I seem to remember that it was
between the last two World Wars that I read a book called An American at the Court of King Arthur". Rather a bright idea, I thought, but it didn't quite come off. Nowadays we are much more accustomed to that sort of incongruity, so
the idea of a Hindu Indian gentleman employed at the University of Pennsylvania as a psychologist and writing a paper on Indian Dance which is quoted in Science News comes as not much of a surprise.More of a surprise, perhaps,
is that Ahalya Hejmadi is, himself, the dancer in a series of videotaped performances which were subsequently assessed by 95 people in the neighbourhood.
Hejmadi tells us that there is a classical Hindu text on the performing
arts, now almost 2000 years old, and entitled Natyasastra, which is the source of his dancing and also a compendium of the emotions which Hindu Indians (and maybe other humans) still feel.
The catalogue of emotions doesn't fit
well into horizontal lines, so I will give it in columns, to which I have added some emotions which ancient Indians apparently managed without. Also added are the vocalisations which seem to go with the emotions. Some
emotions which seem to have eluded those old Indians are felt regularly by Bajans when stimulated by calypsoes.
THE FOUR CHIEF EMOTIONS
Disgust/ revulsion – ugh
Anger – ach
Fear – ow
Sadness/ grief – wa, wullaw.
LESSER EMOTIONS
Humour/ amusement – ha,ha
Heroism – ho
Love – mm, mm
Wonder/ amazement – oh
Shame – eugh
Peace – nn, nn.
RECENT EMOTIONS
Rhythm – o,o,o
Sexual attraction – ah, ah
Worship (as of Gabby)- bum, per
Curiosity – hn?
Joy – eeek
NO EMOTION
Neutral – zzz.
The recent emotions were not exemplified in Hejmadi's dances, but the others were shown to 48 students and 47 Indians, who were asked to guess what emotions were
represented. Fifty per cent correct would presumably have been the score of pure chance, but they did a bit better, scoring sixty per cent. The Indians did better than the Americans at identifying the emotions of shame, peace and
heroism, and I think I would have done as badly, myself, as the westerners.
How about including in our next Kalypso King Event, some Dances of Bajan Emotion in order to rest the vocal cords of the singers and to exercise the
brains of the listeners? No, I make no suggestion about absent brains, but perhaps those organs might improve with exertion.
