach, I repeat,is tion' (Monier-Williams,p.754)thoughbe- BOOK REVIEW 51 commendable.The fourchapterswhichthework distinguished and named. are all excellent. The comprises- namely. hand movements, feet pages relating to notation symbols provide position(ing),stances and finishing positions fascinatingmaterialforthought Thewholebook, surelyallspeakofwhatisinfact distinguishable, indeed, is as much a potential stimulant for all sothat the analysisIrefertoisnohair-splitting. seriousloversofKathakdanceasanindexofthe Norcanwe question the proprietyofseparating author'sown untiringcreativity. thebasicfromdecorativehandmovements.orthe BirjuMaharajhassurelyopenedupanewway different kindsofspins.But, beitnoted.the act tothinkaboutKathak.ThebookcallsforaNational ofnamingwhatisdistinguished calls for a very Seminar on what it says or rather reveals.Our carefuluseoflanguage,ofwhich the bookunder KarnakKendrashouldbeable10organizeone. reviewisnotav·erygoodexample.Themaestro's pictures, illustrating what is sought to be S,K.SAXENA