His Theory, Her Practice
India’s greatest dancers will soon pay tribute to M.K. Saroja and her husband Mohan Khokar
For dance historian and critic Ashish Khokar, his parents—Mohan Khokar and Bharatanatyam artist Madras Kadiravelu Saroja— were first his gurus. “I came into this field because of them. I learned so much from them and it was not by diktat or design,” says Khokar, who edits and publishes an annual publication, attendance. On September 17 and 18, the Habitat Centre in New Delhi will host ‘Saroja Mohanam’, a two-day homage that will see several dance luminaries—from Odissi-Bharatanatyam artist and Rajya Sabha MP Sonal Mansingh to Bharatanatyam exponents Alarmel Valli and Leela Samson, and Odissi danseuse Madhavi Mudgal—pay tribute to Khokar’s parents.
Mohan Khokar was the founder and head of the dance department at Baroda’s MS University, and later became secretary of the Sangeet Natak Akademi. Having documented dance for decades, his was considered the last word in Indian classical dance history. Valued at Rs 7 crore by the Padma Subrahmanyam Committee, his collection comprises books, photographs, video recordings, costumes, masks, jewellery and more. M.K. Saroja donated it all to the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) in 2018. For Sachchidanand Joshi, an IGNCA member secretary, one of the finest aspects of the collection is its “pan-India” nature. “It is remarkable how meticulously he documented dance history,” says Joshi. “The collection shows us the mechanism of how to preserve our rich cultural heritage.”
A student of the legendary guru Muthukumaran Pillai, Saroja was an actress in early 1940s Tamil mythological films. She was also the first Bharatanatyam professor at MS University, and a guru who even took the style beyond India with her teaching stints abroad. She also learned Kathak. “She was not a frog in the well,” says Ashish Khokar of his mother who passed away on June 13 this year at the age of 92. “Some dancers won’t touch another form. But she was open. For her, [dance] was all about bhakti.” Alarmel Valli singles out her abhinaya: “Sarojaji had that old-world fragrance of Bharatanatyam. The stylistic elements were such that the entire body expressed to the music and lyrics. The hues and nuances that came through in her abhinaya were very moving.”
For Khokar, it was important that the memorial event in September not just celebrate his parents’ legacy but also focus on “the making and conserving” of dance. The itinerary of the first day includes a symposium on dance history and academia, as well as the launch of attendance’s 22nd edition. Day two will see short presentations by Aditi Mangaldas, Navtej Johar, Valli, Samson, Mudgal and brief oral tributes by Shovana Narayan and Saroja Vaidyanathan, among others. Khokar is certain that all these great artists will together remember his parents for their work, yes, but also “for the goodness of their heart”. ■