Me and my Mohini Attam take you through Kanak Rayleigh’s journey of passion and perseverance
Me and my Mohini Attam Takes you through Kanak Rayleigh’s journey of passion and perseverance
Mohiniyattam exponent Kanak Raley’s latest book, Me and my Mohini Attam, It is both a biography and an autobiography. While the autobiographical sketches stem from his single-minded quest to establish the first dance training institute in India affiliated with a university, the biographical stories are by his niece Radha Khambati.
The book’s 17 chapters reveal many interesting aspects of his life and career that are not mentioned in his previous works. The chapter ‘Parichay’ talks about her strong bond with dance. Kanak writes, “In my long life, a life that I have lived and embraced and loved, there is a word that comes as a thread that binds all the frayed strings into a beautiful totality, dances Is.” As you finish reading the 331 pages of the book, you are truly in awe of his passion for dance, especially Mohiniyattam.
The first seven chapters serve as a summary of Kanak’s life, from the birth of his parents Shivdas and Madhuri in 1937. Kanak’s childhood days are glimpsed in Shantiniketan. “I grew up in the lap of nature and I can’t forget those experiences”. She was influenced by Tagore’s nationalist outlook and enthusiasm for Indian culture. But when World War II broke out, he reluctantly had to leave the institution. Back home, she began taking dance lessons.
His meeting with the great dancer Uday Shankar was accidental. He was surprised to learn that young Kanaka was already learning Kathakali from Raghavan Nair. Later she came under the tutelage of Guru Panchali Karunakar Panikkar.
Born in Gujarat, Kanak had to overcome insurmountable odds after being initiated into the male-dominated world of Kathakali. Even while training was going on, at the age of ten he was diagnosed with polio due to pain in his leg. But she overcame it with her dedicated dance practice. Later, if she could use dance as a form of therapy for physically challenged children (Chapter 11), the inspiration came from her strong legs in Kathakali.
Some chapters of the book focus on important events in her life such as the death of her father and her mother’s remarriage, pressure from her family to become a doctor, marrying Yetin Rayleigh, International with specialization in Civil Aviation at the University of Manchester Studying law and being offered a lucrative job by JRD Tata in his airline, Yatin’s fight against a serious illness, the birth of his son, his entry into Mohiniyattam under the guidance of PN Rajalakshmi of Kalamandalam, and his exponents Visiting Kerala for a film on the art form.
Kanak faced new challenges when he decided to set up the Nalanda Nritya Kala Mahavidyalaya in Mumbai. It is described in detail in this book.
Nalanda Dance Academy, now known as Nalanda Dance Research Center, came into existence in 1967. His penchant for both theoretical and practical aspects of dance studies led him to undertake a degree course in classical dance.
The Nalanda Dance Research Center later awarded undergraduate, postgraduate and Ph.D degrees affiliated to the University of Bombay.
make a record
Kanak set a record in 1977 by earning a PhD in dance for the first time in India. His doctoral thesis was titled, ‘Mohini Attam: All Aspects and Fields of Influence’.
But a group of opponents claimed that his PhD was bogus. Doordarshan had planned to include her in the program ‘Pratibha Ani Pratima’, which was withdrawn due to this vicious campaign. But Kapila Vatsyayan, who was his research guide, intervened and the program was cleared for broadcast. The group protested outside Doordarshan Kendra, Mumbai on the day of the live telecast. The protesters also sent an anonymous letter to the Vice-Chancellor accusing Kanak of having links with influential persons, but he burnt it saying, “He is the one who deserves this filth”.
Despite all this, Kanaka remained amazed, and continued to explore the art form. His study of Mohiniyattam’s body dynamics, supported by the drawings seen in his earlier books, is also part of this book. The depiction of the neo rasas eloquently testifies to his acting prowess.
His conversation with renowned theater exponent and poet Kavalam Narayan Panicker, which inspired him to give an indigenous flavor to Mohiniyattam, is vividly explained. The rhythms suggested by Sopana Sangeetham and Narayana Panicker helped Mohiniyattam drop the ‘poor cousin of Bharatanatyam’ tag. He earned praise for the choreography of his compositions.
Finally the tributes by the scholars, the staff of Nalanda and its students shed a lot of light on his contribution. But the book could have been more concise.
The author and culture critic is a trained musician.