POTRAIT

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


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