The first Enchantress - Indrani Rahman
It is said that apart from the art of dance if the dancer is gifted with astonishing physical beauty then it is like Sone Pe Suhaga (best of the best) or in Simple words it can’t get better than that. Today through the power of my pen I would like to bring alive one superbly talented and gorgeous dancer who was our family friend and who my grand mother called the goddess Mohini (the enchantress). As she had the beauty that was not just enchanting and captivating but also had the unbeatable talent of four various Indian classical dances. Let us all stand up and bow down to the most amazing and highly gifted Indrani Rahman.
Those of you who are not aware of who I am talking about, all you need to do is simple open the history books of dance and beauty pageants and you will know what the legendary Indrani Rahman meant to the world of Indian Classcial dance and beauty contests.
If it was not for the confidence of Indrani Rahman, we would not have had Sushmita Sen and Lara Dutta receiving laurels at the Miss Universe pageant in the later years. At the age of 22, Indrani became the first Indian woman to participate in the international beauty contest, way back in 1952 where she even wore a swimsuit with a twist!
I remember my grand mother telling me that when Miss Universe held it's maiden pageant on June 28, 1952, Indrani was the first one to represent our country, after being crowned Miss India the same year. If you thought she could get away with the swimsuit round, well no. But hold your horses, because she looked pretty sitting with the other participants. Indrani did manage to attract eyeballs among the 30 contestants. Courtesy her adorable bindi (dot of the forehead) and gajra (a string of flowers)!That's called fashion with a twist.
Indrani Rahman family background was very interesting as she had Indian and American blood. Father of Indrani Mr. Ramalal Balram Bajpai was a chemist and a close associate of My great grand father Dr M.B Soparkar, who was the personal Doctor to Mahatma Gandhi, Morarji Desai and VallabhBhai Patel. My Great Grand father would often prescribe medicines which Indrani Father would deliver. A relationship that was close professional as well as personally. Later her father went to the USA for higher education, there he met and married Esther Luella Sherman, an American by birth who was born in Petoskey, Michigan, Indrani mother Esther embraced Hinduism after her wedding and took the name Ragini Devi.
The couple moved to India in the 1920s. Ramalal then took a job as Assistant Editor of Young India, the magazine founded by Lala Lajpat Rai. After Independence, he became the Consul General of India at New York and president of the Indo-American League. Meanwhile, Ragini became a passionate proponent of Indian classical dance and devoted her life to their revival and nurture. This happened after a fateful meeting with the great Rajadasi (royal courtesan) Jetti Tayamma of Mysore, from whom she started learning Bharatanatyam. She then honed her dancing talents under the tutelage of Gauri Amma, a courtesan of Chennai. Ragini then became a celebrated dancer herself, and was among the most feted performers of the 1930s. Ragini also championed the revival of Kathakali during the same period.
Indrani was born in Chennai then Madras, to this couple and grew up in a mixed-race household. She was brought up to be uninhibited and independent by her American mother, who encouraged her to participate in beauty pageants. As one of very few participants from across the country who could be persuaded to contest the pageant, Indrani was crowned the first Miss India. When she was a schoolgirl only fifteen years old, and still underage according to Indian law, she eloped with Habib Rahman, a world renowned architect, who, at thirty, was exactly twice her age and had a son and a daughter from him. Going by their pictures which I recollect my grand mother showing me they both were quite a happening couple back then!
That’s not all about the personality and beauty of Indrani, she was already a renowned classical dancer wen she took part in the pageant. She was a rare and gifted dancer who was versed in Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathakali and Odissi this all could happen as her training began at the age of 9. Indrani was awarded the Padma Shri in 1969. She was also a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the Taraknath Das Award. She later settled in New York in 1976. Along with her mother (who was a dear friend of my Great Grand Mother), she continued to popularise the Indian classical dances performing all over the world.
Indrani started learning dance in her mother's company, at age nine, and accompanied her as she travelled through, Americas, and Europe. Professionally, she first started with Bharatanatyam, having learnt the Pandanallur style of Bharatanatyam from Guru Chokkalingam Pillai in the 1940s. Later she went to Vijaywada and learnt Kuchipudi from Korada Narsimha Rao with whom she later toured many parts of the world. In 1947, Indrani attracted the attention of India's leading dance and art critic Dr. Charles Fabri, who later encouraged her to go to Orissa and learn the little-known classical dance form of Odissi, making her the first professional dancer to learn Odissi. After learning Odissi for three years, from Guru Sri Deba Prasad Das, she went on to popularise it, through performance in various parts of India and the world
In 1961, she was the first dancer present on a national tour by the Asia Society, and also performed for US President John F. Kennedy and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, during Nehru's official visit to Washington, D.C. Indrani also performed for Emperor Haile Selassie, Queen Elizabeth II, Mao Zedong, Nikita Khrushchev, and Fidel Castro.
She became a faculty member of the dance division at the Juilliard School at New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 1976. She even taught in various American universities, including Harvard, and spent her later life in the United States, touring extensively, until her death in Manhattan in 1999 with her son Ram Rahman, dancer daughter Sukanya Rahman Wicks and grand children Wardreath Wicks and Habib Wicks by her side.
You must be wondering why am I talking about her today, well, I was going through some old photo albums of black and white pictures of my grand mother and happened to stumble up a picture of this legendary dancer and beauty queen with my family. So this article of mine is my tribute to the legend, a way to look up to stars and say ‘Thank you Indrani ji for opening doors for dancers and beauty queens into the world that today looks very simple.’
Sandip Soparrkar is a World Book Record holder, a well known Ballroom dancer and a Bollywood choreographer who has been honoured with two National Excellence awards and one National Achievement Award by the Govt of India. He can be contacted on sandipsoparrkar06@gmail.com
