Until the Lions

by Karthika Nair

  my battle and I will die for others’ vows and dreams for yet another potentate

  and so do a few   hundred thousand men   chests ablaze   a naïve

  untimely  unremembered  bloom of Ashoka flowers  To die

  forgotten is to die twice oblivion the final demise  we won’t survive

  No meridians no memorials just distance and the dead to sever

  then swallow  the horizon  gorge the sun   it won’t be long

  now Father before daylight leaves my eyes I hear night whisper

  travelling northward  from the chest  what she thinks   a lullaby

  travelling through spine sinew and nerve into lung and tongue and skin

  Sludge covers my eyes Father or is that the hue  of a chagrined sky

  Soon there’ll be no variance  between soil and skin   both throng

  me like a shroud though my flesh scalds and the soil stings with cold

  Memory seeps  through torn veins  I begin   to unbelong

  from this self  from you  from the men who were mine    like kin

  I used to know    Father  used to know   all  my peers

  their voices  their names  Shibi there  the eye   of a javelin

  caught his  smote him  burst the iris  spurting   dark gold

  on eager earth I used to know his name too  the one fallen beside

  me an arm crushed  to unwilled clay  both legs further   rolled

  further away   dragged beneath  his general’s chariot wheels  a blear

  in claret   the arc of betrayal  on hard ground   and him there

  with an arrow twined  through the ribcage  next to the heart as near

  nearer than  a lover’s beat  Satya Jaya Jeeva   the names collide

  names and tones and functions  padati sarathi sainik rathi remember

  them for me Father  The dead all look the same  no tones no pride

  no traits no whims no gait  to call our own  save this one ware

  For we cannot clamour   till  we are claimed   the names remain

  our sole archives burn our spears our lances our shields but swear

  you will chant the names of the faceless dead like a prayer Father

  And await the day when you no more need righteous warfare nor heroes

  No deadly belief no divine stairs no hereafter no Kurukshetra either

  NOTES

  1. A response to Vyaasa’s description in Peter Brook’s Mahabharata.

  2. The ‘Begin’ refrains are variations inspired by Eva Recacha’s 2011 dance trio Begin to Begin.

  3. I. Blood Moon Rising: Poorna With Vyaasa

  This poem is a glosa that was built around the opening stanza from renowned poet and lyricist Gulzar’s song Naam Adaa Likhna from Yahaan (2005). Here is the stanza taken as cabeza, with a rough translation below. Each stanza of ‘Blood Moon Rising’ ‘glosses’ on the corresponding line in the cabeza, that is, incorporates it as its tenth line.

  Should anyone ask for my keepsake, my sign,

  write the colour henna, sign the name grace

  with your finger on my fair body.

  Now and then, the moon dwells here.

  Now and then, it is gloaming.

  Yes, come. Come, let us flow away in the Jhelum.

  The seasons in the valley will change too one day.

  4. II. Poorna to Satyavati: The Handmaiden’s Grail

  This poem, too, is a glosa. This time, the cabeza is taken from lyricist Niranjan Iyengar’s opening stanza for Ek Ghadi from the film D-Day (2013). The stanza and its rough translation follow.

  Stay a little longer, for life still remains.

  Your lips still bear traces of my being.

  Why care if dawn’s colours suffuse the face of night?

  Our world still survives within waning dreams.

  Stay a little longer, for life still remains.

  5. Riffed on a phrase from Kiran Nagarkar’s Bedtime Story: ‘This kingdom is ours. Its people are ours.’

  6. Kunti’s dialogue from the 1965 film Mahabharat, directed by Babubhai Mistri.

  7. Regional term for the Pleiades.

  8. A riff on a phrase from Salman Rushdie’s memoir, Joseph Anton: ‘you must live till you die’, itself inspired by a sentence in Joseph Conrad’s The Nigger of the ‘Narcissus’.

  REFERENCES

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Ami, Samhita. The Mahabarata – a child’s view – (Tara Books, 1996).

  Atwood, Margaret. The Penelopiad (Canongate Books Ltd, 2006).

  Badrinath, Chaturvedi. The Women of the Mahabharata: The Question of Truth (Orient Longman Private Limited, 2008).

  Balakrishnan, P.K. Ini Njan Urangatte (D.C. Books, 1973).

  Banker, Ashok. The Forest of Stories: Mahabharata Series Book One (Westland Ltd, 2012).

  Bhasa & (trans.) Iyer, G.S. Complete Works (D C Books, 2013).

  Bhattacharya, Pradip. Pancha-Kanya: the Five Virgins of Indian Epics (Writers Workshop, 2005).

  Bhyrappa, S.L. Parva (Sahitya Akademi, 1994).

  Byatt, A.S. Ragnarok: The End of the Gods (Canongate Books Ltd, 2012).

  Calasso, Roberto and (trans.) Parks, Tim. Ka (Jonathan Cape, 1998).

  Das, Gurcharan. The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle Art of Dharma (Penguin Books India, 2009).

  Deb, Sandipan. The Last War (Pan MacMillan, 2013).

  Debroy, Bibek (trans.). The Mahabharata, Vol. 1-8 (Penguin Books, 2010-14).

  Devi, Mahaswata & (trans.) Katyal, Anjum. After Kurukshetra (Seagull Books, 2005).

  Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee. Palace of Illusions (Doubleday, 2008).

  Doniger, Wendy (trans. & intr.). Hindu Myths (Penguin Group, 1975).

  Doniger, Wendy. War and Peace in the Bhagavad Gita (The New York Review of Books, Dec 2014).

  Gardner, John & Maier, John (translators). Gilgamesh (Vintage Books, 1985).

  Hiltebeitel, Alf. The Cult of Draupadi, 1 Mythologies: From Gingee to Kuruksetra (Motilal Banarsidass Private Limited, 1991).

  Kalidasa & (trans.) Heifetz, Hank. Kumarasambhavam: The Origin of the Young God (Penguin Books India, 2014).

  Kané, Kavita. Karna’s Wife: The Outcast’s Queen (Rupa & Co, 2013).

  Karve, Iravati. Yuganta: The End of an Epoch (Sangam Books, 1974).

  Kolatkar, Arun. Sarpa Satra (Pras Prakashan, 2004).

  Komarraju, Sharath. The Winds of Hastinapur (HarperCollins Publishers India, 2013).

  Madani, Rachida & (trans.) Hacker, Marilyn. Tales of a Severed Head (Yale University Press, 2012).

  Menon, Ramesh. The Mahabharata: A Modern Rendering, Vol. 1 & 2 (Rupa & Co, 2004).

  Muddupalani & (trans.) Mulchandani, Sandhya. The Appeasement of Radhika: Radhika Santawanam (Penguin Books India, 2011).

  Nagai, Mariko. Georgic (BkMk Press, 2010).

  Nagarkar, Kiran. Bedtime Story (Fourth Estate – HarperCollins Publishers, 2015).

  Nagra, Daljit. Ramayana: A Retelling (Faber & Faber Poetry, 2013).

  Nair, M.T. Vasudevan & (trans.) Krishnankutty, Gita. Bhima Lone Warrior (Harper Perennial – HarperCollins Publishers, 2013).

  Neelakantan, Anand. Ajaya, Book I: Roll of Dice (Platinum Press, 2013).

  Pai, Anant (ed). Stories from the Mahabharata: 5-in-1 (Amar Chitra Katha, 2009).

  Pai, Anant (ed). The Sons of the Pandavas: 3-in-1 (Amar Chitra Katha, 2005).

  Panicker, Prem. Bhimsen, adaptation of M.T. Vasudevan Nair’s Randamoozham (https://prempanicker.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/bhim-complete-and-unabridged/)
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  Patil, Amruta. Adi Parva – Churning of the Ocean (HarperCollins Publishers India, 2012).

  Pattanaik, Devdutt. Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata (Penguin Books India, 2010).

  Pattanaik, Devdutt. The Pregnant King (Penguin Books India, 2008).

  Puri, Reena Ittyerah (ed). The Mahabharata (Amar Chitra Katha & Reader’s Digest, 2010).

  Rajagopalachari, C. Mahabharata (The Hindustan Times, 1969).

  Ramanujan, A.K. Three Hundred Ramayanas (OPEN Magazine, October 2011).

  Ramanujan, A.K., Rao, Velcheru Narayana & Shulman, David (ed. and trans.). When God Is a Customer: Telugu Courtesan Songs by Ksetrayya and Others (University of California Press, 1994).

  Rao, Mani (trans.). Bhagavad Gita: A Translation of the Poem (Penguin Books India, 2011).

  Ray, Pratibha & (trans.) Bhattacharya, Pradip. Yajnaseni (Rupa & Co, 1995).

  Robertson, Robin. The Hill of Doors (Picador, 2013).

  Rushdie, Salman. “The Disappeared”, excerpted from Joseph Anton (The New Yorker, 17 September 2012).

  Sawant, Shivaji and (trans.) Lal, P. & Nopany, Nandini. Mrityunjay: The Death Conqueror (Writers Workshop, 1989).

  Singh, Jai Arjun. Old Tales, New Renderings (Himal Magazine, December 2006); Epic Fictions: the Rashomon-like world of the Mahabharata (Jabberwock, August 2011); Pop Goes the Epic (Indian Quarterly, January-March 2014).

  Subramaniam, Kamala. Mahabharata (Bhavan’s Book University, 2012, 17th edition).

  Tharoor, Shashi. The Great Indian Novel (Penguin Books India, 1990).

  Tóibin, Colm. The Testament of Mary: A Novel (Scribner, 2012).

  Tripathi, Salil. The Colonel Who Would Not Repent: The Bangladesh War and Its Unquiet Legacy (Aleph Book Company, 2014).

  Varma, Pawan K. Yudhishtar & Draupadi (Penguin Books India, 1996).

  Vatsyayana & (trans.) Daniélou, Alain. The Complete Kama Sutra (Park Street Press, 1994).

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  Winterson, Jeanette. The Myth of Atlas and Heracles (Canongate US, 2006).

  FILMOGRAPHY

  Bharat Ek Khoj (1988-89), television series. Based on The Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru. Screenplay and dialogues: Vasant Dev, Ashok Mishra, Sandeep Pendse, Sunil Shanbag & Shama Zaidi. Cinematography: V.K. Murthy. Theme music: Vanraj Bhatia. Director & Producer: Shyam Benegal.

  Coriolanus (2011). Playwright: William Shakespeare. Screenplay: John Logan. Cinematography: Barry Ackroyd. Music: Ilan Eshkeri. Director: Ralph Fiennes. Producers: Ralph Fiennes & John Logan.

  Kalyug (1981). Screenplay: Shyam Benegal & Girish Karnad. Dialogues: Satyadev Dubey. Cinematography: Govind Nihalani. Music: Vanraj Bhatia. Director: Shyam Benegal. Producer: Shashi Kapoor.

  Le mahâbhârata (1990), TV mini-series. Story: Vedavyas. Screenplay: Peter Brook, Jean-Claude Carrière, Marie-Hélène Estienne. Cinematography: William Lubtchansky. Music: Toshi Tsuchitori. Director: Peter Brook. Producer: Brooklyn Academy of Art & Channel Four Representative.

  Mahabharat (1988-89), television series. Story: Vedavyas. Screenplay: Rahi Masoom Reza. Cinematography: Dharam Chopra. Director: B.R. Chopra & Ravi Chopra. Producer: B.R. Chopra.

  Mahabharata (1965). Story: Vedavyas. Screenplay: Pandit Madhur & Vishwanath Pande. Dialogue: C.K. Mast. Cinematography: Narendra Mistry & Peter Pereira. Music: Chitra Gupta. Director: Babubhai Mistri. Producer: A.A. Nadiadwala.

  Son Frère (2003). Story (novel): Philippe Besson. Adapted screenplay: Patrice Chéreau & Anne-Louise Trividic. Cinematography: Eric Gautier. Editing: Françoise Gédigier. Director: Patrice Chéreau. Producer: Pierre Chevalier.

  Thalapathi (1991). Screenplay, Story & Direction: Mani Ratnam. Cinematography: Santosh Sivan. Music: Illayaraja. Producer: G. Venkateswaran.

  DANCE, THEATRE

  Accumulation (1971). Choreography (and original performance): Trisha Brown. Sound: The Grateful Dead, Uncle John’s Band. Production: Trisha Brown Dance Company. https://vimeo.com/12668671

  Antigone (2012). Playwright: Jean Anouilh. Direction: Marc Paquien. Set design: Gérard Didier. Lighting: Dominique Bruguière. Sound Design: Xavier Jacquot. Costumes: Claire Risterucci. Production: Comédie-Française.

  Beautiful Me (2005). Choreography: Gregory Maqoma in collaboration with Akram Khan, Faustin Linyekula, Vincent Mantsoe. Lighting: Michael Mannion. Radio script: Wole Soyinka. Costumes: Sun Goddess. Music: Poorvi Bhana, Bongani Kunene, Given Mphago, Isaac Molelekoa. Production: Gerald Bester for Centre national de la danse. http://www.numeridanse.tv/en/video/789_beautiful-me

  Begin to Begin (2011). Choreography: Eva Recacha. Sound: Alberto Ruiz. Lighting design: Gareth Green. Costumes: Eleanor Sikorski. Commissioned by The Place Prize. https://vimeo.com/21028593

  Bit (2014). Concept & Choreography: Maguy Marin in collaboration with Ulises Alvarez, Kaïs Chouibi, Laura Frigato, Daphné Koutsafti, Mayalen Otondo/Cathy Polo, Ennio Sammarco. Lighting: Alexandre Béneteaud. Music: Charlie Aubry. Sets & Props: Louise Gros & Laura Pignon. Production: Compagnie Maguy Marin. http://www.numeridanse.tv/en/video/2427_bit

  Des Témoins Ordinaires (2009). Concept: Rachid Ouramdane. Music: Jean-Baptiste Julien. Lighting: Yves Godin. Video: Jenny Teng & Nathalie Gasdoué. Costume & makeup: La Bourette. Producer: L’A. https://vimeo.com/28812422

  Electra (2014). Playwright: Sophocles & (adaptation) Frank McGuiness. Direction: Ian Rickson. Design: Mark Thompson. Lighting: Neil Austin. Music: PJ Harvey. Sound: Simon Baker. Choreograpy: Maxine Doyle. Casting: Sam Jones CDG. Producer: Old Vic & Sonia Friedman Productions.

  Empty Moves 1, 2, 3 (2014). Choreography: Angelin Preljocaj. Sound: John Cage, Empty Words. Producer: Ballet Preljocaj/ Le Pavillon Noir.

  Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich (1982). Choreography: Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker. Made with: Jennifer Everhard (Come Out) and Michèle Ann de Mey (Piano Phase, Clapping Music). Music: Steve Reich (Piano Phase, Come Out, Violin Phase, Clapping Music). Lighting: Mark Schwentner (Violin Phase & Come Out), Remon Fromont (Piano Phase & Clapping Music). Costumes: Martine André & Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. Production: Schaamte, Avila (1982); Rosas & De Munt (1993). http://www.numeridanse.tv/en/video/1185_fase

  Gnosis (2010). Artistic Director & Performer: Akram Khan. Guest artist: Fang-Yi Sheu. Musicians: Koushik Aithal, B C Manjunath, Kartik Raghunathan, Lucy Railton, Sanju Sahai, Bernard Schimpelsberger. Lighting: Fabiana Piccioli. Sound: Marcus Hyde. Costumes: Kei Ito, Kimie Nakano. Dramaturge: Ruth Little. Producer: Farooq Chaudhry for Khan Chaudhry Productions.

  I Am the Wind (2011). Playwright: Jon Fosse. English translation: Simon Stephens. Direction: Patrice Chéreau. Choreographer/Artistic collaborator: Thierry Thieû Nang. Set design: Richard Peduzzi. Costumes: Caroline de Vivaise. Lighting: Dominique Bruguière. Sound design: Eric Neveux. Production: Young Vic (London) & Théâtre de la Ville (Paris). http://www.theatre-video.net/video/I-Am-the-Wind-extraits

  In Your Rooms (2007). Choreography: Hofesh Shechter. Music: Hofesh Shechter & (music direction) Nell Catchpole, also featuring a sample from Takk…(Sigur Ros). Lighting design: Lee Curran. Costume design: Elizabeth Barker. Producer: Hofesh Shechter Company. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRtzM6mBL5k

  La Nuit Juste Avant Les Forêts (2000). Playwright: Bernard-Marie Koltès. Director: Kristian Frédric. Set design: Enki Bilal. Featuring Denis Lavant.

  Le Sacre du Printemps / Rite of Spring (1975). Choreography: Pina Bausch. Music: Igor Stravinsky. Collaboration: Hans Pop. Set & Costume: Rolf Borzik. Pro-ducter: Tanztheater Wuppertal / Pina Bausch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4qm1wyzHwI

  Le Sacre du Printemps / Rite of Spring (2014). Concept & choreography: Romeo Castellucci. Sound design: Scott Gibbons. Music: Igor Stravinsky. Recording, MusicAeterna, with musical direction by Teodor Currentzis. Artistic collaboration: Silvia Costa.
Computer programming: Hubert Machnik. Producer: Ruhr Triennale. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUKdhWdJa0c

  Les Noces (1966). Choreography: Bronislava Nijinska. Music: Igor Stravinsky. Design: Natalia Gontcharova Producer: Royal Ballet (commissioned by Frederick Ashton). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsXR81dLjjE&list=PL1AB6aSObxpd3wCMBDzrpU281EmwPmbKo&index=12

  Loin (2008). Concept & performance: Rachid Ouramdane. Music: Alexandre Meyer. Video: Aldo Lee. Lighting: Pierre Leblanc. Costumes & makeup: La Bourette. Sets: Sylvain Giraudeau. Producer: L’A. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hUYD13CNFs

  Kontakthof (1978). Choreography / Artistic direction: Pina Bausch. Set & Costume: Rolf Borzik. In collaboration with: Rolf Borzik, Marion Cito, Hans Pop. Music: Juan Llossas, Anton Karas, Sibelius and others…Producer: Tanztheater Wuppertal / Pina Bausch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZbfsLW707I

  MayBe (1981). Choreography: Maguy Marin. Music: Franz Schubert, Gilles de Binche, Gavin Bryars. Costume design: Louise Marin. Production: Compagnie Maguy Marin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pVc210o-eY

  Noces (1989). Choreography: Angelin Preljocaj. Music: Igor Stravinsky. Score performed by Percussions de Strasbourg & Choeur contemporain d’Aix-en-Provence, conducted by Roland Hayrabedian. Costumes: Caroline Anteski. Lighting: Jacques Chatelet. Choreologists: Noémie Perlov, Dany Lévêque. Producer: Ballet Preljocaj. https://vimeo.com/68062364

  Plexus (2012). Concept, direction & set design: Aurélien Bory. Choreography: Aurélien Bory & Kaori Ito. Performance: Kaori Ito. Music: Joan Cambon. Lighting: Arno Veyrat. Sound: Stéphane Ley. Costumes: Sylvie Marcucci. Dramatic art advisor: Taïcyr Fadel. Set technical conception: Pierre Dequivre. Producer: Compagnie 111 – Aurélien Bory. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y_1uwZ7Mz4

  Puz/zle (2012). Choreography: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Music composition: Jean-Claude Acquaviva, Kazunari Abe, Olga Wojciechowska. Additional music: Bruno Coulais, Tavagna, traditional music from Corsica, Japan and the Middle East. Set design: Filip Peeters, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Lighting: Adam Carrée. Video: Paul Van Caudenberg. Costume design: Miharu Toriyama. Producer: Eastman. http://www.sadlerswells.com/screen/video/2133409552001#