Jogati art form has given me an identity and I want to give back to the art and the community

By Ranjani Govind

From a life of poverty, disgrace and innumerable revolts, Manjamma Jogati went on to become the first transgender person to head a State arts academy and receive innumerable awards as a dancer, teacher and celebrated theatre artiste. “I am Padma Shri Mata B Manjamma Jogati now. The award from the President was a moment of crowning glory for me. This should inspire people to value folk arts much more and hold the transgender community in high regard,” says the beaming Jogati dancer, who, two years ago, became the first transwoman to be appointed the President of the Karnataka Janapada Academy. “I dedicate this honour to my guru Kaalavva Jogati, I wish she was alive to cherish my accomplishment,” added the 65-year-old, thanking her parents, who did not approve her lifestyle, but she believes are praying for her wellbeing.

Ask Manjamma, what her award would mean to the Academy, and she laughs saying that the momentum will soon pick up. The last two years have been a relatively silent phase due to the pandemic. “With my new identity as a Padma awardee newer perspectives will open up for me to introduce folk arts in different ways to people in Karnataka. When I took over as the Academy president, I was visibly nervous to take the chair as I was used to sitting on the other side as a member. Today the award has helped to take folk arts to another level. I plan to have more and more college workshops and training programmes in various districts to preserve Karnataka’s folklore,” she says. “I wish the Government increases financial support to the Academy, and that educational institutions hire more folk arts teachers,” says Manjamma, just back from lecture-demonstrations in Honnavara and Haveri.

Folk art in Karnataka

And what is the picture of responsibility towards folk arts that she is talking about? “Today Karnataka has 183 kinds of folk arts, each one distinct to its village or district-area, and palpable in its repertoire of structured compositions. Take anything, say pugudi, kolata, dollu kunita, shobaane, veeragaase, pataa kunitha, kolaata, kangeelu, kamsale nritya, somana kunita -- they are all characterized by local melody, quick drum beats and have synchronised group formations”.

Manjamma, also a winner of Karnataka Janapada Academy and Rajyothsava Awards, says to cover teaching a serpentine list of arts would take some time, and that is what they propose to do and document for posterit. “Recently in Hagari-Bommanahalli we taught college students Kangeelu, a traditional folk dance of the Udupi region; and the high energy, high-decibel drum dance ‘Dollu kunita’ with origins in North Karnataka to art enthusiasts at villages in Bellary district. This is the way we share and cross-breed the entire list of folk arts of the State in all the districts so that the art is preserved and evolves,” says she.

What about Jogati Nritya that gave Manjamma her identity? “A typical Jogati dancer is an expert in aerobatic stunts where-in the dancer, balancing a pot (chombu), or the idol of a deity on the head, even picks up coins from the floor using just the mouth, all in rhythm and cadence. This is Jogati Nritya, the unique presentation from the transpeople – jogappas and jogatis. Looking back I would have never dreamt that this folk art that I learnt from Kaalavva folk artiste, my guru from Hagari-Bommanahalli, would turn out to be a transformation in my life. When I had put make up on my face for “an audition” it felt really good. While Kaalavva sang, I danced and thereafter with renewed practice my guru started calling me for smaller roles followed by bigger lead roles. Since I have popularised the art form in theatre and dance, I want Jogati Nritya to be recognised as a unique folk form, not just to be performed only by this community,” she says.

Thorny path to success

Manjamma went on to be honoured with the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award in 2010 and her life story is part of the syllabus at the Bachelor of Arts course at the Karnataka Folk University in Haveri district.

Born Manjunath Shetty in Kallukamba village near Bellary to parents who had 21 children, Manjamma’s life, as she recalls in a choked voice, mirrored her disturbing story. It all began when as a teenager he began to identify himself as a female. “I loved wearing skirts, and forever wanted to help my mother in her daily chores. I yearned to dress up and dance, and be surrounded by girls. By the time I was 15, I had fully embraced my identity as a woman,” she says. Shunned and beaten and rejected by her family for her insistence on being identified as a woman, she was referred to a doctor, and then to a priest who thankfully said Manjunath was brimming with devi shakti! &