ARDHA
THE INCOMPLETE DREAM
Ardha – The Incomplete Dream is a solo work born out of a collection of essays contained in the book, Finding Radha by Namita Gokhale and Malashri Lal. Weaving together Bharatanatyam and spoken word, Ardha looks at Radha as the ‘adhara’ in whom the essence of Krishna is held. Beyond her oft-recognized status as Krishna’s lover and his chosen gopi, Radha is ‘Hladini Shakti’ – the potency that is half of Krishna, their spirits engaged in perpetual ‘Lila Hava’- the exchange of ornaments, attire, and souls.
Could Radha be an illusion that, through her dhara (flow) of joy and pain in union and separation, symbolizes the yearning for something beyond, a yearning that exists in every human? What happened to Radha after Krishna left Mathura? Why is Krishna celebrated while Radha, is a mere shadow in her aradhana to him?
ACT 1: ADHARA - Core
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Emerging from the churned ocean after Lakshmi, Radha’s radiance invokes jealousy in Lakshmi herself.
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Modesty is the silken garment that covers her youth, her body is delicately painted with the musk of sringara, the mark of good fortune on her forehead. She reddens her lips with betel leaf and her eyes are colored by the fire that lights hearts. Her ornaments are fashioned by the jewels of trembling, tears, thrilling, stupor, sweat, stammering, blushing, madness, swoon, and she wears a garland of aesthetic qualities, and a paradoxical necklace of separation and union. Is she real or an illusion?
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In leela hava they exchange ornaments and attributes, one becomes the other, He the Sun and she the moon, inseparable like the cotton wick and the fire inside the wick.
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Radha is the essence of the flute, the music that emanates from it, a combination of the five senses that she breathes into it. But his ego will not allow her to be the reason for his music. She says, “Am I like your flute, a dull lifeless object that bursts forth with music when your lips touch it? I am more than that, I am alive, I feel, I desire, I cry.” She leaves him to be married off to another. Time passes, and their tryst continues. One night as she walks into the dark forest to meet him, she is confronted by her mother-in-law and other women of the household. Making up a story of going to the forest to worship Goddess Durga, she now hurries to Krishna in panic. He makes an illusion of Durga come alive, and sees in her the Goddess, the swaroop shakti, samvit shakti, hladini shakti, and sandhini shakti. Krishna is the lotus with three cosmic spaces contained within it - earth (roots), water (body), and sky (flower), and at its core connecting all three, is Radha
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They burst into the raas and play holi. He multiplies for each gopi, but at the centre stands Radha, singular and strong.
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As they make love, she commands him to dress and decorate her.
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Krishna is the bhramara (bee) that surrounds Radha, Radha before whom Kama himself stands defeated, Radha who is the wind that flows in and out of his flute creating nada
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In the swirl of the raas, they merge into one. Without the moon, there is no sun. Without Radha, there is no Krishna.
ACT 2: DHARA - Flow
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kisalaya shayana (From Jayadeva’s 6th ashtapadi Sakhi he): She revels in the union with him, calling him to the bed she has created from creepers and flowers, making love to him, drinking the nectar of each others lips. Did this union happen or was it a figment of her imagination? In sambhoga - union, she is in bliss.
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mEnu mEnAnina (From Muddupalani’s Radhika Saantvanamu):
Then: Afraid that it would come between our bodies, do you refrain from applying sandal paste on me?
Now: All there is is distance between us.
Then: Did you close the windows so that no one would hear us?
Now: The window to my heart is permanently closed.
Then: Did you avoid wearing necklaces, so as to not hurt me during embrace?
Now: I pick up the shreds of this necklace made of union and separation
Then: Worried that my thighs would hurt, did you remove your anklets?
Now: I am alone with your anklet.
We were so close like a flower and its perfume, like sesame and oil, but now, how could you do this to me? In the whiplash between union and separation, she is thrown from joy to sorrow.
ACT 3: ARADHANA - Offering
What of Radha after Krishna left Mathura? Where is she now? Forgotten and discarded. As Krishna breaks the news to her that he will be leaving never to come back, she cajoles, argues, beseeches him to play the flute for her one last time, and finally commands him to leave. And when he does, the darkness and fear overwhelm her. Why is my crime greater than his? Is it because I was married to another? But then he was married to and cavorting with many. Is it because I was older than him? Does that really matter? Why are words of shame cast upon me? Why do they throw stones at me? Look, while there he is the lord of many kingdoms, I languish alone here. While he fights and vanquishes demons, I struggle with my demons. While he is surrounded by many women, I have no one. Whom will I play raas with? I search everywhere, and realize that I am truly alone. In my aloneness I merge back into the ocean I emerged from. But I am never gone. I live in the earth as what grows from it, in water as I flow through your hearts, in fire as I light the flame of desire in each of you, in wind as the birds that fly freely, in ether as the sound of the flute. The flute fell silent.
Credits
Concept, choreography, performance:
- Vidhya Subramanian
Music Composition: Shreya Devnath
Soundtrack produced at Resound India
Mixed & Mastered by Sai Shravanam
Recording Engineer: Sarvesh Sundar
Musicians:
Nattuvangam - Vidhya Subramanian
Vocal - Keerthana Vaidyanathan
Violin - Shreya Devnath
Mridangam - Sivaprasad
Flute - Sruti sagar
Tabla, Frame Drum, Kanjira & Manjira - Sai Shravanam
Tavil for Aradhana - Ganapathi
Sarangi - Manonmani
Jati composition - Vidhya Subramanian, traditional Vazhuvoor repertoire
Lyrics credits: Adhara - written in Mishra braj by Himanshu Srivatsava
Voiceovers & poetry: Excerpted from Finding Radha & adapted by Vidhya Subramanian
