Foreword
Knowledge in India is the purest thing realised through the guru-shishya paramparaa as attested by the Mundaka Upanisad when it says:
तद्विज्ञानार्थं स गुरुमेवाभिगच्छेत् समित्पाणिः श्रोत्रियं ब्रह्मनिष्ठम् ।
Fostering the rich and diverse guru-shishya paramparaa of our country, the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) conceived an ambitious programme entitled Diksha. Diksha primarily aims to raise awareness and inculcate our young generation about the rich musical-cultural traditions of India by inviting renowned and celebrated artists at IGNCA to share their journey and vivid experiences.
It gives me immense pleasure to place the book, A ZigZag Mind authored by Dr Sonal Mansingh ji, a saadhaka, dancer and scholar par excellence as a remarkable souvenir of guru-shishya paramparaa. The book narrates the 'splendid resolution' of a 'woman in dance,' whose commitment to explore the rhythm of life required the distinct expression of an invincible self. Her ultimate discovery of the divine soul unfolded in the artistic endeavours that primordially manifested the Supreme Being in dance creations and performative environments. Sketching down such a personality in words requires a complex unravelling of a relationship between the dancer and the dance. Her multilevel and multi-scalar engagement with portrayals on the stage illustrates an intricate dwelling of the past and the present. Embodying varying characters of epic stories, the intricacies of sequence in the performances divulge her continual practice, accomplishments, and imbibed emotions since childhood.
The unique and episodic collection of stories in the book portrays the life journey of an artist, Dr Sonal Mansingh, an exponent of India's classical dance tradition. A ZigZag Mind is her autobiographical testimony of an artist's life that recounts unique and priceless moments of self-revelation.
The book has been segmented into twenty-eight chapters in which the author exquisitely illustrates various themes ranging from 'Guru Shishya Paramparaa', 'Making of a Classical Dancer', 'Creativity in Dance', 'Why Life is Divine', 'Yamunaa-Witness to Krishna Lilaa', 'Sapta-nadi', 'Why I am Dwijaa', 'Raadha', 'Draupadi', 'When the Gods meet' to 'Ramayana as Narrated in Ramcharit Manas by Tulasidaasa'.
The book unfolds with an interesting narration of the author about her gurus Prof U S Krishna Rao, his wife Smt Chandrabhaga Devi, Mylapore Gauri Amma, Vempatti Chinna Satyam, Kelucharan Mahapatra, and many more from whom she learnt the multi-faceted art of dancing. Highlighting the role of guru in making a disciple she remembers its age-old metaphor which is that of the potter.
Preface
Over the past decades, I have written articles, short pieces about ideas and thoughts as they appeared like wandering clouds lazily scanning my brain or whistled past like a bullet train. They needed to be shared because of the quirky nature of some, along with their unusual experiences or acute observations. I liked what I read; some from a particular period of time when I was busy travelling, a few others based on my dance choreographies and a few on my life's experiences.
Normally a mind does not think in a straight line; at least, mine never did. It has zigged and zagged like the toy train from Cuzco to Machhu-Pichhu in Peru. I thank the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) for first daring to print and publish these articles in book form. I thank the member-secretary, Dr Sachchidanand Joshi for reposing faith in my writings. My thanks are also due to Simran for painstakingly typing (I always write in longhand) out articles written on stray pieces of used envelopes (in that I am a Gandhian, recycling and reusing every kind of paper) and ferreting out images.
Dr Lokesh Chandra who has been my friend and guide since long, wrote a poetic Prologue. Dear friend Prof Malashri Lal, Rumu to me, for going through the articles and writing a brave critique. I thank Gunjan Dwivedi for making original drawings for chapter nineteen, Same Krishna, Differing Perceptions. The cover painting is by the eminent artist Nupur Kundu who gave it to me with so much affection. Thank you Nupur.
My thanks to all the unwary readers in advance.
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