The hiss-story of folk art

Ila Arun is, perhaps, best known for bringing Rajasthani folk music to the mainstream popular culture. It is only natural, therefore, that she would come back to the spotlight with a proposition — the importance of snakes in folk tales, music and paintings. In a show — Lok Gatha — scheduled later this month, she will narrate stories and collaborate with performers from Rajasthan and Maharashtra, to showcase a unique connection between snakes and folk tales.

“Snakes played a very important part when I was growing up,” says Ila. She recollects her early childhood in Rajasthan, where during the monsoons, some mysterious men would come and play their been (a musical instrument) and snakes would come out from their katori (cane baskets). On other occasions, people would gather around to tell stories. When she started looking back at those memories, she realised that most of the tales had a connection with snakes.

“There was this popular folk tale that we had to hear at least twice or thrice every year. A little girl, single child to her parents, wishes for a brother. Eventually, a snake promises her that at bhaidooj, it would reincarnate as her brother, and so he does. But the girl is scared and then he asks her to follow him to his burrow. She still enters and finds a real palace underground,” she elaborates. Such stories have often attracted the artiste. So much so, that she even wears a serpentine bindi on her forehead, sometimes.

The profession of snake charmers, she points out, is dying, and as a consequence of animal protection laws, there are various other ways that they are sustaining their lives. One such way is the Kalbelia dance form, which is a creative adaptation of their original profession as snake charmers. “I strongly believe that Kalbelia dancers were originally not women,” she explains, tracing the history of these dancers. “In fact, they were men. These people were primarily nomads, and they would keep going from one place to another. On their way, they would show various tricks and play music. I would love the sound of the been, or as we would call it, pungi. But slowly, with the rise of animal rights kind of prevented them from using animals and they shifted to other modes of sustenance. And once such is Kalbelia dancers.”

Although she cannot recollect watching Kalbelia dancers during her youth, she says that it was in the ’80s that governments started promoting these dancers. She also recalls the Padmashree Kalbelia dancer Gulabo, who she had seen perform quite early in her career.

More than the dance form, it’s the dancers that the folk singer has a liking for. “There is something in their genes, that makes their moves so unique; it’s almost serpentine. No one can replicate them,” she remarks. Although Kalbelia is an important aspect of her upcoming show, she didn’t want to stick to just that. She adds that there are a number of other forms of folklore that are ridden with references to the serpent.

 “Snakes are everywhere in our stories. If you look at our mythology, right from the one around Shiva’s neck to the one that Vishnu was sleeping on, to the Warli paintings, you find references everywhere,” she says.

Nag Mantri ka Jagran, a ritual observed in Maharasthtra, will also be a part of her presentation. “I got to know about this ritual from my house-helper, who is Maharashtrian. I found a lot of similarity to Rajasthani folklore, especially the fact that it’s a narrative of a brother and sister and there’s a snake involved.”

Ila has also collaborated with  a group of Warli artists who will be talking about the significance of snakes in their lives and representation of it, at the event.

According to her, snakes are one of the few creatures that have a positive as well as a negative connotation attached. “When we say saap, it has a positive connotation. But as soon as you call it a naagin, there’s a negative connotation attached. The fact that they live underground – in paataal – has often excited storytellers of various kinds and added to the mystery surrounding the creature.”

On January 29, 7 pm onwards, at NCPA, Nariman Point
Tickets: Rs 200 onwards