Ghungroo
2:43 AM - Posted by Pallavi Sharma - 2 comments
Obviously, wikipedia has an article (although too short) on it. We don't begin to use these until a month into the training, but boy are they fun to wear and prance around in!

I went to a shop to get the raw materials (ghungroos and rope, dunce!) and then place an order to string them together. The shop owner told me that my teacher would be explaining the process to me, and I'd have to do it on my own. Yay! I love doing such things!

My teacher though, neither had such intentions, nor the required knowledge. She's been born, brought up, and trained in Katthak for 11 years in Lucknow, where such things are as easily available as groceries. So, all she could do was ask the mothers of other very young students where they procured their ghungroos from.

She gave me the name of a store (Maharashtra Novelties in Aundh--close to Mc Donald's or Parihar Chowk, for those interested) that I visited just in time to not get my job done. The store also sells garments, jewellery, furnishings, and other knickknacks required in stage productions, etc. Apparently, they had just begun working on a large order to provide costumes for a nearby school's annual gathering. Or was it uniforms at the beginning of the school year? Whatever. The point is, they were not ready to do my job for another couple of weeks.

I checked out the readymade ghungroos they had for sale, but didn't like any of them. Besides, I thought they were overpriced. I wouldn't mind paying that much if they were well-made. Ghungroos are woven in two different ways (that I know of): by stringing each bell into a separate knot and by stringing all of them sequentially in a simple braid.

So now that I had seen how each looked up close, I decided to do it on my own. Surprisingly, and inspite of the really long and sturdy strings I used, I completed two sets of 30 bells each in a little more than an hour. Yay, again :D I had used only a quarter of the string for the bells and simply braided the rest so that I could reopen it easily later to add more bells. We usually begin with about 25-30 bells, double them up after we're comfortable using them, and gradually move to 100. Some people go upto 150. I think that would be way too much for me. My legs are barely strong enough to carry my own weight :P

Also, after I made those two sets of ghungroos, I felt really silly carrying around those extra lengths of braid. So I created another smaller pair to use until I get used to their weight (and knots cutting into my skin despite the ankle pads) :) Here goes...

The picture isn't very clear because the bright white string and the metal caught the morning sunrays in the living room (and I was lazy enough not to move them elsewhere). If you notice, this is to highlight the braid.

Later, I hung 'em inside my cupboard for a better view of the bells.

Found another link here, and a more interesting one here.

[Some day, I'll post a picture with those around my ankles. Or someone else's.]


First things first
11:24 PM - Posted by Pallavi Sharma - 4 comments
I thought I'd have to begin by correcting myself. I would always pronounced the name as "katthak," with emphasis on the doube-ta. This notion was initially shattered when Wikipedia enlightened me with this: "This dance form traces its origins to the the nomadic bards of ancient northern India, known as Kathaks, or story tellers. "

However, it further stated: "The name Kathak is derived from the Sanskrit word katha meaning story, and katthaka in Sanskrit means s/he who tells a story, or to do with stories. The name of the form is properly katthak, with the geminated dental to show a derived form, but this has since simplified to modern-day kathak. Kathaa kahe so kathak is a saying many teachers pass on to their pupils, which is generally translated, 's/he who tells a story, is a kathak', but which can also be translated, 'that which tells a story, that is Kathak'." Done. I'm correcting all entries in my blogs right now :P

It goes on to say: "There are three major schools or gharanas of Kathak from which performers today generally draw their lineage: the gharanas of Jaipur, Lucknow and Banaras (born in the courts of the Kachwaha Rajput kings, the Nawab of Oudh, and Varanasi respectively); there is also a less prominent (and later) Raigarh gharana which amalgamated technique from all three preceding gharanas but became famous for its own distinctive compositions." My teacher learned the Lucknow gharaana (my logical spell-check fetish at play) style for 11 years, and now mostly teaches the same, although she sporadically points out differences in the styles of various gharaanas.

Now, from a lay person's perspective (LPP - I'll use this term frequently to explain things as simply as I can): you begin with learning the theka, which is--literally--stomping to a certain slow, but evenly paced rhythm.
  • You are to stay put in your position, and not move forward, backward, or sideways.
  • Your hands should be held together in front of you, at the chest-level, a little away from the body.
  • Your legs should be held closer together (not sticking, though), with the feet pointing diagonally forward.
  • Your back should be held straight (the natural spinal arch is apparent and looks graceful), and you should face straight ahead, smiling (if possible :P).
[Expect a picture some day.]

PS: Rash, I know I might have missed a lot of what you wanted to know. I'm not too inclined to learn the social connotations of this dance form, but I'll keep adding what I learn. Hope you like it.