Enable India: Where there is a wheel...

MUMBAI: This Saturday, 18 dancers will turn the wheelchair into an indispensable prop.



In a first-of-its-kind show called 'Enable India', differently abled boys and girls will, according to their guru, disprove the Natyashastra - an ancient Indian treatise on the performing arts - in which Bharatmuni had claimed that classical dance was the sole prerogative of the physically and mentally fit. Not only will they perform the footwork-heavy Bharatanatyam but also wring out swords and stage martial art battles - all on wheels.



The open-to-all show is a joint effort of the Delhi-based Utthan Prayash Foundation, an NGO working for the upliftment of the underprivileged, and Ability Unlimited, which aims to transform people's perception of the disabled by showcasing their talents. "The idea is to seek ability in disability," says Tulsi Das, founder of Utthan Prayash which championed the cause of inclusion of the disabled in the corporate sector last year. "They should be integrated into the mainstream so that they can lead a life of courage and dignity. And performing arts play an important role in the process."



Das, a general manager with ONGC, has often been forced to use his professional portfolio to seek funds and draw the attention of bureaucrats towards the cause. "Nobody gives an appointment otherwise," he says. But as far as Enable India is concerned, Das says he has been fortunate. Many sponsors, including his own firm, have lent support to the show, which is being choreographed by Guru Salauddin Pasha, founder and artist director of Ability Unlimited. Pasha, who has received a national award for his three-decades-plus contribution to the field of disability, spent many days on the wheelchair during the making of this show. "You have to become disabled to be able to teach the disabled and to grasp the modalities of their movement," he says.



At Enable India, the audience will be treated to a 90-minute performance of Bharatanatyam, yoga, a martial art form, Thang Ta, from Manipur and even a Sufi dance on wheels. The performers' custom-made wheelchairs, created by Pasha himself, can cover about 150 to 200 km per hour and their spinning speed is faster than that of ballet dancers. "They lend themselves better to selected pieces of Bharatanatyam like adavus that involve spinning," says Pasha. "People who watch the show will forget the very fact that these dancers are disabled." In certain performances, like the Sufi dance and Kathakali, the heavy costumes tend to hide the wheelchair, camouflaging their handicap. and in turn, transforming the audience.



The challenges that Pasha faced in the course were many. For one, this country is not disabled-friendly, and the guru has even had to carry dancers on his shoulders at times up flights of stairs and on bad roads. Also, parents are not always open to the idea of letting their kids perform dangerous acts on wheels. "But when they come for the show, they are moved to tears," says the guru, adding that he uses art as therapy "to heal and transform the perception"



"We make sure we don't treat them as disabled people," says Pasha. In fact, during the making of the show, when the organizers apologetically informed them about the lack of ramps and other disabled-friendly facilities and asked if they needed a volunteer backstage, Pasha politely said no. "They can help each other," replied the proud guru.



At Rang Sharda, Reclamation, Bandra. On January 15, 4 pm. Entry free