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INTERNATIONAL

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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

IT IS THROUGH DANCE AND CULTURE THAT WE CAN CONNECT

Dancer, activist, and artist Sheema Kermani shares her thoughts and experiences with Muniza Agha-Fawad
lassical dance in Pakistan is closely tied with identity politics, projected by a section of society as Indian or Hindu. But for Sheema Kermani, dance is about empowerment and communicating, especially with women, in Pakistan. Her mission is an uphill task in a country where subsequent governments have restricted the practice of many art forms through damaging policies and ideologies. These anti-culture campaigns have politicised the arts, crushing them regularly to prevent vulgarity, to promote Islam, and to forge Pakistans identity so as to distinguish it from India. No art form is more politicised, made more taboo, or seen with more suspicion than dance. Given this situation, dance in Pakistan has become far more than artistic expression. Combine it with Tehrik-e-Niswan (Womens Movement) and you get a culturebased action group focusing on human rights and womens empowerment. Founded in 1979 by Sheema Kermani, Tehrik-e-Niswan uses theatre, dance, music, and video productions to raise awareness about womens and family health issues, domestic violence and rights. The group also uses street theatre with song and storytelling to reach the public directly, in an entertaining and engaging manner. In a country with low literacy, especially among women, theatre and performance art is a powerful, alternative form of education, says Sheema Kermani. Charity is important, but its ability to help is finite, whereas a cultural exchange or experience stays

with a person, just like your education will always stay with you. I ask about her childhood, and what brought her to establish Tehrike-Niswan, expecting to hear that this artisteactivist was raised in a household of conscientious objectors capable of wielding paintbrushes. Not quite. Her father was in the army, but both my parents felt it important to expose us children to art, to bring out our creativity and fire our imaginations, she says. The family lived in several cities due to her fathers postings around Pakistan before settling in Karachi. As children we used to scrapbook, paint, make birthday cards, write poems. With our cousins at large family gatherings, we would put on plays and performances. In 1964, when she was around 14, her parents enrolled her at Mr. and Mrs. Ghanshyams Rhythmic Arts Centre, where she began learning yoga, dance, singing and music. This was in addition to going to a regular school. I found this emphasis on arts education particularly striking given the tendency of Pakistani families to push their children towards the sciences, business and economics, even reli-

Sheema Kermani: carrying on the tradition pictured here performing solo and with her students. Photos: Jamal Ashiqain gious studies; rarely ever humanities or the arts. But apparently, I have little idea what things were once like in Pakistan. Patiently, Sheema Kermani explains that her parents didnt do anything unusual; Pakistan in the 1960s was comfortable with culture and arts. People understood culture to be beyond religion. They saw culture as a connection to those around them from other religions or backgrounds. Things started to change after 1971, when East Pakistan became Bangladesh. Until then, the Bengalis had influenced the arts in Pakistan. They ran many of the arts, dance and music academies in Karachi. When they left, their academies also closed. The Ghanshyams were also Bengali, but they didnt leave in 1971. It was later that General Zias anti-minority laws drove them away. She always knew that she wanted to pursue the arts, but also that the life of an artist could be a lonely existence. Dance was a form of creativity that I found to be less isolated. After studying Fine Arts at the Croydon College of Art, U.K., she came back to the Ghanshyams Centre, where she studied and taught dance for ten years. Then it was 1981, and she left for India to study dance professionally. She trained under the renowned dancer Leela Samson of the Kalakshetra and studied Odissi under Guru Mayadaur Raut at the Bhartiya Kala Kendra, returning to Pakistan in 1983. By then, the Ghanshyams were leaving the country. They asked her to take charge of the Rhythmic Arts Centre. Many students had already left; Sheema Kermani took on the few who remained. She returned to India to further study dance in 1988 with a scholarship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), and trained under Gurus Aloka Pannikar and Ram Mohan. Artists tie societies to their history and to their heritage, linking the diverse cultures within (and without), while giving voice to new ideas and opinions. Gen. Ziaul Haqs predecessor, Prime Minister Z. A. Bhutto, had already introduced Islam-based laws, but Zias Islamisation of Pakistan (1977 to 1988) created an oppressive environment that stymied and perverted the practice of art, especially dance. As a woman, as an artiste, and as a Pakistani, Sheema Kermani witnessed the paradigm shift towards obscurantism and intolerance. At the height of Zias dictatorship, in December 1984, she held her first solo performance at the home of a dear friend. Only 100 people were invited but three times that many showed up. My performance was in defiance of the regime; those who attended were also sick

and tired of the regime and expressing their defiance. The power of dance and the overwhelming response of that evening still electrifies her. Societys sense of self is made possible by artists who ensure an awareness of its past, its presence, and its future. Over time, art provides society, a group of individuals, with a common, collective identity. Archaeologists and sociologists attribute the survival of our early human ancestors and the continued success of our species to this fostering of a collective identity. The establishment in Pakistan has long projected India as an existential threat to the country, whereas the serious threat to Pakistan really is the non-existence of any cohesive identity that brings its people together, and binds them with the Subcontinent. Having witnessed the break-up of Pakistan and spent time in India, Sheema is keen to ...use dance to bring out the similarities and celebrate the diversity of Pakistan and of the Subcontinent. I believe that it is through dance and culture that we can connect. Culture can unite us, and that is what we should promote and teach our children. For example, the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, she points out, was established by a Muslim cleric, Maulana Azad, who believed that schools and colleges should actively teach and promote art to children, throughout their academic careers. Through Tehrik-e-Niswan, Sheema Kermani attempts to establish a serious platform for the arts, especially dance. Dance is an important part of heritage, she asserts. When people from different backgrounds find themselves living side by side in a new setting (such as Pakistan), the result is often a fusion of dance forms... So perhaps, the fusion of dancing styles is a metaphor for the emergence of that greater identity that Pakistan needs. And Sheema Kermani being who she is, is not one to dance around any issue, even one as major as Pakistans identity crisis.
The writer, a Karachi-based sociologist, is a graduate of Rutgers University, and Senior Editor Nigaah Arts and Culture from South Asia. Email: munizaaghafawad@yahoo.com

Dr Chishtys family arrives in India, appeals for his release

Khalil Chishtys family from Pakistan arrived in India on Nov 17, on a month-long visa, hoping Dr Chishty can go with them when they leave. They have appealed to the Governor to sign his mercy petition at the earliest. Dr S M Khalil Chishty is a nearly 80-year old Pakistani virologist who was sentenced for life in Jan 2011, for a murder case after a 19-year long trial. Prominent Indians have written

Dr

permission to visit Dr Chishty in jail. The half-hour long meeting was very emotional. My mother saw him after two years, said Amna Chishty. Seeing Ali (his grandson) after eight years, my father was unable to recognise him at first. He asked about everyone and was happy to see them. Healthwise, he complained about his leg, which will never be normal again but said he is keeping his heart in check. He asked for

Dr Chishtys family in Ajmer, pleading for his release: (left to right) Shoa Jawaid, daughter; Mrs Mehrunissa Chishty, wife; Mohammed Farid, grandson; Ali Chishty, grandson; Rabab Farid, granddaughter, Tasleem Farid, daughter; Jamil Chishty, brother to the President and Governor Rajasthan appealing for his release, including filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, former navy chief Admiral Ramu Ramdas, journalists Kuldip Nayar and Jatin Desai, and Kavita Srivastava of the Peoples Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL). Former Justice of the Indian Supreme Court Markandey Katju has also spoken out in Dr Chishtys favour. PUCL believes that the mercy petition case is robust and the Governor must this time round use his powers under Article 161 of the Constitution of India. Dr Chishtys family visiting India consists of his wife Begum Mehrunissa, daughter Shoa Jawaid, and grandson Syed Ali Ghalib Chishty, 25. One of his daughters Tasneema married to an Indian and living in the UAE, is also there with her two grown children. We are especially grateful to the Indian authorities and Pakistan High Commission in Delhi for their quick response, and for granting us permission to meet him and also for granting my family non-reporting visas, Amna Chishty, their youngest daughter who lives in Canada told Aman ki Asha over the phone. On Nov 18, the day after arriving in India, Dr Chishtys family addressed the media in Ajmer, appealing emotionally for his release. Begum Mehrunissa Chishty wept, with folded hands, urging the President of India and the Governor of Rajasthan to sign the mercy petition and let her husband go home to Pakistan. She has lost all hearing in one ear and 90 percent in the other. A teary-eyed Shoa Jawaid, Dr Chishtys fourth daughter, said that their father had travelled all over the world and finally chose to settle in Karachi after retiring. Soon after that, he visited India where this incident happened. His dreams of seeing his daughters married, his grandchildren growing were shattered, as he has since been either in prison or under house arrest. Shoa Jawaid appealed to the media in India that has raised the issue so vociferously, to once again take on the issue of her fathers release so that he could go back home. Syed Ali Ghalib Chishty, Dr Chishtys grandson, said his grandfather had taught him how to read and write. Now having started his first job, it breaks his heart that the person who led him as a child is not there to see him grown up. Following the press conference the family was overjoyed to learn that the Government of Rajasthan had granted them some good books my sister will try to obtain them if the authorities grant permission, said Amna Chishty adding, We are concerned about his mental and physical health. Dr Chishty has suffered from several ailments over the past years, including a broken hip, and heart disease, that have left him disabled and dependent. Dealing with these problems as well as his trial and imprisonment without his family, living in isolation, he has also suffered physical, mental and emotional trauma that have changed his mood and psychology. He finds it hard to communicate with other people, feels insecure and irritable, and wants to be left alone. This may be a condition of mental depression that has yet to be examined by any psychiatrist. Amna Chishty said that the authorities have been courteous but are constrained by the rules. During their visit my family naturally want to see him as often as possible, she said. Prison rules restrict family visits to fortnightly meetings. The family is hoping that the Rajasthan government will waive this rule on compassionate grounds to allow more frequent visits. My mother is still unaware of the duration of his sentence, and hopes to take him back with her when she returns, said Amna Chishty. The file is with the Governor and we are hoping for the best. The Chief Minister of the Government of Rajasthan showed exemplary action in sending the mercy petition to the Governor in June, Kavita Srivastava and Anant Bhatagar of PUCL, Rajasthan told journalists. The governor returned the mercy petition to the CM in July with queries relating to the medical condition of Dr Chishty, his role in the delay in the trial that took 19 years, and other questions that have since been answered. The case remained pending in the trial court for over 19 years due to the prosecution and procedural complications for which Dr Chishty cannot be held responsible. Living under house arrest, he was supposed to report to the police station every fortnight, which he duly did. It is high time that his ordeal was ended. Let the Government of India show compassion and release this elderly, infirm man so he can spend his last days with his family. As Justice Katju said, It will be a disgrace for our country (India) if he dies in jail. aka

was about seven or eight when I was first taken to a restaurant that my parents were told served the best mutton curry and kababs. It required parking far away and then walking through the most crowded part of Delhi, past a meat market. We were told to look out for green curtains and three light bulbs and discovered only later that the place had a name or at least the proprietor-cum-head cook did Maseeta Meerut Wala. The proximity to the meat market augured well. Maseeta made only two things: seekh kababs and ishtu. The seekh kababs were the best, of the Delhi tradition neither toosoft-to-handle, like Kakoris, nor rubbery hose-pipes, like the rest of the North. Firm, soft, fragrant, they arrived first, with soft white rumali roti s, thin onion rings and smooth green chutney of fresh dhania (coriander) and green chillies. And then the ishtu, in white enamel soup plates with blue edging, was slopped onto the laminated tabletop. The ishtu was a beige-gold curry, with a few gol botis and some chops. The bulk of the dish was thick gravy, not smooth, with discernible shreds of onion that was soft and cooked but not browned, the occasional garlic clove and

Istew by any other name

Long after Maseeta Meerut Wala has gone, Vasundhara Chauhan finds and shares a couple of recipes that come close to his version of ishtu

KOZHI STEW
Chicken Stew, Kerala
I I

4 tbsp oil I 3 tbsp ghee I 1 tbsp black peppercorns I 8 green cardamoms 8 cloves I 2 bay leaves I 3 cinnamon sticks, 2 cm each I 1 star anise I 2 cups onions finely sliced I 2 tbsp ginger, chopped fine I 8 garlic cloves chopped I 2 green chillies slit and seeded I 11/2 tbsp flour I 1 kg chicken cut into medium sized pieces I Salt I 1 cup thin coconut milk or water I 3 tbsp vinegar I 1 tsp mustard seeds I 2 tbsp shallots chopped fine I 10 curry leaves I 1 cup thick coconut milk Heat the oil and two tablespoons of ghee in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add the peppercorns, cardamoms, cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon and anise to the oil and stir for a few seconds. Add the onions to the spices, stirring occasionally. When the onions turn translucent, add ginger, garlic and green chillies. Add the flour to the onions and stir. Put in the chicken pieces and salt, and stir Photo: Kadambar Chauhan well. Add the thin coconut milk and vinegar. Once the stew comes to a boil, lower the heat, cover the pan with a lid and simmer till the chicken is cooked. Heat the remaining ghee in a small saucepan, add mustard seeds, and, when they splutter stir in the shallots. As the shallots turn brown, add curry leaves. Pour the bits of dried red chillies and green cardamoms. The first impact of the dish was the heat it must have clocked one million on the Scoville Heat Units scale, which as a child I hadnt learnt to tolerate. Yet there must have been something about it that made me clamour to return. The gentle sweet-sourness of onions and yoghurt, the oil gleaming on top, the jewel-like whole spices, red and green, and the fragrance of whole peppercorns and elaichi , were strong and seductive

(Serves 4-6)

contents of the saucepan onto the cooked chicken. Now add the thick coconut milk to the chicken stew. Cover the pan with a lid and let it rest for at least half an hour for all the flavours to meld. Heat gently before serving but do not let it boil. Peeled and quartered potatoes can be added along with the chicken pieces. This stew goes well with appams, steamed rice or crusty bread Mutton can be used instead of chicken, increasing cooking time by about 15 minutes

KHARE MASALE KA GOSHT

Mutton Cooked with Whole Spices, Delhi
I

3 tbsp vegetable oil or ghee I 2 medium onions, sliced I 15-20 cloves garlic I 2 tsp ginger, cut into thin one-inch strips I 1 bay leaf I 2 black cardamoms I 1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns I 6 dry red chillies, seeded and cut into small bits I 1 tsp cumin seeds I 1 tsp coriander seeds, roughly crushed with a rolling pin I 4 cloves I 4 green cardamoms I 1 one-inch stick cinnamon I Salt I 3 tomatoes, skinned and chopped (optional) I 1 cup yoghurt, beaten smooth I 500g mutton (from the dasti or shoulder), washed and dried Heat oil or ghee and fry onions till golden. Add garlic and ginger; saut for a couple of minutes. Add all the whole spices. After a minute, add water and salt. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes, then add tomatoes, if using, and simmer, covered, on low heat till soft and mushy. Add meat and yoghurt, stir well, cover and cook till tender. This will take about an hour and a half - stir occasionally and add a spoonful or two of hot water if necessary. There should be a thick curry when its done. enough to overcome the heat. The meat was tender Ive always been partial to chops and the masala just the right thickness to wrap up in Maseetas rumalis. Years later, when I attempted to find Maseeta, he had gone cleaned up by the City. What used to be the next stop, dessert, the halwai who sold rabri and malai fresh off the edges of his karahi, sprinkled with sugar was gone too. To me this was no hardship, but the ishtu had to be found. Jawahar and all of Karims branches serve an

(Serves 4)

ishtu, but none is a patch on the original. I then looked up Priti Narain (The Essential Delhi Cookbook, Penguin Books) and found Istoo and cooked it. Good but not what I remembered. Then I tried her Khare Masale ka Gosht and it was so close that its become a staple in this home. While researching ishtu I found that all regions have their own version of stew. The celebrated Irish stew can contain many ingredients, but mutton, potatoes, onions and water are defining. Carrots and turnips are options and sometimes I put whole peas in the pod in towards the end, or tender green beans cut into two. On account of the economic importance of sheep their wool and milk the Irish made sure that only old or otherwise economically unviable animals made it to the pot. So the necessity of slow simmering became a tradition and offered practical advantages: the dish can be left unattended and, combining meat and vegetables in one dish also saves up on washing. Keralas most well-known dishes are appams and their accompaniment, stew. This stew can be made of mutton or chicken, but the other major difference is not surprising. In the Land of Coconut Trees, the liquid in the stew is coconut milk, not water.

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