It is a dream for many to follow their passion and profession at the same time and attain success in both. Not to forget, doing both with family duties as the permanent axis.
Gayathri Sharma, who has over 20 years of experience in communications and CSR, is a dedicated Bharatnatyam dancer who does stage performances at cultural and temple festivals across India. It is no mean feat that she has worked successfully alongside her pursuit of the performing art, with BBC, PepsiCo, Samsung, Hero MotoCorp, American Express, IKEA, Nokia and MasterCard. She is currently the Head of Communications & CSR at Rolls-Royce, India. And is a mother to two kids.
Sharma’s passion for dance started as a four-year-old. During a family dinner in Delhi, Tara Balagopal, a renowned dancer and a family friend, taught her a small dance piece in Bharatnatyam. A fascinated Sharma started attending dance classes in school. As kids, Sharma and her sister Jyothi delivered several stage performances. And like it has been for many of us, her life took a turn towards education and building a successful professional life. Bharatnatyam took a back seat but returned eventually. Her love for the dance form proved to be too strong to suppress.
“I vividly remember the first time when Ms Tara taught me a small piece of Meera Bhajan in Bharatnatyam, as a four-year-old I was enamoured by the whole idea of expressing the love for Krishna through dance. Thanks to her, my love for dance started there. We also had Bharatnatyam being taught at school. Once a week we had dance class at school, then I formally started learning Bharatanatyam at the age of nine under Guru V Krishnamoorthi. Though the love for dance has always been there within me, professional and family life kind of sidelined my devotion for the dance form,” Sharma recalls.
In 2009, when she was 32, she decided to pursue Bharatnatyam more seriously and passionately.
“After having kids, I decided to follow my love for the dance form. I went back to my Guru V Krishnamoorthy and said I am not sure whether I will be able to continue pursuing this, but want to start training. I was always fortunate enough to have a very strong support system around me. I used to go for the classes during my full-time job. The kids were too small too and they required the attention and care, which was taken care of by my husband and parents. My Guru also extended his support by adjusting the classes according to my timings,” says Sharma.
With relentless practice, Sharma started her stage performances again. In 2014, she did a Natyanjali tour of the South along with other students of Guru V Krishnamoorthy. That’s where Sharma met Bhadra Sinha, who later became her dance partner.
“Bhadra and I started performing together on several stages and occasions. We conceptualised and independently staged a special dance drama production ‘Sitayana’, bringing together the classical dance form and contemporary English monologues presented with versatile ‘abhinaya’ in Bharatnatyam style. The dance drama is an interpretation of Sita’s poignant journey and its relevance in the struggles and life experiences of modern-day women; this production was staged at the Sangeet Natak Akademi and various other platforms,” reveals Sharma.
Sitayana presents excerpts from the Ramayana with an interpretation of Rama and Sita’s emotions through this journey, inspired by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s book ‘Forest of Enchantment’. Sita’s unending courage and inner strength got her through her difficult experiences of exile, kidnapping, imprisonment, the humiliation of having her husband suspect her chastity in public, her Agni Pariksha, and more, and finds resonance in the struggles and life experiences of modern-day women. ‘Sitayana’ honors and reveres the spirit of women as a reflection of divine energy, explains the artiste.
In the endeavor to contribute to society’s modern day issues and themes, Sharma and Sinha also collaborated with Padma Shri Dr Niru Kumar to create a special presentation highlighting gender equality as depicted by the age-old philosophy of ‘Adhanarishwara’.
A shorter version of Sitayana will be performed on 12 November 2022 at Gurugram Kala Utsav.
All the world’s a stage
“I was fortunate enough to perform at several cultural and temple festivals. We have performed in a dance festival in Uzbekistan in association with ICTR. In 2020, performance was done at Khajuraho Dance festivals which was an amazing experience, then Soorya Festival in Kerala. It gives immense happiness and satisfaction to perform at these kinds of festivals,” says Sharma.
She has also staged her performances at Rajasthan Utsav, Yamini Krishnamurthy’s Dance & Music Festival in Delhi, Dev Deepawali Festival in Banaras, Kashi Viswanatha Temple, Nada Neeranjanam at Tirumala Tirupathi Temple, and more. She has been awarded Natya Vilasini by All India Dancer’s Association.
“The experience of performing at temples is a different, divine experience altogether. Some of the dance festivals like Soorya festival also give us the same divine experience. Dance itself is something which helps you to connect so deeply to your own self. The challenges we face in our day-to-day life or professional life, the divine energy derived from dance helps us to fight them and other challenges that come in our way,” reflects the dancer and comms professional.
Sharma believes that it’s very important to have a passion in life.
“I believe that work is equally my passion and I do believe in giving my 200 pc at work. I have been fortunate to work with different brands and amass experience as a professional. At the same time, passion for dance helped me in creating a different balance in life. It is not about gender; everybody should have a passion that keeps their soul alive. Yes, we do have crazy schedules or work hours, we have family to take care of, but, the whole concept of ‘I don’t have time’ is all in our minds, which I realised when I restarted my dance classes,” Sharma says.
She draws inspiration from one of her mother’s friends, Bhagyalakshmi Chandrasekhar, who is a veena artist also an A grade radio artist, who used to finely balance her work, passion, and family life.
“During my childhood, I have seen Bhagyalakshmi aunty who has to go for her radio recording early in the morning. She used to get up early in the morning, do the household chores, cook, and send the kids to school. Amidst all the busy schedule she used to find time to do the veena practice. She is always an example for me of the saying, “Where there is a will, there is a way’,” notes Sharma.
The next steps
For Sharma, art is a way to connect with herself and a spiritual part of her. It is also a mode of expression.
She is part of a collective named Kalakriti Art under which she is planning to collaborate with other dancers and create own productions.
“There is a long journey ahead and there are a lot of ideas which have to be worked upon. I believe teaching is a huge responsibility, maybe in the future I might have plans for it. But, right now, to squeeze in time for that would be tad difficult,” says Sharma, when asked of future plans.
She is currently pursuing advanced studies in Bharatnatyam under Dr Ratheesh Babu, based in Chhattisgarh.
Apart from dance, Sharma is an avid traveller who likes to go on road trips with her husband Mukesh and kids Adithya and Aadya, who she names as her biggest support system. Her parents Mr & Mrs Swaminathan have been her pillars of strength throughout her life and dance journey, she underlines.
Sharma’s story is yet another that tells us that following one’s passion can be rewarding in more ways than one. In her case, it’s extra special as she pursued it after a break with kids in tow.
