By Humra Laeeq
On 8 November, Google paid a tribute to the Kathak Queen of India Sitara Devi with a colourful doodle. The late dancer, who was accorded with the title Nritya Samragni translating to the empress of dance by Rabindranath Tagore when she was 16, had her 97th birthday on Wednesday.
Struggle for the first foot forward
The doodle helped in widespread acknowledgement of just how important Devi is for the cultural heritage of Indian dances and deservedly gave her the recognition she should be accorded.
Devi was born to Sanskrit scholar Sukhadev Maharaj who was also a trained Kathak dancer. He earned his livelihood by teaching and performing kathak dances in different parts of India. The family resided in Varanasi where Kathak dance was stereotyped with moral degradation. Girls who performed on stage were equalled to prostitutes. In such a hostile environment, Maharajas ambition to promote kathak especially by training his daughter was no less a hardship. Cursory accusations towards the family elevated to the point of Maharajas excommunication. However, this could not deter Devi, who from a very young age and through her fathers inspiration showed extraordinary skill at the dance. Her father pushed her forward by questioning if Radha could have danced for Krishna why not our girls? Why should men appropriate the right to dance?
Beyond barriers
Maharaja held the idea of women performing kathak on stage as a talent and not dishonour. The budding dancer was soon enrolled in a school at the age of eight after resisting child marriage which was a norm in society at that point. Battling oppressive societal norms, Devi made her way to the dance stage at her school. Devi fought society on two levels – firstly by letting her talent move beyond irrational stereotyping and secondly by giving up the prospect of marriage for the sake of her career. For the child feminist, her own independent career and talent weighed much more than an oppressive, restrictive marriage.
While auditioning for a dance performance, young Devi outshone her instructor. Thereafter, she clinched the role and was also assigned the task to teach the dance to her co-performers in the sequence. A local newspaper Aaj, reporting the cultural program emphasised that Dhanno, Devi’s new name, alluding to Goddess of Lakshmi, mesmerised the audience with her dance performance. Thereafter, there was no stopping her.
Devis achievements
Sitara Devi was highly confident of her own contributions and work for Indian dance. When she was offered the Padma Bhushan award, she refused it by declaring, “it is an insult, not an honour. The Press Trust of India quoted her saying, “is this government not aware of my contribution to Kathak? I will not accept any award less than Bharat Ratna. Nonetheless, she was the holder of Padma Shree awarded to her in 1973. Devi had, by then, accomplished much more. She had trained herself in Bharatanatyam and many forms of folk dances of India. She learnt the Russian ballet and other dances of the western world. She is also the recepient of the Legends of India Lifetime Achievement Award 2011 for her work in classical dance for over 60 years. Teaching dance to Bollywood celebrities such as Madhubala, Rekha and Kajol, Devi had left truly her mark in mainstream culture. At her funeral in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recalled her rich contribution to Kathak. By the end of her life, Devi was a national celebrity, moving beyond the confines of Uttar Pradesh and patriarchy.
Photo Credit: Arian Zwegers via Visualhunt / CC BY