By Akshita Sharma
Draped in yellow silk, light as foam, fine as gossamer
with jasmine flowers woven in my braided hair
and gold-a-glittering in my ears, I glide,
Slide between postures as befits a princess----
sampadam to begin with, shoulders pulled back and chin held high,
For a perfect moment in exact equipoise,
Shifting to an araimandi, segueing to tribhanga----
Fragile and agile and nimble, a feather on a breeze, the breath of God,
in a manner most suited to the great princess of Panchaal,
She, whose song and poetry are the essence of all language;
Whose costume is the earth
She, whose unique comeliness takes our wounded world by storm.
I speak not of her agony or excruciating suffering today,
I speak of her hunger for knowledge
and of her mischievous thirst for slippery stories
that come to life through the beautiful navarasas—
Quirking up an eyebrow every now and then,
And,chuckling like a “kanya” at earthy jests and innocent witticisms,
carefully interleaved within sagas of warriors and leaders,
mingling courage and righteousness, honour and humanity.
I purl my hands in a tender “Chandrakala”
And as the sun begins to retire,
my face is raised in Adbhuta rasa, eyes shining with childlike wonder
amazed and incredulous about the worldly ways
and the ways of war and dharma.
I question the boundaries of virtuous duty,
Of morals and discipline in all things,
my eyes wet with the frank tears of sincerity,
my hands and legs moving in synchrony
as I retire from simulating the greatest princess
Of one of the greatest epics:
The Princess of Panchaal, Panchaali.
Footnotes:
Sampadam: standing posture in Bharatnatyam, an Indian dance form
Araimandi and tribhanga: dance postures in Bharatnatyam
Navarasas: the nine expressions used in dance forms
Kanya: a little girl
Chandrakala: full moon hand posture used in Bharatnatyam
Adbhuta: an expression of wonder, one of the nine rasas or navarasas
Panchaali: Princess of Panchaal; Draupadi from the Mahabharata, daughter of Drupad, wife of the five Pandavas