Sattva and the Storyteller – A photograph review of the Geeta Ramanujam’s storytelling performance: Krishna – The Last Walk

• The nature of meaning in a performance
• What is duality and what is Advaita?
• The three conditions of Rasa
• The traditions that inform

The nature of meaning in a performance

Meaning making in a performance needs story immersiveness and the ability to connect with the audience. To make a story your story you must live it and breathe it. And that is what Geeta Ramanujam does in this performance. The story of Krishna is also her story the story of the Bhakta. The leela of Krishna is enacted and embodied in an ancient traditional manner by the greatest living storyteller. Meaning making and the collective retentive memory of India is important to this performance. The memory of Sattvic stories, a collection of tales that connect us to the mystical and sacred selves, an understanding of the Atman and Paramatman.

What is duality and what is Advaita?

Geeta Ramanujam’s performance is on the nature of reality, the nature of duality of Prakriti which Krishna transcends through his playful maya-leelas. Advaita is the moral in all these traditional stories. But here Advaita is experienced, it is manifested through the act of a storyteller who is at once committed to the story and modes of storytelling. The jnana, the knower of the jnana and the enacter of the jnana become one in this splendid performance.

The three conditions of Rasa

Rasa and the discovery of delight in the performing arts is the subject matter of the Natyashastra. The three conditions of rasa are the oneness of audience, the story and experience of the story. The audience here is mesmerised by the calming and soothing performance that takes us to a world beyond the grasp of the mind and the senses. The story in itself is the timeless eternal story of Krishna. The experience of the story through the lens of Geeta Ramanujam’s serenity and wisdom.

The traditions that inform

Any performance needs a tradition, even if you are a contemporary performer there are traditions that inform you. The tradition that informs Geeta Ramanujam’s wise performance is that of the Indian Natyashastra. This tradition speaks of the need of creating rasa in the mind of the audience. She is also transmitting to us through this performance the great Bhagvata tradition. Indian storytelling has its roots in the HariKathas and this performance is also in the HariKatha tradition.