Maya Khela is a triangular love story, written by Rabindranath Tagore on an exclusive request by Sarala Roy for the Sakhi Samiti, a women’s theosophical society.
Here the narrators and observers are the Mayakumaris, nymphs with magical powers of creating an illusion. The story, essentially feminine in nature, had been made for the ladies’ college and conceptualised in 1880s.
It deals with two female and one male protagonist. Tagore explains that love is a maze of illusion that surrounds us. The world we see is a mere series of coincidences intertwined with time.
For this, love is requited, enchantments come with follies, while moments of departure become charming. Gurudev Tagore creates an unusual atmosphere of ecstasy with the dream maidens (mayakumaris) telling the story in chorus. They spin illusions in the minds of the protagonist.
Born with a passion for dance Dona Ganguly was trained in the Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Gharana of Odissi. She has an institution of her own in the name of ‘Diksha Manjari’.
In her long journey as an Odissi dancer, she has won many accolades but what she cherishes most is the one she received in 1995 from the Mayor of San Francisco, M. Jordan. He had declared 09th June as ‘Dona Roy’ day.