Srikala Suresh began learning Bharatanatyam at the age of five in Calcutta, where her family was posted at the time. But she is the first to tell you that she was not happy about it. According to her, the moment she returned from school, her mother used to stuff some food into her mouth and rush her off to dancing class, while other children played happily through the evening, much to her envy. Her teacher was M Pandarinathan, who hailed from the line of Thanjavur Rajalakshmi Ammal. She had her Arangetram when she was nine.
Her interest in dance took firm roots and blossomed only after the family moved to Chennai, where her father was transferred in 1979 when she was about 13. Her first reaction on hearing of the transfer was one of elation, thinking that it meant a farewell to the regimentation of dance. But in Chennai, her mother enrolled her as a student of Chitra Visweswaran and within the short span of one year, given her new guru's teaching methods, her mastery over all aspects of the dance, Srikala's whole attitude changed and she became determined to become a complete dancer. "I shall always be indebted to my mother for this," she said in an interview.
Even though Chitra also was a disciple of Thanjavur Rajalakshmi, she taught various aspects like individualistic development, the Vazhuvoor style of dancing and so on. In 1981, Srikala resumed her stage performances, which continued till 1992, when after marriage her daughter was born. During that decade, she won acclaim with her dancing in several countries, including the United States, Australia, Russia, Malaysia and Singapore. She was conferred the title of Natya Kalai Ilavarasi in 1989 and won the Yuva Kala Bharathi and the Narthana Priya awards in 1991. According to her, she agreed to marriage only on condition that it would not come in the way of her dance. She began conducting dance classes also, though she limited the number of students.
A major highlight of her life was doing nattuvangam for her guru Chitra Visweswaran, to whom she feels utterly devoted and much indebted. The occasion was a visit to Bombay by the Queen of the Netherlands, before whom Chitra was to dance. Srikala says when Chitra asked her to do the nattuvangam, she thought her guru was joking. And when it turned out to be a serious offer, she was totally overcome.
But Chitra made her sit down and encouraged her in every way. It must have been a unique occasion for a sishya to do the nattuvangam for her guru, though, she says, it is not uncommon today. She has since been doing nattuvangam for danceuse-actress Shobana as well as
Srinidhi.
Srikala has also been involved with dance presentations in the Kalaicholai programme of Sun TV since 1994. She persuaded all her guru's chief disciples to perform in it. Taking care to give adequate prominence to the singers and accompanists on the screen, to the depiction of facial expressions and footwork, to the costumes and sets, she feels the programmes came through very well. Asked if stopping stage performances had affected her, she said it had. So she was planning to resume them. She finds no major differences in her life as a student and as a guru? She feels present day students cannot expect to develop the same intimacy that she shared with her guru. In her day, "we even learnt a lot about life (from the guru). But today the students do not find time for all such things.
|
|
By Krishnangani
Translated by Sujatha Pradeep |
