Indore: Tabla’s rhythm turned science student into Master of kathak

Indore: Choosing profession based on passion and not possibilities, kathak dancer Smriti Aditya teaches an important life lesson to her students along with graceful dance moves. Quoting the importance of following passion in life, her advice is doing what one enjoys and having faith that opportunities will follow.

Though unaware about classical dance for most of her life, Smriti did not let go of it when discovered. Sharing her story, Smriti said, “I was born in Orai, UP where everyone studied in government schools and stayed in conservative environment.” Being an average student, she concentrated on studies and nurtured dreams in her heart.

“Till I completed my schooling in Orai, my life was quite simple but unadventurous,” Smriti said. As she completed her schooling, her parents (Aruna and Suresh Aditya) decided to move to Indore. “Not that our life was not comfortable, but we needed more exposure and my dad got a good job in Indore, so we moved and my life changed sooner than I expected,” Smriti said. Opting to study science in her bachelors, she attended GDC College.

“College changed my life and moulded it in a beautiful way,” Smriti said. While returning from her class, she stopped at the sound of ‘tabla’ and music. “I saw a room full of women who were moving beautifully on the beats, they were practicing ‘kathak’, I found out later,” Smriti said. She was fascinated by the dance and experienced love at first sight with the art form.

“I tried to concentrate only on my studies, but I would dream of dancing day and night after that day,” Smriti said. Unable to resist her interest, she found one of the girls to be a trainer. “I would travel to her house every day to learn ‘kathak’ and even that long distance felt like nothing because I loved dancing,” Smriti said. After learning from her for three months, the training girl advised her to learn the art from Dr Suchitra Harmalkar.

“My guru (Suchitra) became my final teacher and taught me every little move of dance,” Smriti said. While she completed her bachelors, her interest to go further in that field vanished and she restarted her course in ‘kathak’. “I did masters in ‘kathak’ and even became a teacher, but there came a phase when I felt depressed,” Smriti said. Though she loved dancing, she felt teaching was the best opportunity for a dancer.

“I wanted to achieve more, make a difference, spread my art, but becoming a teacher seemed like the top of pyramid for a classical dancer,” Smriti said. As she fought depression by practicing ‘kathak’ more and more, an inspiration came to her. “I owed a lot to my guru for teaching me dance that can heal every broken heart,” Smriti said. She decided to pay tribute to Suchitra.

“I needed funds, ideas and arrangements and the only way I knew was starting a class,” Smriti said. She began a class and everything came along in a couple of months. “Last year, I gave tribute to her on July 31, 2016 and found more opportunities then,” Smriti said. From winning Nritya Shringarika Award to being selected to represent Indian culture by Indian Cultural Council Association (ICCA), opportunities came up and she found her inspiration again.

“I will be representing our country abroad and training students for two years next year under ICCA,” Smriti said.