Monday, November 6 Saddam Sentenced to Death, Kathakali Performance

Apparently Saddam Hussein and some of his henchmen are sentenced to the death penalty, which is likely to cause terrorist attacks in Iraq and who knows where else. I was in the study center today and six out of six of the newspapers had the headline: “Saddam gets death penalty, Saddam to be executed, Death to Saddam”, etc. I spent the afternoon eating and making travel arrangements for my trip to West Bengal and Orissa. I then took a series of buses to South Delhi for a Kathakali performance. Kathakali is a type of dance performace from Kerala, the southwestern tip of India. The plays are usually based on the Hindu epics, used to tell a story. Through heavy makeup and extravagant costumes, the actors dance to show every human emotion. A fun part of any show is the preparation. I got to the venue in a really posh area of South Delhi, through a bunch of deserted forests. Downstairs there was a whole room filled with actors and makeup artists. The process is both lengthy and careful. First, the colorful makeup is applied to the face, which is different depending on the character. usually a yellow base coat, with black, red, and gold around the eyes. The cheeks are covered in white paste, onto which foam gill-looking wings are affixed. Then the actors are dressed in blue or white velvet shirts and white tights. Armbands, and bracelets are placed on the actor’s arms. Flowery and gold and mirrored necklaces are worn around the neck. Then Bells, and a sash and large girdle are placed on the legs. Then a huge puffy white or gold skirt is wrapped around the waist. After that, the actor’s head is wrapped in a bandana, before securing the large gold or white headdress. The final touches to get into character include putting seeds in the eyes to make them red, which evokes evil for demon characters, or beauty for females. It takes hours to prepare one costume, so it started before 5:00, and the show started at 6:30. Music was provided by shirtless bearded Keralan men in white skirts with gold trim. They beat drums and bells, while women, also in white skirts sang. There was first a dance with mostly kids, because it is a center for Kathakali training. Girls, boys, and people of low caste all performed, which until recently was not the case. The dancers made hand gestured, gyrated their huge hips, pounded their bare feet thus sounding bells, and sometimes screamed. Their faces were easily visible with the makeup and white gills, plus gestures are exaggerated. The coolest part is their black makeup surrounding the striking white eyes, which they bulge, and move from side to side while mischievously grinning. The second performance was a nice courting between Ram and Sita, and the final was a scene from the Ramayana. Hanuman, who looks more like double-chinned Baloo from Jungle Book than a monkey, tricks Ram into believing he’s just a normal annoying monkey, but then he reveals himself and blesses Ram’s journey. It was actually really entertaining, I was satisfied.