A Devotee of the Sattriya Dance

I would not say that the Sattriya is still unknown or is not popular outside Assam. But yes, it took some time to gain ground. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, it was 52 years after the Sangeet Natak Akademi was formed and wanted to know about the major dances of other states, thatSattriya achieved national stature. The other dances like Bharat Natyam and Mohiniattam achieved this recognition 50 years ahead of us. That is why they went ahead by way of growth and development.

Recipient of the Padma Shri for his commitment to the propagation of the SattriyaNritya Jatin Goswami played a key role in bringing out this dance form from the confines of the neo Vaishnavaitesatras (monastries) to the nation’s centre stage. A distinguished Sattriyateacher, Goswami’s virtuoso performances all over the country and expertise in the technical aspects of Sattriya has earned him the sobriquet of Nritya Acharjya. Apart from this the maestro had for a brief period formed a mobile cultural group for performance of Sattriya dance and Ankiya Naat on the modern, the first person to do so. Excerpts from an interview:

Please tell us something about your childhood and family background?

I was born on August 2, 1933 at AdharSatra, situated at a village near Dergaon in Golaghat district. My parents were Dharanidhar Dev Goswami and Chandraprova Devi. We were three brothers and one sister.

Kamala Kanta Dev,the fourth son of Jadumoni Dev, established the AdharSatra atDergaon. Jadumoni Dev and Bangshi Gopal Dev, were disciples of Sri Madhabdev and with the blessings of their Guru preached the neo Vaishnavite philosophy as propounded by SrimantaShankardev, in upper Assam.

I studied at Dergaon High School which has now been upgraded to a higher secondary school and then IA at JB College, Jorhat in 1955.

I have four sons and one daughter. My daughter Sagorika Goswami is associated with drama and also works in serials. She is the owner of the popular Assamese soap Bharaghar. My wife died about eight years ago.

How and when did you become enamoured of the Sattriya dance

I learnt dancing from my father. Our Satra was a GrihasthiSatra where the inmates are allowed to marry in contrast to the Udaxinsatras where the satradhikar and inmates remain celibate. It is in the udaxinsatraswhere usually the neo-Vaishnavite philosophy is propagated through song, dance and drama but in our satra too this was prevalent so I got the opportunity to learn the Sattriya dance as part of the Satra culture. I later took lessons under RoseswarSaikiaBarbayanof Sri SriKamalabariSatra situated on the river island of Majuli. RoseswarSaikiaBarbayan was the third recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi award. Moniram Dutta Muktiyar and Bapuram Bayan Atoihad preceded him in receiving this award.

I have also learnt Kathak at Jaipur under Guru Ganesh Hiralal and Manipuri dance under Atomba Singh at Manipur where I stayed for about one year and four months in 1960, before coming back to Assam. After returning I joined the Cultural Affairs section under Janasanyog directorate, The Deputy Director was Rudra Baruahat . I was part of a cultural troupe attached to the Cultural Affairs section. Now Cultural Affairs and Jansanyog are separate entities and the cultural troupe is no longer a part of the Cultural Affairs department.However, after three years I left the work as I felt a constraint in going out and teaching Sattriya dance or performing in other places.

Please tell us how Sattriya dance form was rose to the level of a classical dance. It is said that along with Dr Bhupen Hazarika you had a key role to play in this

In 1998-99 Dr Bhupen Hazarika was made the chairperson of Sangeet Natak Akademi, the apex body in the field of performing arts in the country, set up in 1953. He had it in his mind to make Sattriya recognized as one of the major dance forms of India.

Bhupen Hazarika asked the government to recommend the name of someone to the Sangeet Natak Akademiwho was an expert in Sattriya dance. The government recommended my name and I was made a member of the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s General Council in 1999. I requested Dr Bhupen Hazarika through a letter that Sattriya be recognised as a major dance form by the Akademi. Earlier there was no recognition by the Akademi of any dance as aclassical dance.

Following my request a sub committee was formed by Dr Hazarika which includedmyself, SonalMansingh, Sunil Kothari, Shanta SerbjeetSingh Chitra Bisheswaran,Dulal Roy among others. Then began the great exercise to elevate Sattriya known then as a regional dance then to the level of a major dance form so that it achieved national status. We were also helped in our endeavour by the then Cultural Commissioner Himangshu Shekhar Das.I was the only one who could answer all the technical questions regarding the dance form as DulalRoy was associated with drama and Das was a government official. There were several sittings and intense discussions by the general council before it finally granted its approval. Jayant Kastuar, Sangeet Natak AkademiSecretary also helped us a lot in this regard.

Soon after the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Government of India accorded Sattriya recognition as a classical dance putting it at par with Bharat Natyam, Kathak, Kathakali and Odissi. It was everybody’s efforts that enabled the upgradation. Dr Pradip Jyoti Mahanta, Keshabananda Goswami, Jagannath Mahanta, then Cultural Affairs director Hunmai Baruah all pitched in to make this possible.

It is felt that despite being elevated as a classical dance, the Sattriya is yet to achieve the popularity of other recognized classical dances like Bharat Natyam, Kathak, Kathakali and Odissi. What do you think is the reason for this?

I would not say that the Sattriya is still unknown or is not popular outside Assam. But yes, it took some time to gain ground. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, it was 52 years after the Sangeet Natak Akademi was formed and wanted to know about the major dances of other states, that Sattriya achieved national stature. The other dances like Bharat Natyam and Mohiniattam achieved this recognition 50 years ahead of us. That is why they went ahead by way of growth and development. This was mainly due to the fact that the dance form did not have a serious exponent -- this despite having a more that 400 year old tradition. Secondly,Sattriya was confined mostly to the Satras and was not performed publicly on stage. Thirdly the Sattriya was performed mostly in upper Assam satras and very few satras in lower Assam promoted the Sattriya dance, thus it was more confined geographically.

Fourthly, the government promotion has not been adequate. The Odisha Tourism promotes Odissi in all forums and it has taken out a book on Odissi which looks and feels good to the touch. This is wanting here.

Since 2000 the Sattriya has developed and grown and become much more popular. I am hopeful that the people of Assam and even outside the state have accepted it and that it has a bright future.

Your life has been dedicated to the promotion of the Sattriya dance.What all have you done in this regard?

In 1953 I established my own dance academy, Alok Shilpi Sangha, at my hometown. but continued my dance training,learning Kathak from Ganesh Hiralal and Manipuri dance from Atomba Singh.But I returned to follow my passion In 1962 I formed a dance troupe Pragati Kala Parishad in association with Kalaguru Bishnu Prasad Rabha. For a brief period I was associated with the state’s mobile theatre movement in the late sixties. During this time I participated, composed and directed innumerable dance dramas for mobile theatre groups. After leaving my job I tried to take folk dances and Sattriya to the tea gardens. With the help of ABITA I tried to de-addict the workers from Hindi cinemas. ABITA asked my troupe to perform in almost all the tea gardens of upper Assam. I also taught students briefly at Nazira Jyoti Samaj College at Nazira in Sivasagar district. After that I started a Sattriya training school at Sivasagar. My performances all over the country have also enabled me to take the Sattriya to wider audience.

I was the first to perform the dance in Doordarshan in 1960, the only national TV channel in New Delhi at that time. I have presided over the Dwip Mahotsav in Port Blair, Andamans in 2000, in the International Trade Fair in New Delhi in 2001 and a major dance festival, the Khajuraho dance festival in 2002.

My biggest contribution I would say is the conductingof innumerable workshops in various parts of Assam andthe country. Apart from these I have tried to popularise Sattriya by performing in neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Some of my students Anita Sharma, Dr Miranda Borthakur, KalpanaBaruah,son PrabhakarGoswamiand Rana Krishna Talukdar, to name a few, have also helped in taking this classical dance to a wider audience.I have also published several books on Sattriya Nritya.

What are the books that you have published on Sattriya Nritya?

I have publishedfive books on Sattriya – these are MaatiAkhora, Nritya ParibhasikSabda and Sangya, Sattriya Dance for Beginners, Nritya SikshaandNrityarPrathamik Hasta Parichaya.

What is your most memorable performance?

My most memorable performance was the Dus Avatar Nritya at the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society auditorium (AIFACS) in 1960 in which the then vice president of India Sarvepalli Radha Krishnan was present in the audience, After my performance he came up to me and praised me. This will always remain as my most memorable moment. On that stage Dr Radhakrishnan explained that the evolution of mankind was described in the Dus Avatar.

In 2000 you were selected as the first director of SattriyaAkademi when it was started in Guwahati under the aegis of Sangeet Natak Akademi. With what other organisations have you been associated?

I have been associated with the North East Zonal Cultural Centre, the Central Audition Board, Doordarshan (Sattriya) and have been the Practical examiner of Sattriya Dance in Gauhati University and Dibrugarh University.

What are the other awards you have received? What are your achievements?

I was awarded the Nritya Acharya Samman by the Sankari Sangeet Vidyapeeth in the 1999, the Sangeet Natak Akademi award by the Indian Government in 2004, the BharatiyamSanman award in 2004, Sangeet Jyoti Award in 2005 and Nritya Siromoni award by the Assam Satra Mahasabha in 2007. Iwas also conferred other awards like Silpi Divas award in 1994, Assam Natya Samiti Mobile Theatre Award for the year 1995-96, Best Dance Director Award by the Assam Government in 1999, Chandra KantaHiraprobha Award in 2002, the Assam NatyaSanmilon Award in 2005, Wiseman International Award in 2008, the Nritya Kala Ratna Avtar Award in 2009 and the Leo Expo Award in 2010.

But my biggest achievement is not my awards but the love and respect that I have got from my audience and students. No other award can be greater than this. I have got much more than I have given.

I have only one regret that is maybe I could have done much more than what I did. I could not manage my time properly and that is why many of my plans did not bear fruition.

The young generation is more attracted to modern dances and not much attracted toclassical dances, Do you think that Sattriya would some day die out because of this?

No I don’t think so, No classic is for the common man. For the common people there is folk dance and songs. Whether it is music, song, literature, the Puranas, Upanishad or any other classical music, the common man does not understand or will promote. Take for example the art of Neel Pawan Baruah, Shobha Brahma and others are not understood by the common people but that does not mean that these arts would die out. No classical art form will die in the future.

What are the projects you are involved in at present?

I am still involved in running my Sattriya dance academy at Noonmati, Guwahati. Although I do not train the students – my son Prabhakar Goswami gives the lessons now -- I still sit and attend the classes and guide the students. I also hold workshops. Last December I held a workshop organised by the Performing Arts Department of Benaras Hindu University where more than hundred undergraduate and postgraduate students attended the workshop and showed keen interest in the Sattriiya dance form.

What advise would you like to give to the new generation of Sattriya exponents

I would like to tell them that there is no short cut to success. Hard work and dedication are the two pillars on which success can be achieved. It is through hard work that the Sattriya dance should be taken forward, that is all that I would like to tell the present generation.