Lemurian City of Ladies

My evenings working in the Taverna were filled with fun and laughter. The Proprietress and some of the patrons quickly brought me up to speed on how to mix their favorite drinks. I did not make too many mistakes, but once I did spill a glass of beer on the gentleman who always sits in the corner. I learned a new word that night: “vexsom.”

I was tending bar last night when the tribal dancer Mira Bai made her weekly performance. When she finished her act, she glided to a table of patrons who were applauding her with enthusiasm. She greeted them all with laughter, hugs, and kisses. She glanced towards me and motioned.

The Proprietress nudged me. “A round of sherry—the good Jerez for the Professor and her friends.”

“Professor?”

“Yes. Dr. Millicent Fairbanks, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the Mouseion. Her specialty is tribal fusion dance. Has a standing act every Thursday night. Mira Bai is just her stage name.”

“Really!”

“Yes. Interesting character that Millicent. She’s the daughter of a wealthy silk merchant from the Mulberry Highlands. Life of total privilege and luxury. Chucked it all to study dance at the Mouseion. That’s why she chose the name ‘Mira Bai.’”.

“I don’t understand. Who was Mira Bai?”

“No time to explain. They’re waiting for their drinks. Go!”

We were so busy that evening that I never got a chance to ask again about Mira Bai. I had planned to go to the Mouseion the next day to do some research on Lemurian butterflies for a poem I was writing, so I took the opportunity while there to ask the Librarian for some material on Mira Bai. While she went off to look for the material, I made myself comfortable in a study carrel. A few minutes passed when someone approached me.

“Well, my dear, the Librarian told me you were asking about Mira Bai. I thought I’d say hello.”

With a start, I looked up from my texts to see Dr. Fairbanks standing over me. She looked utterly different in ordinary clothes. Instead of a sultry, exotic dancer, here was a stern-looking academic.

“Uh, yes. ….Dr. Fairbanks…… What an honor…. Yes, I was curious about your stage name. It’s a very pretty name,” I stammered.

“Indeed.”

“The Proprietress said something that made me curious about the name.”

“She did now” Dr. Fairbanks chuckled and softened a bit. She pulled up a chair and sat next to me. “Let me tell you a little bit about Mira Bai.”

“Centuries ago in the land of India in what you call ‘The Real World’ a child was born to a noble family. Her parents named her Mira Bai. The child lacked nothing and in her world of gilded tile and marbled halls, she was raised with the singular purpose of doing her ‘duty’ to her family and her people. But Mira Bai was different—she did not play like other children; rather she spent her days in the temple of her god, dancing, singing, and composing poems of worship.

“It wasn’t that she didn’t want to do her duty—in fact, when she was of age, she was married to the Ruler of Chittor as had been arranged years earlier by their families. And as duty dictated, she went with her husband to his palace and lived with her in-laws. To the dismay of her in-laws, however, she did not attend to her duties as required by her rank and station. Again she went off to the temple to worship in song and ecstatic dance. Her family thought she was mad. And, to the horror of her in-laws, she even consorted with people in the temple who were outside her caste—down to the lowest of the Untouchables.

“Then, one day, her husband died and according to the custom of the people, Mira Bai’s duty was to allow herself to be set afire and burned along with her husband’s body.

“Mira Bai refused.

“Her in-laws were furious and drove her from the palace. Her own family barred her return to her childhood home. So Mira Bai spent the rest of her life wandering from temple to temple, singing her poetry and dancing before the god she adored.”

“That’s so sad,” I said.

“Sad? No, my dear. She was victorious! She led her own life, the life she wanted.”

I hesitated, then said “Is that the life YOU wanted?” I immediately cringed from my own brazenness.

Dr. Fairbanks laughed. “Yes, to a certain extent, but it was mostly to honor this amazing woman.”

“Yes, she is such an inspiration. We should all follow her example,” I gushed.

Dr. Fairbanks became serious again. “Are you sure about that? As writers, artists, dancers, musicians, we are often not understood, not even by our own families. Losing them….. that is a very high price to pay.”

She rose from her chair. “Is that a price YOU are willing to pay?” Then she turned and walked away.

I was left with an unsettled feeling that followed me all the way home that night.

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A poem by Mira Bai:

Drink The Nectar
Drink the nectar of the Divine Name,
O human! Drink the nectar of the Divine Name!
Leave the bad company,
always sit among righteous company.
Hearken to the mention of God (for your own sake).
Concupiscence, anger, pride, greed, attachment:
wash these out of your consciousness.
Mira’s Lord is the Mountain-Holder,
the suave lover.
Soak yourself in the dye of His colour.

Text: Lori Gloyd © 2006