The Ashtanayika Guide to Lemonade (Part 5)
- Jun 24, 2016
- 3 min read
KHANDITA NAYIKA
One Who is Scorned
DON'T HURT YOURSELF
Who the fuck do you think I am?
You ain't married to no average bitch boy!
Fuck you hater, you can't recreate her no You'll never recreate her no, hell no!
Hey baby, who the fuck do you think I is?
I smell that fragrance on your Louis knit boy
Just give my fat ass a big kiss boy
Tonight I'm fucking up all your shit boy! Blindly in love, I fucks with you 'Til I realize, I'm just too much for you!
I would like to say thank you to those who have read these posts and given valuable feedback! I would also like to add that I am aware of the artistic licenses I take in my attempt to apply theories in Indian aesthetics to Beyonce's latest body of work - especially with the khandita nayika. I would also like to add that times have changed dramatically in the past five years, and urban Indian attitudes are also shifting rapidly. Hence, it is the perfect time to start rethinking and expanding our portrayal and conception of these heroines while keeping in mind what traditional repertoire teaches us. After all, these traditional pieces are time-tested and still resonate with modern audiences around the world.
This is the basis of what I am trying to accomplish as a proud American-born, Bharatanatyam dancer based in New York. My goal is to bridge all of my disparate influences together - ranging from the high fashion of Alexander McQueen to hip-hop to Sanskrit and Telugu literature - into a cohesive and compelling artistic statement...and to forge durable relationships between communities of color in the process! For me, it is all about exploring what is common between us - love, family dynamics, respectability politics, standards of beauty based on European ideals, etc. BUT...to acknowledge and understand the nuanced differences between communities of color in these aspects!
This brings us back to the khandita nayika, who in all her glorious fury, is perhaps the heroine from Indian aesthetics that people can relate to instantly. We've all experienced heartbreak, and we've all secretly wanted to kill the lover who betrayed us! If not kill, at the very least, express very strongly our outrage, resentment, and anger! One reader asked me, in reference to my last post: "Is the violence depicted in "Hold Up" was really a "healthy" expression of anger?" My answer is...it is the expression of rage in a work of art and not a documentary! It is as Allan Kaprow says, "art for art's sake," but it still somewhat reflective of the "blurring of art and life." The deliberate juxtaposition of the song's soft soundscape with its biting lyrics is most definitely artistic and is not meant to be taken literally.
"Hold Up" is in sharp contrast to "Don't Hurt Yourself," in which the full rage of the khandita nayika can be most clearly seen. This song, a notable foray into rock music, features a sample from Led Zeppelin along with Jack Black's menacing vocals. Unsurprisingly for many women, the song was cathartic, and it made "Ring the Alarm" (from her second solo album) seem like fodder for children!
In Indian art, the heroine's anger is traditionally directed more towards the other woman rather than the cheating (male) lover. Even though the philandering husband is clearly the focal point of Lemonade, the heroine/Beyonce still gives ample space to express her outrage over "Becky with the good hair" and other basic side chicks.
More importantly, there are some clear parallels between the narrative of this song and how traditional Indian poetry addresses infidelity. Just take a look at this astapadi from Jayadeva's Gita Govinda, a 13th-century Sanskrit work about the sublime love between Radha and Krishna:
kajjala malina vilocana cumbana viracita nilima rupam
Blackened by kissing her kohl-rimmed eyes,
dashana vasanam arunam tava krishna tanoti tanor anurupam
at dawn, your lips match your body’s color, Krishna!
Now compare this with smelling another woman's fragrance on your husband in "Don't Hurt Yourself!" We shall see even more parallels in some future posts - so stay tuned!
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