Even at the threshold of a
centenary Natyacharya Guru Chemanjery Kunjiraman Nair is evocative and
aesthetic in the artistic brackets of a Kathkali maestro. aneesh kuttan meets this man of matter who lives a life for and up to this classical
art propagating and reinventing its traditional value at a time when it
goes astray as if records and titles that count.
“Our
school curriculum is updated with all the current information touching
the variant spectrum of life and living. But what lacks is the
susceptibility which is the penetrating media by which the process of
understanding takes place. So our students pass out with stupendous
success in the examinations but once they got in touch with the society
they fail deplorabley to live their lives …”, says Guru Chemanjery,
walking a few yards after his centenary through a life conditioned by
the noble art, Kathakali.
“See, if our students learn the lessons of life without knowing the
morals and values on which they are based upon, it may lead to the
untimely death of our cultural heritage gradually. So we should redefine
our system so as to make the students familiar with Indian culture
through the classical art forms which depict the scenario that mentioned
in the books.” ,remarked Guru Chemanchery after staging ‘
kali varuthivacha vina’ (menace created by Kali), a lesson in the plus two text book, through a Kathakali performance.
This is Guru Chemanjeri who happened to get into the world of
classical arts with the powerful influence of Koumudi teacher, who shot
to fame by donating her ornaments to Gandhiji on his visit to Kerala in
1934. It is the same Koumudi teacher who made the Calicut born Guru to
choose Kannur as his domain for keeping alive a tradition.
Propagating a heritage
Guru
Chemanhery is now under a mission to liberate the Indian classics now
lay scattered in the socio-cultural scenario meshed inside the printed
fonts. He tries to retrieve the the lost glory of the art of Kathakali
which is confined to the carnival grounds and background tableau of
colorful song sequences in the movies.. His vision is to make the new
generation aware of the solid stuff of our classics through a
picturesque narration of the theme through Kathakali lingo. Guru
Chemanjery Kunhiraman Nair moves his wrinkled and multi-fractured limbs
in an elaborately tuned track keeping pace with the traditional style
of narrating a story through acting (that is what Kathakali literally
means), goes hand in hand with the contemporary style of living building
a bridge in between to know and to understand
What is amazing about Guru Chemanjery is that, at a time when all his
contemporaries wait for that inevitable guest, cornered in the dusk of
life, he keeps his spirits live and hot to be in touch with the art that
moulded his being. Nevertheless, he continues to experiment with it and
tries his maximum to promote a divine art form never let it down in the
fast-track life of today. Cheliya Kathakalai Vidyalaya at Koyilandi is
such a dream-come-true.
Prior to that in 1945 Guru , after years of experience as a Kathakali
exponent has started the first School of Dance in North Kerala, the
Bharatheeya Natya Kalalaya. Bharatheey Natya Kalalaya at Thalassery ,
Pookkad kalalaya are some of the younger siblings of the first one
sprouted out of his relentless enthusiasm and dedication to an art that
rooted deeply in our cultural heritage.
Cheliya Kathakali vidyalaya was established in 1983 with a single and
stream-lined vision of the promoting Kathakali. This school owns a
full-fledged Kathakali troupe with eminent performers and they are in a
constant mission to spread the greatness and gravity of Kathakali. It
conducts courses in different aspects of this classical dance-drama
apart from the Central Government certified Two-year certificate course
in Kathakali.
At the feet of Guru
Guru Chemanchery KunhiramanNair has started learning Kathakali out of
an innate fire he possessed from his birth. Since he had no hereditary
traits and familial support to poke a way towards art, he had to leave
his home to pursue his dreams. Well-weaved destiny brought that teenager
to the feet of Keezhpayyur Karunakara Menon, the Kathakali maestro of
the time. Chemanjery learned the ebbs and flows of the art untiringly,
under his guru as a pursuit of his life. He set apart his whole day to
spent with his guru as a sentinel of learning. Intense training under a
thespian made him an expert at an early age itself. Then along with his
guru, Chemnjery performed various epic stories chronicling lives, loves
and conflicts through the
naatya, bhaava,
mudra and
rasa, the art of Kathakali permeates.
Guru Chemanjery remembers his
arangettam( the first stage performance
) was as Paanchali in
Duryodhaana Vadham Aattakkatha (the part of Mahabharata illustrating the killing of Duryodhan). Thence forth it was a saga of Krishna. In
Kuchelavritham,
Santhaanagopaalam, Rugmini Swayamavaram,
et al he donned the role of Lord Krishna. Like Kottakkal Sivaraman in
his female roles, Guru Chemanjery excelled as Lord Krishna. If
Chemanjery is to essay the role of Lord Krishna, people used to gush in
even from far away places!!!!
The disciplined and regimented training made Chemanjery one of the
eminent Kathakali performers across the State. Even at the age of 95, he
proves unparalleled in the dedication, immense concentration and the
diligent grooming used to narrate the story in its strict traditional
manner. Like his guru Karunakara Menon, Chenanjery also has proved his
excellence in the other aspects of Kathakali such as costumes,
percussion, make-up (
chutti) etc.
The Krishna Effect
Chemanjery made his audience and the appreciators agape on his 95
th birthday celebrations, again playing Krishna in Kuchelavritham. When his fans and disciples decided to celebrate his 95
th birthday, by setting a feast of Kuchelavritham,Chemanjery was dedicating his self to his Guru as well.
“It was years before..we were performing the complete narrative
version of Kuchelavritham. As usual I donned the role of Krishna and my
Guru was the Kuchela. It came the scene of Krishna the King descends
from his throne to greet his old classmate Kuchela, the poignant point
of the story. I came down with spread out hands to hug Kuchela. Kuchela
was staring at the new adorned form of his friend Krishna…with tears in
his eyes. I saw my guru behind the costumes of Kuchela looking at me
with tear-filled eyes and all on a sudden he fell into my hands
fainting..then, I have to do all the sacraments of his funeral as a
son..” Chemanjery narrated the heartrending story of man who lived for
his art and a rare alchemy of a teacher-student relation.
Thus by donning as Krishna on his 95
th birthday, again
playing the same story of Kuchelavritham, it became a tribute of a
student to his teacher who etched certain values inside along with the
well-defined gestures and body language to be carried out throughout.
Guinness Book is not so far
Last year Kerala Kalamandalam honoured Chemanjary by giving away the
title of ‘Kalaratna’ regarding his special contributions to classical
art. Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Acadamy also recognised his contributions
to this field with an award in 1979 and a Fellowship in 1999. But guru
Chemanjeri finds contentment when his students bring laurels to Calicut
District by winning the prestigeous trophy of the Kerala State Youth
Festival, every year.
Guru Chemanjery has been abstaining from stage performances for the last 5 years after essaying the role of Parasurama on his 90
th
birthday. But he has been a constant presence in all the shows as a
live spectator even in the late night shows. Meanwhile he met with many
accidents and got his bones fractured and it is very difficult to make
it right in this late age. But his relentless spirits poked him to play
once again as the amorous Krishna at the age of 95 wearing heavy
costumes weighing more than 35 Kg. He has rocked on the stage for two
and a half hours continuously making the spectators break down. Many
eminent personalities from all the walks of the life presented there
were spell-bound at this blasting performance and they commented
unanimously as, such a great performance in this age duly deserves a
niche in the Guinness Book of World Records.
At a time when most of the artists are running behind the title of a
Guinness winner, than to be known as an artist, invariably deviating
from the tuned rhythms of rituals and classical details, it was relevant
and to get an edge asking him his opinion about a Guinness Record while
his ardent fans and disciples try for the same.
“If you ask somebody to get something, it will be alms and I don’t
like to live upon the munificence granted after a request.”, replied
Chemanjery with a repealing smile
കോഴിക്കോട്: കളിയരങ്ങിലെ കൃഷ്ണവേഷത്തിന് അംഗീകാരമായി ജന്മാഷ്ടമി പുരസ്കാരം എത്തിയപ്പോള് അത് ഭഗവാന് കൃഷ്ണന്റെ അനുഗ്രഹമെന്ന് ഗുരുചേമഞ്ചേരി കുഞ്ഞിരാമന് നായര്. ആലുവ ബാലസംസ്കാരകേന്ദ്രം ഏര്പ്പെടുത്തിയ ജന്മാഷ്ടമി പുരസ്കാരത്തിനര്ഹനായ വിവരം ഗുരുവിന്റെ വീട്ടില് അറിയിക്കാനെത്തിയ ബാലഗോകുലം സംഘത്തോടുള്ള ഗുരുവിന്റെ ആദ്യപ്രതികരണമായിരുന്നു ഇത്.
