Page 63 - 31MAY2019E

Book review

s I hold this the androgynous image ical dimensions. tucked in the pages of this
latest book of of Shiva Ardhanarishvara And Alka does so by volume. Verse on the body
Alka Pande, wherein the primordial god, indulging in a combination and its movements and its
Body Sutra Shiva appears in a perfect of words and verse and, of very attract. Verse from the
–Tracing The representation of half- man, course, via images –“In Body yesteryears to our very own.
A Human Form half- woman…” Sutra, I have traced the shift- Leaving you readers
Through Art & Imagination In fact, this volume is ing patterns of representa- with this poem of the last
(Rupa), the very first word not just a visual treat with tion of the body in Indian art Mughal Emperor of India,
that comes out rather too an array of vast ranging and literature through the Bahadur Shah Zafar, which
spontaneously is ‘Magnifi- images, but it can also be survey of over two hundred, lies tucked in this volume.
cent!’ Yes, it is a superb mix termed an archival treasure eclectically chosen key Titled The Naked Sword, it’s
of great production-cum- for a researcher, for a social images which provide an been translated by Raza Mir
photographs cum text. scientist and, of course, for insight into the pluralistic in The Taste of Words.
Making this book stand out, an art lover, as there stands culture of the country.” “Her hair’s parting a naked
sleek and suave. out the entire array to the I liked the webbing and sword, its fragrance is like
And in the preface to this Indian body… the varying inter-webbing of prose and that/
book, Alka Pande traces out aspects to its beauty, its poetry and pictures that Its styling like the wrath of
the backgrounders to the divinity, and, of course, the Alka has so very gener- God, its fall is just like that /
‘whys’ she ventured to write crucial artistic and literary ously used. In fact, some Her every word is packed
this full-fledged volume on and spiritual and philosoph- very offbeat verse lies well
the Indian body. “Body Sutra The volume is
emerges from my many
years of engagement with Human body not just a visual
art history; first, as an aca- treat with an
demic and then as a curator,
engaged deeply with Indian inspires art array of vast
aesthetics. ranging images,
“Having trained in both
Indian classical music and Body Sutra emerges from Alka Pande’s but it can also
dance, I believe that the be termed an
human body is a holistic many years of engagement with art history,
source of inspiration for writes Humra QuraisHi archival treasure
poets, writers and perform- for researchers
ing artist in the Indian sub-
continent. In my doctoral and art lovers
research, I came across
numerous representations
of the Indian body in litera- with heat, her pride is beaute-
ture and artistic manifesta- ous too/
tions through the centuries. She enters like Armaged-
“The commissioning of don, hips swaying just like
this book on the Indian body that./
is, in some ways, the natural The flowing rivers know her
fruition of my doctoral well, sunbeams confide in her/
work, which interrogates Her shirt is a diaphanous
curse, her bangles chink just
like that./
‘body sutra- Her siren songs announce
tracing tHe my doom, her rhythms take
Human Form my life/
tHrougH Her dance causes a hun-
art &
imagination’ dred fights, her ankles chime
by: AlkA PAnde just like that.”
RuPA
260 pp; 2,500
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