Nursing student’s Yakshagana video goes viral; she gets a stage to perform

Mangaluru: After a video of her impromptu Yakshagana performance at her cousin’s mehendi function went viral, recently, Chaitra Shetty,24, a nurse practitioner at KMC, Manipal, now has new opportunities knocking on her door.
Speaking to TOI, Chaitra Shetty, who hails from Kadekar in Udupi, said, “Ever since childhood, I was interested in drama and other cultural activities. However, opportunities were limited. When I was in class VII, I started learning Yakshagana under guru Rajeev Thonse and very soon we formed a team called Durgambika Mahila Yakshagana with Gangadhar G as its convener. We perform annually. We also have a chende (cylindrical percussion instrument) team. However, because of my profession, I have not been able to dedicate more time to Yakshagana,” she said.
On May 15, Chaitra attended her cousin’s mehendi ceremony and her cousins from Mumbai also participated. “It was a simple function without DJs performing. It was celebration time and women from our family too took turns to dance to various songs from Bollywood and Sandalwood. Suddenly, someone played the Kannada Yakshagana song ‘Yare Neenu Bhuvana Mohini’ on a mobile phone. All my cousins forced me to dance. My granny too wanted to see me perform. Not aware that the dance was being captured on mobile phones, and looking at the bride, I just kept dancing,” she said.
Chaithra danced to several other numbers including traditional ‘hulivesha’ music. There was a point when her uncle too joined her and they danced together. On May 17, at her cousin’s wedding, everyone complemented her for the performance. That was also when Chaithra got to know that her video had gone viral on WhatsApp. “Initially, my uncle and cousin scolded me. I was very scared. I am not very active on social media and kept thinking what my guru would think of me. But soon, I realised that people were appreciating my work. This gave me a lot of motivation. I got several calls, and women came forward and said they would like to join the ladies team. I was elated,” said Chaitra.
She was shattered on May 20, when she realised that another video of her dancing with her uncle had gone viral. People said that she was bringing a bad name to Yakshagana and accused her uncle of being drunk. That was when a few big names from the industry came forward and supported her. Artist Sumangala Ratnakar stood in support of Chaitra and shared a message on WhatsApp that Chaitra had done no wrong. Her brother Sudheer Shetty supported her. A local television channel decided to conduct her live interview. Chaitra challenged haters on social media that if given an opportunity, she would perform Badagu style Yakshagana with costume. She was surprised that on May 26, she got an opportunity to perform for seven minutes at the 25th wedding anniversary of Pradeep Alva and the engagement ceremony of his daughter. She won hearts. “I was surprised when I was told that Dr Mohan Alva, chairman, Alva’s Education Foundation, has assured support for my higher education,” she said.
She is the daughter of Vijay Kumar Shetty and Jayanthi Shetty and said that she has a lot more to learn in Yakshagana, and that this is just the beginning.