Preethi Sriram
By Preethi Sriram
We live in times where we have instant gratification within our hands. We have cell phones that can fulfill many of our material desires like a KalpaVriksha tree.
That tree now seems to be online. Just sign up for Amazon and look up what you would like; check out your items and a package will be at your door in a few days. We have instant access to news and stories at our fingertips. We can see what people are thinking about in other parts of the world in the lovely comments section.
We can respond to even random strangers instantaneously through the power of social media and showcase our hidden forms of trolls in our online “avatars.” Of course there is nothing wrong with new technologies, and it brings about many benefits and reaches many new audiences as it provides wider accessibility to many people.
All tools can be powerful and be used in beneficial ways, but are we losing a certain concentration that we have heard about in the prior generations? We literally can’t stop our hands from moving. We need to check our emails, check our social media, check our messages, check who to troll back to, check again if we got mail, and so on.
I include myself in this. Guilty.
Are our hands busy or are they idle with the newer technology? This then comes to the timeless question of how to focus.
Sages who have performed tapas in stories in Sanatana Dharma seem to be another type of human. Their Dhyanam is otherworldly. Do we have that power in us to have that Dhyanam?
The answer is multiple, but the best way to answer it… Maybe. Each person is an individual and we all have individual skills. But here is a suggestion: to increase one’s level of focus and concentration, attend an Indian Classical Dance program. Choose a show that may be local to your area. There is a lot of local talent within our area. Set aside a few hours to sit back and be part of an experience.
Watching a dance show can be analogous to meditation. For instance, in the beginning of meditation, one’s thoughts may wander, or one may question why they are there. You may start squirming around your chair and then go back to your phone to check for super important updates.
You may not know the words or the language, but if you have been exposed to Indian stories like Puranas, or Mahabharata, or Ramayana, try to determine which story is being portrayed if it is not dictated by the emcee. Or you may not even know the language, and you may be completely new to this experience and are simply trying to guess what is going on.
What are the performers doing? What is the dance piece about? Does it look like they are doing some sort of tug of war? They look like they are doing this tug of war for a long time. Or is it churning? Looks exhausting. Is there a tug of war story somewhere you know of from your bedtime stories? Life is like a tug of war. So many pushes and pulls in many directions. What are the gains to this constant game? Who wins? Who loses?
Sigh. How is it that sometimes the “other” side seems to win? Actions keep continuing and the story continues. There is a quick break between the dances. Did a quick sneak peek scroll on the phone to check for those super important updates: now the music starts up again: another dance piece.
A dancer looks like half their face is a woman and half their face is a man. What does this represent? Some of the movements of the dancer is strong and powerful, while some of the movements look gentle and graceful. The dancer is depicting both these contrasting ideas, and the music and rhythms guide the dancer. Interesting, as this seems to apply to daily life.
Maybe there are times when we feel powerful. Sometimes we may feel graceful. Maybe there are times where we feel both. And then, maybe there are times when we feel neither of those terms and something else applies. There may be times when we feel beyond those constrictive terms.
Language is a form, and while a tool, can also be limiting if we don’t apply it properly and don’t realize its limitations. All of this seems so contradictory. Somewhat confusing. Are we getting into the concept of the Buddhist Koans? Science shows that there are contradictory statements.
Light is a particle and a wave. An electron becomes measured when we measure it. Finally, through all these musings, and after what seemed like a long time, and somehow not so long, the show comes to an end. Maybe the new viewer did not understand everything that occurred. Maybe they got lost from some of the dance pieces. But with the attendance, the budding Rasika started to become exposed to certain concepts and ideas that they may not have thought about before or may not have seen presented in an artistic form. Maybe they will go home and look up more on the internet about this dance and music style.
Where did this all come from? Who created this art form? It seems to have many origins. It seems to come from our Earthly realm from our world ancestors, and from many great gurus.
It is from Divine Parvathi – Who teaches graceful dance steps and is the Shakthi of the universe. And from Lord Nataraja, the King of Dance, always forgiving- who is surrounded by various beings like ghosts and goblins who we may find scary, but he finds them loveable.
Lord Nataraja was beseeched to help people learn concepts and to try to get us to still for a while, so we can stop fighting and calm our minds. When our minds are calm, it gives us a chance to look at the beautiful adornments of the dancers and listen to the meditative bhols and sollakatus.
With this calmness we then become transported to a timeless place of storytelling to learn about the worlds, each other, and ourselves.
This series of articles is about the journey and unique insights of an adult dance student learning classical Indian dance and the experiences and perspective of taking classical Indian dance as both an American and an Indian.
Preethi Sriram is a classical dance enthusiast and lifelong learner of dance. Contact: srirampreethi@hotmail.com.
