I asked Rukmini – “How do you depict emotions using gestures?” She said – “Gesture is just an extension of the emotion. The emotions in the heart manifest as gestures.”

The River holding the hands of the banks, her two daughters, moves steadily to the shores unknown. She is not bounded by the banks. She is the creator, the mother. Holding them together as she carries the nectar of life. A dancer is like a river holding the banks of motion (the movements) and the silence (the bhavas or the emotions) together, not bounded by either.

As shadow follows light, her swift movements left a trail long after they were gone. She gently interweaved pointed hastas with subtle facial expressions. She wore the paridhanas of Bhakti, Karuna, Vatsalya, Raga, Vishada and many more with ease. Her movements depicted Shakti, the energy and her expressions depicted Shiva, the consciousness.

From nothingness as Yashoda gazed into emptiness, to the blooming compassion of Gopikas as they tried to offer butter to Lord Krishna, it existed right there, on the stage, and beyond. Sometimes she swayed like the blades of grass, rooted to the mother Earth, and sometimes like the big banyan trees, roaring in the strong winds, reaching out to the clouds.

As she became the peacock, Radha, Gopikas, Yashoda, I felt mesmerized, forgetting at times that there was only one Rukmini on the stage.

ⓒ Rajesh Srivastava