MEET THE 'GERMAN NAMBIAR'

TNIE speaks to Hartmut Schmidt, a German national who is on a mission to popularise Ottanthullal in Europe. Recently, he performed at the Tripunithura Sree Poornathrayeesa Temple as part of its Vrischikolsavam festival

- RONNIE KURIAKOSE

In 1990, when 25-year-old German lad Hartmut Schmidt announced that he was moving to India to learn Ottanthullal, his neighbours feared the worst. "In my small village near Siegen, it was common thinking that people went to India only to smoke ganja," Hartmut quipped, as he spoke to TNIE on the sidelines of his performance at the Vrischikolsavam festival at the Sree Poornathrayeesa temple in Kochi.

The ganja link notwithstanding, there were indeed reasons to worry. For, Hartmut's desire to relocate stemmed from an article he read from a book on Indian dances. "It was on thullal and I found the art form's combination of dance, singing and pantomime quite refreshing. It was only later that I learnt that there was so much social commentary, satire and even philosophy weaved into it. I wanted to learn it and there was only truly one place to do it - the Kerala Kalamandalam," he recalled.

However, his father remained very opposed to the plan. "This was expected, of course. He had concerns about how I could survive as an artist when so many uncertainties remained about the regularity of the performances and payment. He worried that I would have no money... and he was not entirely wrong," said Hartmut, who, if not for this move, would have become an electrician, just like his father and his grandfather.