Sathyam Sivam Sundaram - Part I

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"Kamsa Vadha" were the plays most preferred. These plays were concerning

mythology, the protection of the honor of Draupadi, and about Kamsa, the tyrant

king and persecutor whom Krishna finally killed. Young Sathya selected several

roles, especially those of Krishna and Mohini. The audiences applauded his

acting, singing, and above all, his dancing. There was a rhythm in his feet, a

sense of time and tune, and

a litheness and loveliness they had seldom seen. To them it seemed that he never

touched the earth and that he belonged to an ethereal sphere. Within a short

period he was enacting more and more roles. In the popular story of Kanakatara,

he played the role of the mythological Tara so effectively one night that his

mother, who was present in the audience in the tent, rushed onto the stage to

prevent what she believed to be the "execution" of

'Bookman Old Style'">Tara. She forgot that it was all make-believe! Sathya

sometimes assumed more than one role in the same play to satisfy the audience.

In the drama Krishna Lila, the sport of Krishna, he was Devaki, the mother, the

boy

Old Style'">Krishna, and also the danseuse regaling King Kamsa with her dances

in Durbar Hall! At other times he played the role of Draupadi, wife of the five

Pandava Brothers. Soon a professional dramatic troupe visited the area and

presented a number of musical plays which attracted large audiences. They put

up their stage at Bukkapatnam and later moved to Puttaparthi, Kothacheruvu,

Elumalapalli, and other large villages. Their performances became the talk of

the entire district. Their group included a girl dancer whose stage name was

Rishyendramani, who performed a

series of gymnastic dances with music. Her highlight was a dance in which she

kept time to the music while balancing a bottle on her head. She would bend

low, sit down, lay herself on the floor, raise her back up, and clasp with her

teeth a kerchief placed on a match box on the floor. With the kerchief between

her teeth, she would then sit up, rise, and stand-still balancing the bottle on

her head! A challenging assignment! By a great deal of practice she had trained

herself for this difficult feat. No wonder she won the acclaim of her

audiences. Sathya went with others to witness the plays of these

professionals and saw this act. After he came home, he tried to do

it himself. To the surprise of all, he could do it easily! When the elders asked

to be shown this new item in Sathya's repertoire, he withdrew within himself and

hesitated. But the news spread, and some enterprising young men persuaded him to

agree to perform this feat at Kothacheruvu during the village carnival. They had

the timerity to announce that the famous Rishyendramani herself would appear,

for they felt very confident that Sathya could succeed in the impersonation and

would not disappoint them. Sathya's sisters dressed him as Rishyendraman,

complete with hair-do and personal decoration, and took him to Kothacheruvu.

When Sathya's father heard about it, he feared the consequences of this

foolhardy adventure into which Sathya had been inveigled.

0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in">The day of the performance arrived. The curtain rose,

"Rishyendramani" tripped her way into the Durbar Hall of Kamsa. The audience

was too wild with excitement to notice any difference. The famous dance number

began. Sathya had improved upon it and substituted a needle for the kerchief.

The needle had to be lifted by the eyelids! The "Rishyendramani" of that day

accomplished it, but not without dire consequences! The carnival president

insisted on pinning a medal on the dancer's person. Sathya's mother and others

who were at first thrilled with the tributes of praise, the

invitations to repeat the feat at other places, and the silver cups and gold

medals being pressed into Sathya's hands, became afraid of the "evil eyes"

which the boy provoked. Their tears proved true. His eyes developed a dreadful

affliction. They swelled, became red, and exuded tears profusely. His

temperature rose. One night his mother heard heavy footsteps, as of one

wearing wooden sandals, entering the house and proceeding straight to Sathya.

It was all very mysterious. She got up, went to her boy's room, and placed her

hand on his brow to check his temperature. She found the fever gone! She

brought a light and looked into his eyes. They had improved beyond all

expectations! Sathya was quite well the next day. SaiRam.