Online edition of India's National Newspaper Thursday, Jun 02, 2011

Site Search

Metro Plus Madurai

Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page |Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | NXg | Friday Review |Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Metro Plus Bangalore Chennai Coimbatore Delhi Hyderabad Kochi Madurai Thiruvananthapuram

Published on Satu

Portrait of an artiste
MAKING A DIFFERENCE SOMA BASU writes about a young virtuoso of Bharatanatyam, Srividya K.B, and her contribution to art forms

Photo: Soma Basu

MULTI-FACETED Srividya K.B At 21, Srividya K.B. has not only found a chance but made full use of that opportunity to make a connection between her studies and artistic passion. Classical vs contemporary or whatever you may call, without batting her eyelid, Srividya shares how eating helps with dancing, how dance is a scholarly discourse, how dance can be better comprehended in relation to management, how dance, cricket and volleyball can be pursued with equal will. One question is enough to realize Srividyas dedication to dance. Rigorously trained under her gurus, Nila Krishnamoorthy, Balananda Kumar and Dr.Padma Subramaniam, of Nrityodaya, she is naturally endowed with the talent. I have always been dancing as a hobby. It is a way of my life. I was encouraged by my teachers all along and from class VI was a regular at competitions and all annual day functions and other cultural programmes at TVS Matriculation School, says this MBA student from Thiagarajar School of Management. There is a way to participate in the growing tradition. It is kind of a spiritual experience, she reels out matured. Her large expressive eyes and the range of expressions on her face, the well-executed rhythmic patterns of her fingers and hands even while speaking during the interview provide a glimpse into Srividyas scintillating abilities. I actually invited her for a chat after hearing about her impressive rendition of a prayer song and shlokas at her college function. While revealing that she is a trained Carnatic musician, who is also learning to play the veena and recites with ease over 200 shlokas from the Ramayanam and Bhagavad Gita, the conversation

veers to the obvious, her passion for nritta and lively abhinaya. There is no end to creative things that people can do. I feel every dancer should also know how to play at least one musical instrument and also be able to enjoy singing, she says, further revealing, her expertise in fabric painting, pencil sketches and drawing in general. A few minutes more into the conversation, and I realize not only Srividya looks matured for her age but is actually quite an accomplished youth. Her desire to blend the modern sensibilities with the ancient ethos of the country propels her to explore the classical arts. And once I take up something, I am totally immersed into it, she says with eyes gleaming. It is this beautiful combination of interest, motivation and hard work that has enabled Srividya achieve so much at such a young age. She still recalls with goosebumps each of her participation and performances at prestigious events. She cannot get over her 30 minute performance with 999 other bharatanatyam dancers at the Tanjore Big Temple festival last year. Though we had rehearsed only thrice, the perfect synchronization and lyrical performance of such a large troupe is something worth remembering. For the past one decade, she has been unfailingly dancing at the Alagar Koil during the week-long annual chithirai festival. She is also a regular at the Kadayanallur temple festival during brahmotsavam. I enjoy the temple festivals because each member in the audience is a bhakta. There is an instant vibration as people are already in a mood of devotion and the message is easily conveyed. Whereas in a regular performace, people come as rasikas in whom both expectation and criticism overflows. Srividya also got an opportunity to prove herself as a choreographer when she went to participate in the Republic Day parade in Delhi four years ago, as part of the contingent of NSS students. She choreographed a patriotic song even though initially it was not easy to understand the song in Hindi combining a dozen different dance forms. She has also given solo performances thrice at the annual festival of music and dance at Brindavan For the last four years, Srividya has also been playing the veena as part of the 108-member group which participates in the annual festival at Meenakshi Amman Temple. Every art form is a continuous learning process for her and she hates to limit herself to one. And somewhere in between she also squeezes her post-graduation course in MBA. After staging her arangetram last Winter, when she sought admission to the MBA course, everybody asked her why after being a successful dancer. And her standard answer was: Dance is a complete management of the body from head to toe. As a dancer, I need to manage every emotion. A management course helps in handling any situation. When I ask Srividya how she manages to simplify and describe everything so beautifully, she replies nonchalantly: I am developing my personality by modeling Lord Rama. I just dont merely memorise and chant or recite shlokas. I understand its meaning and then implement it in day-to-day life. Once you are able to interpret the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads, it is very easy to imbibe the good values and also have a good influence on those around you. Explains Srividya: There are certain important shlokas that help me in each of my pursuit and I am overwhelmed by the divinity attached to it. People start crying watching me perform Radhas vrihas because my soul and the performing artiste within me become one. Sanskrit is a language I love because I have grown up listening to it in my house and because it is devabhasha. Every akshara in it has a power and increases your tejas. When you chant a shloka it purifies you, says this young tejaswini, for whom the enjoyment quotient matters in whatever she does. Only then can you give yourself fully, she asserts. (Making a difference is a fortnightly column about ordinary people and events that leave an extraordinary impact on us. E-mail to somabasu@thehindu.co.in to tell about someone you know who is making a difference) Printer friendly page Send this article to Friends by E-Mail