Dancing for freedom

Arindam Sarkar

It was a sunny day. Winter was over and spring had ushered in great expectations. Standing inside the imposing Presidency Correctional Home – the infamous jail set up by the British in the heart of the city – reputed Odissi dancer Alokananda Roy was a little hesitant. She did not know whether she would succeed in her new mission.

In March 2007, the woman of substance had entered Presidency Correctional Home to hold dance workshops for the inmates, to teach them the joy of rhythm and make them feel good. What she did not realize that very soon she would become the first person in the world to introduce dance as a therapy to reform hard-core criminals.

Alokananda did not have any specific module in mind. All she knew was that rhythm of dance was good for the body, mind and soul. She also knew that dance and music could help release the unused human energies and lead to a catharsis.

Today, her dance therapy is a success story. “Nowhere in the world have prisoners been reformed through dance. They experience joy and learn to appreciate the beauty of their small world,” said an elated Alokananda Roy, on whose life, the Bengali film Muktodhara has been made. Leading Bengali actress Rituparna Sengupta played the role of the dancer and a freed prisoner, Nigel Akkara, played his real life character.

“The film is inspired by my journey and my experiment with the prisoners. This journey wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the system,” said Alokananda, who learnt Odissi from the famous exponent Sanjukta Panigrahi.

During the Left Front regime, the then inspector general of police (prisons), BD Sharma, played a proactive role in starting vocational training for correctional home inmates. He involved them in cultural activities inside prisons across the state.

Alokananda’s dance workshops with prisoners locked inside Presidency, Alipore, Midnapore and Purulia began as a part of that exercise. In fact, the Marxists also passed the legislation that replaced the word ‘jail’ with ‘correctional home’ in all official records. 

Alokananda created her own place in the sun with dance as a methodology for ascent. “The inmates call me Ma. They know I am not an activist but a therapist. I show them the path to light and teach them how to come out darkness,” emphasized the former Miss Calcutta and Miss India first runners-up of 1969 – who modelled for brands like Bru coffee, Taj Mahal tea, Union Carbide torch, etc.

In September 2011, Alokananda held the 50^th show of Rabindranath Tagore’s dance-drama Valmiki Pratibha at New Delhi with her troupe of 55 correctional home inmates. She said the inmates stitch their own costumes, set up the props, apply their make-up and even sing all the songs for the dance drama.

“The first production of Valmiki Pratibha by these inamtes was staged in November 2008. It is always spontaneous, exuberant and touches classical dance parameters,” said Alokananda, whose first 32 performers have been released from the correctional homes.

Nigel Akkara, a gangster whose involvement in a murder couldn’t be proved and was released in 2009 after he had spent nine years behind bars, was a member of the first Valmiki Pratibha troupe. Alokananda remembered, though arrogant and reluctant to join, Nigel eventually participated and played the role of Valmiki in her production.

Prisoners perform Chhau, the folk dance of Purulia, Punjabi Bhangra, Kalaripayattu of Kerala, Baul of Birbhum, classical and neo-classical forms in the workshops and stage shows. “I don’t enquire about their crimes because I don’t want to be judgemental. I only try to reform them,” said Alokananda, a devotee of Sri Aurobindo, who was also detained inside the Presidency Jail.

Alokananda believes Sri Aurobindo and Mother, whom she met in Pondicherry in 1969 and was mesmerized by her bright, blue eyes, are guiding her in reforming the inmates. To her it is nothing short of a miracle that prisoners travel with her to perform but never try to escape.

The dancer feels that for these inmates the experience of travelling to Mumbai, Pune, Jharkhand and Orissa to stage shows is a celebration. “They move with minimum escort. Nothing like this is happening anywhere in the world,” claimed a proud Alokananda.

“Their mindset could be gauged by the fact that every time a convict is released, we light up a candle and play meditation music to celebrate his freedom,” added Alokananda, who lost her husband at 36. Left homeless, she fought her pains and resolved not to allow the world to feel pity for her two children. For her, struggle is a journey to be undertaken courageously and happily.

Alokananda did her first show at the age of four on Rabindranath Tagore’s birth anniversary at Jorasanko. She has spent almost 60 years performing Odissi, Russian ballet, Rabindrik and neo-classical dance forms all over the world.

She said it is a sheer coincidence that she performed on the Nobel Laurete Tagore’s birth centenary, 125^th and then 150^th birth anniversaries. “I love dancing Tagore ballets. He was contemporary. There is a fusion of dance styles in his dance-dramas,” said Alokananda, who has mostly produced Tagore works.

Her dance group, Chandanaloke, has staged Tagore’s Shyama, Chandalika, Chitrangada and Shapmochan. She has staged Sri Aurobindo’s magnum opus Savitri and the patriotic work Vande Mataram. She said it was Herculean doing Amrapali with 52 artists. Komoley Kamini is another hit produced by her. But, Tagore’s Chandalika remains her favorite.

“With the correctional home inmates I have staged Kazi Nazrul Islam’s Karar Oi Louho Kopat… I retain their diction to give originality to the performance,” Alokananda said with a smile. She staged Ashoka with 85 artists in December 2012.

In her early sixties, Alokananda can dance for an hour at a stretch. Interestingly, she doesn’t believe in daily practice because that affects the artist’s natural style and makes physical movements appear mechanical. She realized this in 1986, when she staged a 90-minute capsule in 16 American cities during a hurricane tour. “If you maintain a rigorous schedule and back-breaking practice sessions, you stop thinking. I believe dance is also a meditation that helps to cope with social crisis and tension,” said the former teacher of Modern High School for Girls.

A self-made woman, Alokananda loves to make her own style statements with simple clothes, instead of branded fashion lines, “My head rules my heart in all my decisions,” she said with a smile. Alokananda has decided to quit dancing soon. And her swan song would be the dance-drama Karna Kunti Sambad. “I will stop when people still want me to dance.”

She however will not stop working with the inmates. The mechanical department with its tin-shade is her workshop inside Presidency correctional home. The inmates rehearse there for hours every day before a show. They are also allowed to stay in the same ward so that they may continue rehearsing after they are locked up.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has attended the last two shows of Valmiki Pratibha and on both occasions gifted a cheque of Rs 2 lakh. Mamata even asked Alokananda to give her the names of the inmates who have spent 18 years behind bars. On receiving the list, the CM ordered the release of many of them. “We are impressed by her support,” said Alokananda.

Once her glorious dance career ends, Alokananda will work full-time to reform convicts. She believes no child is born a criminal but the circumstance makes one. “I wish the justice to be fair. I also want open jails for the under-trials, many of whom serve terms for years waiting for their case to be heard,” rued Alokananda.

Dance helped Alokananda to fight her own battles and fulfilled her life. Today, she prescribes dance as a medicine to reform prisoners for whom life has lost all meaning.  “We should stop treating released convicts as pariah and rehabilitate them in our society.”

And Alokananda means every word. Her chauffeur was once a prisoner.