Today had the opportunity to watch the Nata Sankirtan of Manipur. One more day at the Natyakala conference and one more set of experience to remember for life. As I reached the Krishna Gana Sabha for the evening program of Nata Sankirtan I was totally clueless as to what the program was going to be.
One of the greatest advantage of being ignorant about art is that I am able to enjoy things without being judgmental or prejudice. I went in with an open mind to see what was going to unfold before me. No nothing spectacular happened, I was not awed or spell bound by the end of the performance. The performance was similar to the bhajans we do here. They use drums, mazira, conch and their amazing voice to sing and dance.
I had a tough time finding the name of this instrument mazira. I found this name with great difficulty googling with terms like chin chah sound, two small round metals, music metal disc and few other ingenious words that at times led me to few exotic sites ;-) Should the names of any of these instruments be wrong I'm sorry these were the closest I could get hold of.
Nata Sankirtan is a group devotional singing and dancing and their voice at times sounds opera like, given the language barrier that is what the closest I could relate it to. It is a beautiful sight to watch the drummers and others dance and sing in slow rhythmic music which at times goes on a high note. I enjoyed every bit of it and by the time the performance ended a sense of calmness had taken over me. I felt as if all the stress that had been built in my body and mind were busted out. I was also feeling energetic but with a sense of serenity. Something that only an Indian classical art can do.
Indian classical art are not just stress busters but energizer. The power of an energetic and tranquil mind is unmatched. Forget power the peace that it gives to the heart and soul is to be experienced to be believed.
There are two critical challenges the modern Indian youngster faces stress and creativity and our native arts have solution for both. I believe this is where traditional art will have a major role play.
In modern times we stand behind the world in terms of innovations. When was it last a great invention came from Indian shores. Easy to blame it on the current education system where there is very little scope for creativity, but by just adding these traditional art forms as a part of curriculum, we are bound to see an explosion in creativity which has the potential to leapfrog our nation to greater heights. In this process these beautiful art form will also be safeguarded and passed on. I leave it to the experts...
I believe these traditional art forms have the capability to elevate the mind and spirit to greater heights to achieve greater things. An energetic, tranquil and creative mind – The future of India.
Update - Changed the title of post from My Manipuri love connection
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