Water researcher and dancer Radhika Mulay speaks at a workshop organized as part of the Water Festival 2023 in Puducherry. , photo credit: ss kumar
From sea cruises and boating rides through the mangroves to dance and soundscape performances, water-based events were recently organized as part of the ongoing Waterfest ’23 to re-establish intimacy with the life-sustaining resource. was hosted.
Organized by ‘All for Water for All’ (A4W4A), a collective of individuals and organizations working in the Puducherry-Villupuram-Auroville-Cuddalore (PVAC) bio-sector, the festival on the theme of ‘Management for Water and Biodiversity’ witnessed various events. To inspire a review of society’s relationship with prepared water as it pursues the larger goal of fostering a culture of cooperation and shared responsibility for the integrated management of our water resources and biodiversity.
Radhika Mulay, classical dancer-turned-environmental researcher and member of the UNESCO flagship, Living Waters Museum, Pune, said the environmental crisis besetting modernity is in essence a cultural crisis.
Making a connection between man-made obstructions to the natural flow of rivers and streams, which force unpredictable changes of course (disruption), and the fragmentation of human emotion, he made the case that in urban culture, the relationship with water is len- Due, to the creation of a lesser consumer-item, and completely devoid of sentimental value.
“We need to revive the emotionality in our relationship with water”, he told the audience at a lecture on water, sound and movement organized by Swarnim, the Sri Aurobindo Society, as part of Waterfest.
Ms. Mulay, who is based at the Center for Water Research, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, said the more the flow (of water) is fragmented due to man-made obstructions, the greater the emotional disruption.
“When our daily contact with water is at the kitchen sink or washroom, we associate the water with sewage/waste carriers, and yet expect water sources to provide clean drinking water. This is a reflection of a fundamental contradiction in our approach to water bodies”, said the dancer-researcher, who along with Sukrit Sen, tabla exponent, heritage advocate and museum member, has made presentations at various institutions.
And, when one considers the fact that the human body is made up of a large portion of water, fragmentation of the spirit reflects a disruption of the flow within, which, in turn, leads to a poor relationship with the flow of water in the outer environment. Leads to. ,
According to Ms. Mulay, an Oxford University graduate whose research work on ‘Head and Tail of the River Ganges – Glaciers and Delta’, funded by INTACH, Delhi, was unlike earlier times when nature was an integral part of the emotional universe Organ.
To illustrate this point, he pointed to a scene from a Radha-Krishna painting, where the river Yamuna flowing in the background was an inescapable presence, and very much a character in the romance. “Even in dance performance, Nadi is inseparable from the story”.
Pointing to this recurring motif in myths and legends, Ms. Muley drew a comparison between the Kurma avatar (the turtle) in Indian mythology and the belief in American indigenous communities that their land lies on a turtle’s shell. “Perhaps, it is a reference to a changing terrain … a scientific phenomenon wrapped in a story or legend where the turtle or tortoise represents the interface between water and land”.
In fact, mythological references to the Ganga as atmospheric (Swarga Ganga), terrestrial (Bhu Ganga) and subterranean (Patal Ganga), conceptually reflect a complete hydrological loop, he said.
“We need to fundamentally change our approach towards water and water bodies and to achieve this it becomes important to connect with the emotionality of water. Art forms, where anthropomorphism (eliminating human qualities for other forms) Overrides the licensing imperative for water logging, providing a gateway to re-establish an emotional connection with rivers and waterways”, Ms. Mule said.