April 27, 1998

The dancer's plan to retire jeopardises her pet projects.

By Stephen David

For a lady who had the run of her life on Juhu Beach in Mumbai some decades ago, dancer Protima Gauri Bedi now seems to be on the last lap: running away from Nrityagram, the dance village she founded 10 years ago at Hessaraghatta, 30 km from Bangalore. Nrityagram, built on a 10-acre plot leased to her by the then state government headed by Ramakrishna Hegde, was Bedi's "baby". However, now she says there is nothing left for her to do. Life has come a full circle. Bedi's only son, who suffered from schizophrenia, committed suicide last June in the US, while daughter Pooja, Kamasutra model-turned-interior decorator, is married and settled. Now, the 48-year-old Odissi dancer -- clean-shaven, with tattooed eyebrows and clothed in the robes of a Buddhist monk (except the colour of the robe is blue and purple) -- wants to retreat to the Himalayas.

But it isn't as easy as it seems. For the future of Bedi's two pet projects -- Nrityagram and Kuteeram Retreat, the private resort located opposite it -- appear to be in the dark. Through Nrityagram, she sought to resurrect the gurukul system to preserve the country's 2,000-year-old tradition of classical dance. The resort -- owned by Bedi and designed by ace architect Gerard da Cunha -- was meant to be a "temple of tranquillity next to a village of dance". The proceeds from the nine exclusive cottages in Kuteeram were to contribute to the development of the dance village. However, with an overpriced tariff (Rs 5,000 per day, including food and lecture demonstration), inadequate facilities and poor marketing, the resort, which mainly catered to foreigners and the well-heeled, functioned only for a few months in 1996.

While Bedi was too preoccupied with her personal life and hectic dance tours, her two ventures lay in a state of neglect. Bedi, who now feels that her pet projects are like an albatross around her neck, wants to sell off Kuteeram. She says, "I need to get rid of it and feel free from its shackles. It's more like a step baby for me now." She owes nearly Rs 90 lakh to the Karnataka State Finance Corporation and the only way she can get that amount is by selling the property.

But efforts to dispose of the nine-acre resort haven't really taken off, though a few private investors and hoteliers have evinced interest in it. After taking over the property in May 1997 with a Rs 25 lakh advance for a 99-year-lease, the Taj Group has just dropped the plan. In Ratan Tata's restructuring scheme for his hotel chain, there was no place for small projects like Kuteeram. "Now the baby is left without a godfather," laments Bedi. The dancer even donned dancing bells for a two-hour Odissi performance at a jam-packed city auditorium -- her first in seven years -- in a bid to mobilise the much-needed funds.

On the other hand, Nrityagram cannot be sold because it stands on government land. When the issue of sale of the village was raised in the Assembly in March, Karnataka Parliamentary Affairs and Law Minister M.C. Nanaiah said, "As long as it is with the state Government, it can never be sold. We might instead build an art gallery in its place." Bedi later clarified that she never intended to sell it. But her interest in her dance village is definitely on the wane: Lynn Fernandes, a long-time associate of Bedi, has taken over as the managing trustee of the dance village. Bedi has already done a recce of the Himalayas where she plans to spend the rest of her life. Her decision to leave her "babies" has, meanwhile, surprised many.

For Nrityagram, though in a state of neglect, has never been out of the limelight. The annual dance festival Vasantahabba (spring festival) in February has kept dance interests alive. The village has also produced dancers of repute such as Surupa Sen and Bijoyani Satpathy. But Nrityagram without Bedi would only hasten the dance village's death. For Bedi's presence, with her two huge Swiss mountain dogs (gifted by an ardent admirer), has always been reassuring.

As theatre actress Arundhati Nag, who compered Bedi's recent dance recital, says, "Dance has been like a man in her life. It has given her name, fame and credibility. She can't do without it." Says Bedi's friend and image maker Prasad Bidapa: "She is a star in her own right. I'm sure she can revive herself and get back into the limelight."

Bedi, on the other hand, is determined to give it all up. "The time has come for me to forget my past and live a future that even I am unaware of," says Bedi. For the dancer who has mesmerised many an audience, this may well be one unfamiliar step on the stage of her life. And for the dance village, one step backward.

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