Reminders from Mahabharata

Sandip Soparrkar and Neha Banerjee speak to SHIKHA JAIN about teaming up for a musical through which they will be retelling tales from the epic via two different dance forms: Indian Classical and Ballroom

Being a north Indian, Neha Banerjee has a very strong take on dance. To her, dance is more than a passion and profession. Sitara Devi became her muse when she first saw her perform in Delhi. Neha Banerjee was only four years old when she realised what is her ultimate goal in life and here she is to turn her dreams into reality.

A focus on adhyays

Katha kahe toh katha kehlaye, says Neha Banerjee, a celebrated Kathak dancer to host an evening with Sandip Soparrkar, famous Ballroom maestro to depict Mahabharata’s Epic Story ‘Sairandhri – The Musical’ through the amalgamation of Indian classical Kathak and International dance form.

To put a focus on the prevailing issues of the world concerning women, they have wisely picked five adhyays that is chapters from Mahabharata, which revolve around Draupadi.

Like how Draupadi never received fatherly love and care, there are still places like our country, China, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Algeria, Morocco, Syria, Liberia and many more where people are against girl child, which will be shown in the first adhyay.

The second adhyay is about when Draupadi was forced to be wife of all the five Pandavas despite the law during her Swayamvar. It reflects even though a girl has the right to make choices, she still can’t make one, because it is not considered mindful and becomes a part of the neglected club.

Creating awareness

With reference to Draupadi’s Cheer Haran episode, they want to create awareness about a hundred more Duryodhana’s who still try to disrobe thousands of other Draupadi’s like Nirbhaya and many more just for their own physical needs.

From the scene, Virata Parva, where Draupadi disguised as a Sairandhri and posed herself as a maid to Sudheshna, younger sister of king Keechaka, who started to lust Draupadi is an example of sexual harassment at the work place that women go through in their everyday life. Women are also given unpleasant names if they indulge themselves in smoking or drinking, because it is proclaimed to be a social stigma.

In Mahaprasthanika Parva, after winning over Kauravas, the Pandavas including Draupadi take the stairway to heaven, but Draupadi was the first one to fall down and still, no one came to her rescue.

She dies alone in solitude, but remembers Krishna, because he also did not appear to save her from dying. Hence, nobody was there to answer to her and nobody is.

So, who is Krishna? Are you Krishna? Am I Krishna? Was she Krishna? Or is it us? It is nothing, but the ‘sensibility of Krishna’. The quicker we realise, the better it is, says Soparrkar. And that is how they plan on educating the masses through their show.

A perfect mélange

On asking why they decided to merge both the dance forms, Neha Banerjee said, “I don’t know how right or wrong I am, but people who know about Kathak would only end up coming for the show and since, in the current scenario, the reach about Ballroom is much more than the Indian classical dance forms, why not bring them together to make it more approachable?” Everything I am today is because of dance. It has taught me various lessons, given me confidence and helped me overcome my emotional traumas. Like how a parent is to kids, likewise, dance is to me, says Soparrkar. For me, dance has always been there in the family, even before I was born. When you dance, it shuts the world around you and to let your worries be at bay, then one should keep dancing, he further adds.