Tanusree Shankar: Dance is my medication and meditation
I was lucky to have been brought up in an Army household, as it shaped my mind and vision very differently. You see, we Army children grew up in an atmosphere of unity, enjoying every festival together. But as I grew older, I realised there was not a 'doctor bone' in my body. I gravitated towards movement, and when my father was posted in Kolkata, a great opportunity entered: he was a great admirer of dancer-choreographer Uday Shankar and Amala Shankar — who later became my in-laws when I married their son Ananda — and got me admitted in the Uday Shankar India Cultural Centre. Here, I learned Bharatnatyam, Kathakali and Manipuri dance. And I had fantastic gurus: Guru Gyan Prakash ji for Bharatnatyam, Guru P Raghavan ji for Kathakali, and Guru Tarun Singh ji for Manipuri. Their nurturing way of teaching still remains with me.
I came from a humble background so my goal was to do school, college, marriage and then become a housewife. But when I met Ananda, life took a u-turn. From a disciplined Army household, I entered this almost 'bohemian' household, which was creative and free-flowing. Though our age gap was over 13 years, I fit right into the family. My husband told me to work, saying, 'If you have talent, you must share it with the world'. When I look back, maybe he was pushing me because he had a premonition that I needed it in the future. And because of that, I stand on my own today.
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