The world at his feet

“My gurus told me that when a man wants to climb a mountain, his posture has to be such that his head is always low. If you want to reach high, bow your head first,” Kathak legend Birju Maharaj was telling us. Evidently, he has taken his guru’s lessons to heart.

Not just in the form of dance-lessons — that of course, is evident from Birju Maharaj’s mastery of the art — but also in his humility despite his worldwide fame. Widely referred to as a Kathak samrat, meaning emperor of Kathak, Birju Maharaj is regarded as one of India’s finest classical dancers and dance gurus. He is known as a performer who creates drishya kavita or visual poetry.

Birju Maharaj, of course, had the advantage of pedigree. He is the eighth generation artiste of one of Kathak’s founding lineages. This school or tradition is known as the Lucknow gharana and was developed in the 17th century. This school is named after the city of Lucknow in which it developed. That, incidentally, is the case with the other Kathak gharanas as well. For example, there are the Jaipur, Raigharh and Banaras schools. Each school has a characteristic style in terms of repertoire, dance vocabulary, rhythm intricacies, and types of movement including the chakkars, and of course, the bols. However, some of these boundaries among the schools are getting blurred given the present trend wherein many pupils have started learning from teachers representing different gharanas.

Magical steps

Birju Maharaj’s father was Jagannath Mishra aka Acchan Maharaj. After intensive training in Kathak from his well-known uncles Shambhu Maharaj and Lacchhu Maharaj, Birju Maharaj began teaching at Sangeet Bharati in Delhi when he was barely 13! This was later followed by long stints at Bharatiya Kala Kendra and Kathak Kendra, and much later, he opened his own dance school called Kalashram.

Blessed with a good voice, he also made the time and effort to learn Hindustani classical music. So, he can sing ghazals, thumris, dadra and bhajans. “God has been kind to give me a voice suitable for singing. So I decided to show my gratitude by working hard to justify that gift.” He also has a good command over several musical instruments which are used as accompaniments in Kathak. All of which make him a complete performer and teacher.

Birju Maharaj has long been celebrated for his pure technique, richly expressive abhinaya, movement perfection including stunningly intricate footwork and astonishing spins. The flawless, rapid nritta — during spins he would be a mere blur on the stage — was a big draw for audiences during the stalwart’s peak years. His amazingly crystal-clear and rapidly executed micro-movements would draw repeated applause. However, in the past one-and-a-half decades — he is 76 now and also suffers from sciatica — he has restricted himself more to abhinaya and gentler movements. He continues to wield a number of musical instruments when his students are performing and he seats himself among the onstage accompanists.
“Actually I believe that it is God who dances through me,” he says when we tell him how his dance mesmerises us. “Before a performance, I pray to him to give me strength and skill, and he blesses me.” He explains that God is actually using his body as a tool to execute the dance. “It is the Divine One who creates that magic on the stage.”

Birju Maharaj’s choreography skills are also widely admired, and are testaments to his rich imaginative mind. During the solo and group performances, he and his students draw on stories from the great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, the puranas,various historical stories, and the works of famous Sanskrit poets (like Gita Govinda and Malavikagnimitra, to name a few) and several renowned Hindi poets too. Contemporary themes including social issues also find expression in his choreographic creations.

His creativity is evident even in the simplest of pieces. He enacts small stories or incidents from modern and daily life, much to the delight of the audience — like a skating student or a conversation between disagreeing friends.

In another creation, the scene of a man pursuing his lover is expressed through a jugalbandi between the tabla and ghungoos wherein the intrument represents the man, and the ankle-bells the girl etc. His interpretations of these simple, everyday events in pure Kathak idiom contribute to the appeal of his performances.

Thirst for knowledge

Birju Maharaj is the founder and head of Kalashram, where he currently teaches Kathak. Kalashram has many well-appreciated productions to its credit like ballets, dance-dramas and small productions. His prime disciple Saswati Sen conducts many of these classes and choreographs several of these pieces, all under his guidance. Apart from teaching and stage performances, lecture-demonstrations and workshops keep him on his toes.

The long list of awards and honours that have come his way include the prestigious Padma Vibhushan, Sangeet Natak Akademi award, Kalidas Samman, Bharat Muni Samman, honorary doctorates including from the Banaras Hindu University, the National Film Award for Best Choreography for the film Vishwaroopam etc. His music and vocals for Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj Ke Khilari and choreography for Devadas are among his other contributions to cinema.

We wanted to take back a piece of advice from the maestro who still draws houseful audiences wherever he performs, for the younger generation. He obliged, saying: “Kathak, actually all our Indian classical dances, are a way of connecting with the divine. Approach your art with an attitude of devotion. I often compare my dance performance to a havan. Give respect to your art with untiring riyaaz. Rhythm is innate — listen to the heart and how perfectly it beats in its own rhythm! Always remain a student and keep striving for more knowledge. Don’t get agitated by criticism from people. Check if there is some truth in what they say, and if there is, correct yourself and improve your art. Always remain humble, as humility takes you to great heights.”