She danced her way to success

For city girl Tejeswini Chakraborty, dance has always been a passion. But it was when she went to Bengaluru to participate in Bharatanatyam reality show Natyaratna, where she was ranked 4th on all India basis, that recognition came here way. 

With four rounds before the finale, the selection process was no cake walk, she recalls. The first round was the local auditions held in Hyderabad. For the second round in Bengaluru, 30 participants were selected from across the country. “The third round was the quarter finals and it was a very difficult one. Out of 30 participants, only 20 got selected for the semi finals in which we had to perform a movie song. I selected Marian Thiranthu Paarkum, an ancient Tamil song from the movie Thillana Mohanambal,” shares Tejeswini. 

At the finale she performed Samhara Tandava which is the celestial dance performed by Shiva when Sati burnt herself in the fire of Daksha’s yagnya. This performance was followed by her presentation on “child trafficking”. 

“I am proud to say that there were more than 500 participants, and only 10 were selected for the finale, and I was one of them. I have been learning Bharatanatyam for almost 11 years now,” she adds.

Her biggest pillars of strength are her mother, Lt. Col (Retd) Chandana Bondyapad-hyay and her guru Manjula Ramaswamy who have supported her since her childhood. Tejeswini she has always been a very lazy girl, but dance made her punctual and productive, shares her mother.

 Her guru Manjula Ramaswamy also plays a very important role in her life. “Bharatanatyam is traditional and disciplined dance and it is seen through her body language and when she performs. I feel proud of her,” shares her guru. 

Now pursuing her BA second year from Kasturba Gandhi degree college, Tejeswini also paints, has won a gold medal for Yoga and is also recipient of the Rashtrapati award for Scouts and Guides.