Birth of an artist

An article by Vandana Prabhakar

” Being a dancer isn’t easy,
They’re special humans,
born with wings.
They speak through
movements
They walked with emotions,
They smiled with thrones.
Their laugh become magic
Actors with genuinity
Chained under the sky
Stages are their field”…..

Most precious gift I have ever achieved in this life is Dance, because it was dance who choose me even when I hide from it. I never imagined of becoming a classical dancer, but that was my destiny even though I feared and hated it in childhood. I still remember how the year 2015 become a turning point of my life. I was a lazy girl without an aim or plan on future, who flowed like river. But everything changed when I met one of the beautiful dancer and Odissi exponent, Smt. Arushi Mudgal. The way she encouraged and motivated was so inspiring which made me rethink to start from where I ended. These five years of experience with dance proved, what she said is right.

Yes today I can say honestly: Once dance chose you, you never have to look behind. When I gave my heart to dance, it gave me everything. Now my life become happy that cannot be expressed through words, giving a divine feel: “Dance as Krishna and I am his Radha”.

[‘ You Never Have To Chase Dance. Once You Pour Little Love, It Will Come In Search Of You’] – Smt. Arushi Mudgal

BIRTH OF AN ARTIST….

At age 9, it was my Mom (the supporting system and backbone of my life) who took me to Dance School, under Master Kalamandalam Sabu. She always wished to see me as a dancer, but being a lazy girl, I always skipped classes by giving one or another excuse, which made mom to stop taking me to dance school.

During school days I did not even bothered to attend any dance program. I was afraid of stage performance as I was mocked always in the name of perfection during cultural fest.

Annual Day Programs were a Nightmare. I had to suffer Bullying and Discrimination at extreme level, which was too much for a 14-year-old girl could tolerate. Gradually I begun to hate dance which made me to run away from it and those were the horrible days in my life.
But now I sincerely thank my teachers and classmates who brought that strong woman in me.

MY GURUS : My Soulmates…

After the break of ten years, finally in 2015 I decided to find the real version of me. As per the advice of Arushi mam, I joined in dance school, under my first guru Master Sabu, which gave a great surprise to my parents and teacher. However, unfortunately I could not continue the class due to my Graduation. I become dull and then realised how much I loved dance and was not ready to give up. I continued my practice watching YouTube videos, which increased doubts and never taught properly.

Finally, in 2018 after graduation I joined under Smt. Kalamandalam Usha Rajendra Prasad. I learnt Bharathanatyam and is pursuing Mohiniyattam in her guidance for One and half year and then focused mainly on Bharathanatyam. The rules and laws provided by her helped in moulding the dancer in me. On October 2019, I got chance to meet, Dancing Idol and renowned Indian Classical dancer Smt. Arpita Sen (Kolkata), which become the milestone in my life.

Surprisingly, soon we become close friends and I never expected she would accept me as her disciple and love me like a daughter. The love and support given by her cannot be explained in single word.
God always wished to give me surprises and planned great things for me. After some months, unexpectedly I got chance to meet the Kuchipudi exponent and beautiful Bharathanatyam dancer, Smt. Sahana Chowdhury (who is the senior of my guru Arpita Sen) later which become a beautiful relation of “Shona & Amarmaa”.

I would have ended up as zero, if I had never met my gurus; it is due to them what I am today. I sincerely thank them with whole heart for the love and support given to me.

‘HAPPINESS OF WRITING….

The loneliness and depression I had to suffer in school and college paved way to my writing career. As a writer, I chose real life incidents from surroundings and that are heard from public. I always focused on Men and Women separately, especially the different ‘Phase of Emotions in Humans’.

Most of the works are based on Nature, Love, Dance, Depression, some Hindu deities and Lord Buddha.
The collaboration of Buddhist teachings along with dance and writing sprouted the new category of art, that narrates depth of peace and love to mankind, known as ‘Dancing Buddha’.

SWASTI : A SPACE TO REFRESH….

As we all know but never attempt to discuss; put aside as a stigma, the depression played major role in taking thousands of lives as a silent killer. Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also harder to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden. It is easier to say, “My tooth is aching” than to say, “My heart is broken”. Depression is the most tragic and heart-wrenching experience one could ever have in life.

‘Swasti : A Space To Refresh’ is a platform for such suffering ones which was founded on 15 July 2020, by my friend & Cardiologist, Dr Krishnanunny Menon ( Baby Memorial Hospital, Calicut Kerala) and Me. It’s a place where one can express their emotions and find solutions for their problems through discussion without any fear of being judged.

” Being a dancer is equal to a renunciant. All he gives is Sadhana. And everything turns to Sadhana”…..