Classical dancer, teacher, choreographer, motivational speaker and bureaucrat Dr. Ananda Shankar Jayant’s story has numerous shades of aesthetics laced with a glorious comeback from cancer, writes C. Rakesh
When Dr. A.S. Jayant addressed an audience in the U.S.A. earlier this year, she emphasised on the kind of boost one must get from within to not only excel in one’s fields of interest but also overcome possible crises that could even be life-threatening.
For, the Hyderabad-resident 54-year-old exponent of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi is a cancer survivor too. The sheer grit she displayed -- while battling the disease eight years back -- is part of her to this day, prompting the Indian Railway Traffic Service officer to forget the trauma of that dark phase but celebrate the eventual victory. So much so, she keeps spreading the spirit to people across not just her native country but abroad as well.
That is precisely why Dr. Ananda told the India Conference at Harvard in February that life is all about challenges and facing them is one’s greatest learning. “It is during testing times that our innate calling becomes the superconductor, which taps into the creative force of the universe,” the Padma awardee noted at the ‘Inspire’ series in Boston, referencing her own journey of dancing through cancer.
As head of the Shankarananda Kalakshetra dance school she founded in Hyderabad in 1979, Dr. Ananda is a rare personality who made Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi her mainstay while judiciously balancing it with the demands of her challenging job. Significantly, she succeeded in bringing the two southern classical forms into the realm of popular perception by removing the stamp of obscurity and elitism. That’s because the artiste has mastered the technique as well as grammar of dance, blending it with a quality that brims over with life and enables her to effortlessly bridge traditional structures with contemporary inputs.
There’s a twinkle in the exponent’s eyes that’s hard to miss even for those unfamiliar with classical dance. It comes across as a sign of her resilience even though the spark in the pupil is something that has been her asset since childhood days.
When Ananda was four, a chance meeting at a temple in Hyderabad invited a comment from a lady that Ananda should be taught dance. Reason: “The child has large eyes.” The girl’s mother Subhashini Shankar took prompt steps and the starting years proved promising – Ananda received a gold medal seven years later and moved to Chennai to learn at Kalakshetra, founded by theosophist Rukmini Devi Arundale in 1936. Ananda received training under brilliant gurus for six years in Bharatanatyam, besides Carnatic music – both vocal and veena – alongside learning dance theory, philosophy and Sanskrit. Even after passing from Kalakshetra, she continued her pursuit of various streams of knowledge. She did a Masters in ancient Indian history, an M.Phil in art history and then went on to earn a Ph.D in tourism.
Today, even as she is animated about making performing and visual arts a part of the education policy – which may inspire children to nourish talent – Dr. Ananda has gained repute as a motivational speaker with a busy schedule spanning corporate houses and charity organisations alike. A Technology, Entertainment, Design speaker in 2009, her talk is ranked as one of 12 Incredible TED speeches on cancer and Huffington Post ranked it as one of five greatest TED talks by Indians.
So, how did the multifaceted personality combat breast cancer at the zenith of her twin-tracked career? Dr. Ananda highlights the role of her husband Jayant in lifting her spirits during the treatment. But, equally importantly, she chose to derive strength from her most vital passion: dance.
“It’s really my breath, so to speak. Dance meant I had something else to focus on. I retrained my mind to think that the cancer is no big deal,” she recalls, adding that she would be back in the studio dancing, teaching or choreographing after having taken the mandatory rest following the chemo.
In short, back to the Harvard talk, it was definitely with a reason that Dr. Ananda called upon young professionals in particular to tread the tracks of their intimate interests even while pursuing careers. “Ensure your pension but don’t you dare give up on your passion,” was her key sentence.
In fact, that’s her life’s message and the essence of her existence.