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A Danseuse Who Teaches Slum Children Reads: 255

A Danseuse Who Teaches Slum Children

It all began in 2002, when a tender coconut vendor would often pause outside her Bharatanatyam dance class in Seshadripuram, Bangalore, and peer in. One day, he came in hesitantly, and asked her: Would she teach his daughter too? Padmaja Suresh, founder-director of Kalpataru Kalavihar, an institute of performing arts, was moved. She enrolled the girl in her class. But the unlettered father's desire to see his daughter learn an art form set her thinking. There were sure to be many among the underprivileged who would love to learn an art form but had no access to it, she felt.


So she went to a nearby government school, most of whose students were from slums, and told the principal that she was willing to teach the children bharatanatyam. For free. The authorities were cold to the idea. She was not offering academic coaching or a craft that would help them earn money. What good would it do the kids to learn dancing? That was the luxury of the privileged.

But Padmaja persisted. She repeatedly visited the school, trying to persuade them. She finally had a brainwave. "I'll train them and arrange for them to give performance in a good hall," she said. This swung it. Kids began to enroll. Dance classes began in a classroom. The numbers increased. She had 80 pupils soon, 20 % of them boys, and the classroom was not enough any more. So they began to practise in the stage area in two batches.

Inspired by this, three of her senior students began to teach kids in schools near slums in Vijaynagar and Govindrajnagar. Padmaja now approached the Primary and Secondary Education Department, offering to teach dance in government schools. The authorities said they would consider the offer and get back to her.

They didn't. On hindsight, it was good they didn't, says Padmaja. It gave her the freedom to do things her way. She formed Kalpataru Kalachaitanya, a charitable arm of Kalpataru Kalavihar, mainly to teach the underprivileged. In October 2004 came the turning point. Padmaja was invited to give a recital at the Chowdiah Memorial Hall during the Sarvodaya Day celebrations. There was a surprise waiting for the audience. After her recital, 12 of her underprivileged students performed to Gandhiji's favourite hymn 'Vaishnava Janato'. Padmaja recalls that many in the distinguished audience were in tears, when they were told about the background of the kids and how they had picked up the nuances of the art form in a short span of time. Some donations came in and this helped fund her venture to an extent.

Meanwhile, at the schools, teachers were noticing a marked difference in the children who were learning dance. They were acquiring polish and focus. Their confidence levels and communication skills had improved dramatically. Soon, other government schools began to approach her to conduct classes. Padmaja obliged, and started classes with the help of her senior students. However, not everything was smooth. There were heart-breaks along the way. For one, families regularly pulled girls out of school __ and naturally out of the dance class __ either because they had attained puberty or because they had landed jobs.

Padmaja's big moment came in October 2006 when she took 14 of her students from the slums to the Rashtrapati Bhavan for a dance recital on the invitation of then President Dr Abdul Kalam. It was appreciated by Dr Kalam.

Padmaja and her students are now training 50-odd children in Arokyathanahalli in Makali village in Tumkur district. The children’s parents are all farmers. Padmaja and team went there on the invitation of unlettered village women.

She is also training 12 children from ST hostels. Incidentally, 5 children from her 2004 batch are still learning dance from her.

An inspiring soul, indeed!