Acclaimed Baithak lavani exponent, tamasha artiste and Padma Shree awardee Yamunabai Waikar, née Yamunabai Vikram Jawle who inspired generations of folk artistes in Maharashtra, passed away at Wai in Satara district at the age of 102. An institution in herself, and the Queen and legend of lavani, she was cremated with full State honours. Performed within the four walls of a room and largely for the elite audience, lavani is known for using metaphors, and she would enact it beautifully to convey the various meanings. She used to sing based on raagdari music along with enactment. An expert in the art of facial expressions, Yamunabai would enthrall the audience for hours. Trained in classical music, she could sing thumri, tarana and also ghazals with elan. Soon she took her expertise in the Marathi folk traditions of classical lavani and tamasha, folk art forms involving music and dance, to other parts of the country.
She was born in 1915 at Nunekalame village, Mahabaleshwar, Maharash- tra, in a poor Kolhati community family. Her father was a stereotypical drunkard and her mother busked (played music in the street). At age 10, she joined a folk art group from where she had her first lessons of lavani, and being the eldest of the five children, performed street dances with her mother. Looking for better earnings, the family moved to Bombay, and she started performing lavani and film songs on the streets.
At the age of 15, she formed her own lavani group with her sisters, called the Yamuna-Hira-Tara Waikar Sangeet Party, which achieved wide fame in Maharashtra. Later professionally training with the Rangu-Gangu Sangeet Party, she learnt Hindustani music from Faqir Mahammad of Bombay, and Akhtarbhai of Kolhapur.
The success of her street shows propelled her to do a stage show, which launched her stage career, till the popularity of cinema and diminishing audience affected the returns. Later, the family formed a tamasha troupe with her father playing the dholki, while Yamunbai and her cousin danced. tamasha theatre acting offers followed, and made her famous as Yamunabai Waikar across Maharashtra
Musical dramas like Sanshay Kallol, Dharmaveer Sambhaji and Mohityanchi Manjula, also made her popular.
Yamunabai, reminiscing on her Bombay street days, had opined, “At the beginning, we sang the traditional lavanis, but when we realised that people liked to listen to film songs, we added those to our repertoire too”. Social reformer Sane Guruji appreciated her act in a play named Maharachi Por (Children of Mahar). Sharing the stage in Delhi, with the renowned Kathak guru, Birju Maharaj, where he performed and she sang a lavani, helped revive her career once again.
As someone who had wandered looking for a livelihood, she deeply understood how performers like her needed a permanent place to stay. and completed a permanent low cost housing project for her nomadic Kolhati tribe community. She created awareness about water conservation during the 1972 Maharashtra drought, and also campaigned against archaic and regressive rituals of her community.
Retiring from active performance at the age of 50, she trained younger artistes in lavani singing and conducted lavani camps organised by the Government of Maharashtra. Yamunabai is the only lavani artiste to be honoured with the 4th highest national award, the Padma Shri in 2012. She is also the recipient of awards and honours like the Maharashtra State Award in 1990 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1995, among others. She was also elected Tagore Fellow of Sangeet Natak Akademi for her contribution to traditional music and dance.
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A.Radhakrishnan
A.Radhakrishnan is a Pune-based freelance journalist, short story writer and poet. [/column]