Vignettes that define the Ramzan month

Navina Jafa

(Published in The Hindu May 28, 2018 )

WITH A PRAYER ON PARCHED LIPS

As Delhi warms up to yet another scorching Ramzan, here are some interesting vignettes that define the month for the faithful and the flawed

Pirzada Sayed Hasan Nizami: Head Priest of
Sufi Hospice: Hazrat Nizamuddin

For 29 days Muslims all over the world fast to discipline their mind and body in the auspicious month of Ramzan whose root word “ramids” means scorching heat against which is the challenge for the believers to fast from sunrise to sunset. When one hour remains to break the fast, palpable ardour fills the air as crowds of people organise foods in plates prominent among which are dates, water and cut fruits, spaces such as courtyards of some Sufi shrines and mosques like the Jama Masjid are lighted, and even cannon balls are shot to symbolise the break of fast every single day of the sacred month.

Against this backdrop are punctuated enthralling tales of historical-sociological events and anecdotes in Delhi. Mirza Arif, a descendant of the Mughals, a well known poet narrates, “Roza Kushai is the first fast that a child undertakes when he is old enough signalling that he is grown up to participate in an act of religious devotion. It was tedious to remain hungry throughout the day, but as the fast drew to a close, I remember becoming extremely excited. I wore new clothes and was adorned with a kanthi (garland made of jasmine and roses), a large silver plate decorated with a number of small bowls with different foods meant for a member of the family and other neighbours were placed before me. When I broke the fast, the bowls were sent to different houses and each person then put his gift money for the child in the silver plate. This custom not only saved money from feeding a whole meal to a large number of people, but the ritual generated money for the child and his family, served to create a brotherhood in the community and inspired other younger children to fast.”

A Ramzan Heritage Walk: 1995

Interesting connection

Interestingly, both the First War of Independence of 1857 and the August of 1947 fell in the month of Ramzan. My journey researching the intangible history of Delhi revealed stories and events linked to the month. References to Ramzan in 1857 are rare but there are some people’s poems in basti Nizamuddin which were recited by late Khwaja Hasan Nizami Sani, head caretaker of the shrine referring to the mutineers entering Delhi in the month of Ramzan. This poem forms a part of oral history in the event of 1857 that was presented by the community of the neighbourhood as part of a local fair called Tesu Ka Mela.

The traditional neighbourhood mohalla Suiwalan in Old Delhi is where even now live several musician families among whom is the home of Ustad Iqbal Khan — Khalifa of Delhi Gharana of music. Quoting from his uncle’s diary, Iqbal Sahab narrated that in August 1947 some musicians gathered for meditating through music where the famous sarangi artist of Delhi Bundu Khan decided to play raga Deepak. Other artists tried to prevent him from playing the melodic mode which is known to ignite heat and anger, they pleaded that playing the raga will only serve to augment the violent energy already present in the environment. Ignoring, Bundu Khan started playing as if in deep prayers, others around him also became bewitched. The mehfil (gathering) ended only when it was time for sehri or pre-dawn meal, however, the musicians saw actual fires burning the neighbourhood. As a form of self-punishment, Bundu Khan went to Pakistan while Chand Khan remained with his family in India.

Breaking Fast in the Jama Masjid, Delhi

Ramzan in the Dargah ( Sufi Hospice) in Maqdoom Sahab, Mandvi, Kutch, Gujarat

Hazrat Nizamuddin, the most popular of the Sufi mystics of Delhi, believed that Ramzan for him was not limited to one month, but its essence of practising discipline and restraint was meant for all days in the year. Vegetarian, he ate leftover rotis from the langar (community kitchen) dipped in water in the pre-dawn meal and fasted every day, says Syed Nizami heir of Khwaja Hasan Nizami.

The 17th day of Ramzan is celebrated as the Urs (or death anniversary) of Nasiruddin Muhammad Chirag-e-Dehli. “My Pir Khawaja Hasan Nizami Sani took it on himself that he will organise opening of fast at the Dargah in Chirag Delhi. Once when he went to prepare for Ramzan, he found that the ceiling of the tomb of Maulana Zainuddin, nephew of the saint, needed repairs. There were two costs to be met – organising the meals for the fasting people and for the ceiling. Money was not enough. Khawaja Sahab was restless and worried, when just a few days before Ramzan, his student from Botswana came and presented him with a diamond ring. Khwaja Sahab told his disciple to never look for the ring on his fingers since it was meant for another good deed.”

Historical anecdotes along with real time facts provide unique windows to the month of Ramzan in Delhi. For instance, while one is confronted by the vivid descriptions of streets, and small eateries around Jama Masjid in Old Delhi there are other cultural aspects which are normally not considered. In the area of the mosque are about 50-60 traditional professional calligraphers who do not see much future through calligraphic skills for lack of job work. Their average income per month is ten to fifteen thousand which includes supplement work of giving tuitions in calligraphy. However, as Ramzan approaches their job work and income increases with commissioned work to produce creative and attractive ritual calendars.

There is a saying that in Ramzan, shaitan (devil) is locked in a room, and all other doors are opened to bring in energies of paradise. Ghalib, known for his wit as much for his writings, was once playing chess in a closed room when a friend entered and reminded him that it was Ramzan and such vices were to be done away with during this period. Ghalib replied that it was in this very room that the devil was locked!

#navinajafa #ramadan #delhi #sufi #dargah #olddelhi

Humayun’s Tomb- Heritage Walk – Dancing Architecture – Dr Navina Jafa

Heritage Walk – Dancing Architecture – Essence of the Humayun’s Tomb

What a challenge and what a pleasure to curate and present a Heritage Walk – ‘The Internal poetry of design – Humayun’s tomb’, for the participants in a Conference organised by the Indian Institute of Architects, Northern Chapter on a cloudy day in September 2022

Participants

 

The Internal poetry of design – Humayun’s tomb’, a Heritage walk by Navina Jafa.
Executed  for the participants in a Conference organised by the Indian Institute of Architects, Northern Chapter aimed to be an immersive experience to comprehend in the  uniquely lighted heritage landscape the inner essence of the building.
A dancer or a musician does not live in isolation but is an integral part of the environment around him or herself.
As the audience moved around the landscape the walk leader unfolded the  aesthetics of the Humayun’s Tomb that carries diverse stories so profound as a statement of cross-pollination of human ideas, beliefs, metaphors, symbolism, and organisation of landscaping.

@The Indian Institute Of Architects  @SLIUD Institute of Urban Designers @Google Arts & Culture  @IndiaCultureLab  @India Foundation for the Arts 

#navinajafa #heritagetourism #incredibleindia #dekhoapnadesh #indiandance #kathakdance #azadikaamritmahotsav #birjumaharaj #humayunstomb #worldheritagesites #unesco

A dancer or a musician does not live in isolation but is an integral part of the environment around him or herself.

THEMES

–       Reflection of Geometry in Water

Symbolism & Metaphors

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  Sheer Joy – to be with special friends & Receptive Participants

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DANCE GEOMETRY ARCHITECTURE – YATI

YATI

Aspect of the image-making by Indian performing artists who project designs on the canvas of Time and Space reflects a complex heritage of micro mathematics. The concept of Yati is one such principle. Several scholars and performers both in the North and the South have spoken and written about Yati, however, this article a. links the idea of Yati with dance photography and social media on the one hand and on the other hand it brings the view of the legendary and holistic performing artist – Pandit Biju Maharaj explaining the complex concept in a YOUTUBE.

Comprehending layers of any art form revealed in my 10-year research on Kathak, related performing arts and socio-economics of the art in urban towns showed the importance of the concept of Yati that reflected a unique heritage of Mathematics in the Indian Performing Arts.

Pt. Birju Maharaj Defines – “Yati are formations that capture designs and rhythms both natural and manmade.”

Technically speaking: Yati is part of the science of rhythm in Indian Dance and Music which is patterned and designed on the canvas of Time and Space. The patterns are formed using the mnemonic syllables called bols. Yati is an organization concept which is prevalent both in the Northern and Southern Indian systems of music and in Kathak dance. Different lengths of Mnemonic syllables are organized and woven in time-cycles or talas.  There are five major designs:

1.    Sama – where phrases of a particular composition are organized in equal length.    

2.     Gio- Puccha – (Cow’s tail) – the organized phrases are patterned from long to short. 

3.    Strota Gata (or Strot Vaha) – Is opposite to Go- puccha. The patterned phrases begin short (say from a spot) and then gradually expand.  

4.    Mridanga or barrel drum where the pattern of phrases is designed as short, long, short.

5.     Pipilika or the shape of an ant where phrases are designed as long, short, long.

Navina Jafa interviews her Guru Pandit Birju Maharaj on Yati

#architecture #rhythms #incredibleindia

IMAGINATION-IMAGE: ABHINAYA PROCESS IN KATHAK DANCE -DR.NAVINA JAFA

Intersecting Kathak Dance, Kabir’s poetry, Painting of Manjit Bawa

Kabir – A Journey Starts where one Ends – Image Building – Manjit Bawa’s Painting – REaching for the sun

“The Mind by Nature is in constant agitation…it is constantly transforming itself into the shapes of objects of which it becomes aware. Its subtle substance assumes the forms and colours of everything offered to it by the senses, imagination, memory and emotions. It is endowed, in other words, with a power of transformation or metamorphosis which is boundless and never put at rest.” – Heinrich Zimmer: “Sankya and Yoga” in Philosophies of India

Manjit Bawa

Kathak and Image Making

Whatever the quality of the literary piece, the abhinaya in Kathak is a process where the dancer is required to ponder on the central essence of the chosen text and then challenged to take flight by image-making and wordplay. In Bharatanatyam, it is often referred to as manodharma, in Kathak as upaj sanchaari.

Cultivating the Art of Building Images

Taking a text of a song, a poem, or a story, the dance is required to travel the process of the journey of expanding the meaning of the essence and re-writing the text. Colours, movements, reading poetry, seeing paintings, and conversing fuel the creative processes of imagination.

EXAMPLE: Laagi Lagan Kaise Choose (How can I break my bond with you?)

Music Composition: Guru Jamuna Krishnan (who first introduced me to the piece)

Readings of Kabir – Dr. Mrityunjay Tripathi

The journey begins from the point of meditating on the rosary and expanding the immersion in space until one ends when Kabir writes:

That the journey is both ending and endless just as the river begins its journey into the infinite dissolution of the ocean, and hence the self becomes as large as the ocean itself. So the sea is a metaphor for the endless space or what Pandit Birju Maharaj Ji often referred to as a journey into shunyata.

Painting: Manjit Bawa, who for decades walked the Himalayas and pondered on the vibrancy of meditation and Himalayan Miniature paintings.

While dealing with this composition, I pondered Bawa’s painting “Reaching for the Sun,” which Art Historian Geeti Sen Wrote: “The figure assumes monumentality of sculpted images by interacting with spatial dimensions.”

Accompanists:

Tabla: Ustad Naushad Ahmed

Vocal: Zohaib Hasan

अभिनय यात्रा – मेरी कत्थक डायरी – डॉ. नवीना जफ़ा

कत्थक,कला और काव्य

लागी लगन कैसे छूठे – ( कबीर ). – संगीत रचना और इस कविता की पहली शिक्षा- गुरु जमुना कृष्णन

कबीर पर चर्चा – डॉ. मृत्युंजय त्रिपाठी

संगतकार –

तबले – उस्ताद नौशाद अहमद खान

गायन – ज़ोहेब हसन

कत्थक डायरी और मेरी अभिनय की यात्रा।

इस बार मैंने कबीर की एक कविता ‘लागी लगन कैसे छूटे’ चुनी हैI इस कविता पर जब मैं विचार कर रही थी, तो मेरे सामने चित्रकार मंजीत बावा की एक पेंटिंग आई उसे मैंने कबीर की इस कविता से जोड़ा और अपना अभिनय का सफर शुरू किया I चित्रकार मंजीत बाबा की एक पेंटिंग जिसका शीर्षक कला इतिहासकार श्रीमती गीती सेन के अनुसार है ‘सूर्य की चाहत’Iऔर गीती सेन उस चित्र की टिप्पणी करती हुई कहती हैं कि चित्रकार जिस व्यक्ति को प्रदर्शित करते हैं वह , अपने हाथ ऐसा फैलाता हुआ दिखाई देता है जैसे कि मानो उस व्यक्ति की यात्रा अपने आप में बहुत विशाल होती हुई दिखाई देती है I इस चित्र के अनुभव को मैंने कबीर की कविता से जोड़ा जिसका सार है उसकी आखरी पंक्ति में ” सरिता सिंधु समाई ” – जैसे नदी की यात्रा सागर में एक ऒर ख़तम होती है और दूसरी ऒर एक नयी यात्रा शुरू होती है, वैसे ही मेरी लगन की यात्रा है , जोकि एक अनंत सागर में समा जाने की परिक्रिया हैI.. इस सोच से मुझे अपने गुरु पंडित बिरजू महाराज जी की याद आई जब वह कहते थे कि ताल मंडल में नाचते हुए हर एक बंदिश की लगन ‘सम’ यानी कि ताल की पहली और आखरी मात्रा पर पहुँचने की यात्रा होती है

#navinajafaheritagetourism #navinajafaperformerscholar #navinajafaculturaltechnocrat #navinajafakathakdance #PanditBirjuMaharaj #kathakdance #kathakfusion #manjitbawa #modernpainting #kabir #poetry #immersion #mystical #indianclassicaldance #imagination #painting