About The Event
Meera is a legend. She is immortal and is known for being the most ardent devotee of Krishna. But, do we know the other side of Meera, the side that was probably hidden to project her only as a saint? Understanding Meera only through her poetry would be an injustice to her. “Meera the saint”, “Meera the woman” and “Meera the poet” are three completely different aspects of her life. “Meera – Beyond Devotion” is an exploration of other facets of Meerabai’s personality.
About the performance:
A Kathak dancer, who is reading about Meera and designing a performance on her life, is intrigued by her life’s struggles and choices. To understand, she decides to explore different questions that arise in her mind during her research. As she progresses, she begins to realize that Meerabai was not only a devotee but also a rebel who stood against those norms of the society that degraded women and put endless restrictions on them. By following her own spiritual path, she inspired thousands of women. But was taking the spiritual path a conscious choice made by Meera?
In the 16th century Rajasthan, when women were under many restrictions, Meera would sing Krishna bhajans and dance in front of men who called her impudent, immodest, and shameless. Why was it so difficult for society to accept a woman who was following her own path without harming anyone in the process? Was it because she did not fit in the image of an “Ideal Woman”?
The performer explores these and many other questions. In the process, she starts relating to Meera’s life at different levels. The questions arise from Meera’s time and age but she can find relevance in them today as well. Isn’t Meera present within each one of us even today?
