Hari Katha
“India has a very rich oral tradition in story-telling — in some parts of India, particularly in South India. The interesting thing about oral story-telling in India is that it is characteristically not told as a linear story. It doesn’t go beginning, middle, end. Instead of that being confusing to the audience — it’s actually delightful. Just when you think the storyline can’t get any more complicated, he (the story-teller) will throw another ball in the air! …this is the exact opposite of what you are told about how to write a story…”
-Salman Rushdie; “Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights” | Talks at Google
South India’s oral story-telling traditions. While we have heard of “Hari Kathas” and “Burra Kathas”, very few of us have actually seen a performance. When Tanay first began talking about Hari Kathas, he realised that even our grandparents had seen their last oral performance, live, many decades ago — in their childhood. Tanay was fascinated by the art form Salman Rushdie extols and finds inspiration from. On his recent trip to India, he began making enquiries. Luckily for us, there was a Hari Katha performance close to our home in Vijayawada.
The performance was to begin at 7.30 in the evening. However, Indian respect is a double-edged sword: many octogenarians on the stage were honoured, but nobody had the heart to take the mic away from them. The Hari Katha performance finally began at 9 pm. In the measly 30 minutes at hand, Sri Simhachala Sastry worked his magic. We were hooked. We got hold of his number and hatched plans to get him to perform for our mother’s 60th birthday (13 January 2019).
The Hari Katha: An Introduction
The Hari Katha is a modern art-form invented in the 20th century (surprised?). Ajjada Adibhatla Narayana Dasu is credited with creating the modern Hari Katha format. In the videos below, Sri Simhachala Sastry discusses briefly Narayana Dasu’s influences (Katha gaanam — sangeeta upanyasam in Tamil, Koothu in Kerala, Katha Sankeertan in Maharasthra). Dissatisfied with a performance at the Venugopala Swami temple in Bobbili, Narayana Dasu tosses and turns that evening, and overnight, comes up with the structure.
On to the videos. Sri Mappavarapu Venkata Simhachala Sastry, the performer, is a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Academi Award. He heads the Hari katha department at the S.V.College of Music & Dance, T. T. Devastanams in Tirupathi. Smt Munjuluri Krishna Kumari (or “Akka” as my mother calls her), popular among All India Radio Telugu aficionados, presented the evening’s performance: “Sita Kalyanam”.
For all its famed extempore performance, its non-linear narrative and its dependence on the story-teller’s sense of humour and presence of mind, the Hari Katha has a formal structure. Simhachala Sastry talks about Padyam (lyric), Gadyam (prose), Churnika (exposition), Manjari and Tohara. All these elements are threaded together into “Laya-graahi”, a style Narayana Dasu developed.
And now, without further ado, the “Kaalakshepam”…
The tension between a tight structure and non-linear presentation is always fascinating. However, India in general, and Telugu culture itself has many art forms that explore this tension: Burra katha, or other popular and folk art forms, for example. Hopefully, we will have the opportunity to explore them all. Let me end with another transcribed quote from Salman Rushdie’s talk that inspired Tanay:
“If you grow up in India, you are very lucky, because you grow up in a world of story. The incredible narrative traditions of India are a great gift to all of us”.
It would be remiss of us if Tanay and I don’t mention our grandmother, Indumathi Dubagunta. Organiser extraordinaire, she smiled at our woolly, foolhardy plans, took over, planned and executed every square inch of it. Another honourable mention: our father, Hemachandra Balantrapu. Stuck in a family of introverts, he cranked the connections and outreach machinery so that the performers and an audience of over a hundred people actually turned up that evening. And finally: happy birthday Amma! Hope you had a good time!
