The news of Ramchandra Manjhi’s death, on the night of September 7, 2022, reached me via social media. Suddenly, I was transported to an evening in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, around four years ago, when Manjhi was set to perform at the open-air amphitheatre at around 9 pm. He, however, was already in his ‘zone’ from early evening, becoming one with his art, as he began applying makeup, hours before he was scheduled to perform. When he finally graced the open-air stage, a hush descended over the boisterous crowd. As he began dancing, even students who did not speak Bhojpuri watched with rapt attention.
That evening’s performance reminded me of the memoirs of IAS officer Jagdish Chandra Mathur, who was a popular figure as Bihar’s education secretary. In it, he wrote that he had once invited Manjhi’s guru Bhikhari Thakur to perform at Patna’s Harding Park. The park was jam-packed, with people climbing up on boundary walls and trees to get a glimpse of the performance. The crowd was turning into a mob, which the police found impossible to control. When Mathur explained the situation to Thakur, he came on stage and appealed to the audience for calm, before breaking into an impromptu performance. As Mathur recalls, suddenly, the world came to a standstill. The seemingly uncontrollable mob transformed into a disciplined audience.
