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| Pankajakshi Amma, Monippally, Koothattukulam, Ernakulam |
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Hardly few
people would have seen the ‘Nokkuvidya Pavakali’ or its artists. And even fewer may have understood the
rigours and ascetic concentration that its practitioners, usually ladies, are
called upon to display during the entire show of about one-and-a-half hours.
For this
puppet show is based on balancing a long half-inch thick wooden stick, with the
puppets and support structure mounted on it, on the space between upper lip and
nose. Pankajakshi Amma is an artist who has
dedicated her entire life for this art.
It all
began when she was 11. She was initiated
into the tradition of practicing the balancing act. The initial practice was to balance ‘machinga’
on ‘eerkkil’ in the same space below the nose.
Many a scar and wound later, she mastered the art of balancing. It helped matters that her parents and ancestors
were all traditional Pavakali artists with royal commendations.
After
marriage, she landed in a household which welcomed her and her art. Her husband took keen interest to prepare puppets
and sticks for her performance.
In 2009, in
the tourism festival at Paris, she was able to perform. Her performance, though visually and
technically a delight, was not appreciated much because of lack of verbal
explanations parallel to the play. Since
then she had been including that also in her act.
Later, Pankajakshi
Amma suffered a stroke and had to retire from active performance. But by then her granddaughter Ranjini had
picked up the mantle. In the
international puppet festival at Bangalore last year, Ranjani did a flawless demonstration. This led to an opportunity to perform at New
Delhi. Among the spectators in Delhi were
Central officials who recommended Pankajakshi Amma for a probable Padma award.
No good
effort can go waste. Certainly not a lifetime
of dedication to an art with few practitioners.
And 84-year-old Pankajakshi Amma’s effort has been lauded by the country
with a Padmasree award.
