'Kala'idoscope for wee dancers

They say it’s better late than never. This seems to have inspired Manisha Mehta to follow her heart at 40! A chartered accountant by profession with a dancer’s soul, this Bengalurean is now helping under privileged kids pursue their talent and passion for art through her school, Dancekala.

“Dance isn’t just for those who can afford. So, we make it a point to teach at places with kids from underprivileged backgrounds,” says Manisha, who strongly believes in giving back to society through the medium. This time around, the 46-year-old, in a heart-warming gesture, had kids from the Thayi Mane Orphanage perform with her institute’s students at the recently concluded Fulfilling a Dream at Chowdiah Memorial Hall. This was a fundraiser that even saw all proceeds go towards the holistic support of children from the orphanage. “More than 50 kids from the Orphanage performed. All I wanted to do was to give them exposure to the field,” she beams, reflecting the smile that the kids had on their faces, as they took to the stage, some of them, for the very first time. She believes, exposure is important and she herself took to learning dance while studying at an international school in Mauritius. “I had a lot of free time and I wasn’t fascinated by sports, so, I took to dancing,” says Manisha, who is well-versed in everything from Bharatanatyam and ballet to Kathak. She has her dad to thank for that. “My father would arrange for a teacher to teach me dance for three-four hours every day. So there was a lot of learning throughout my growing up years,” she recollects.  

Teaching comes naturally to Manisha. And interacting with kids and seeing them pick up the skill wholeheartedly, she says, is what fulfils her. “In fact, I started teaching dance to the Indian community in the US for free. That was 11 years ago when I didn’t have a work permit there and had two little children,” she tells us. They even put up several shows and participated in various competitions. “It’s then that I realised I was good at it. More than that, how much I loved it,” she says about the beginning of her journey. Back in India, her first class here saw over 45 students on day one. “Today there are about 115 of them and it increases every day,” she smiles, happy and content to have followed her dream and to be helping kids follow theirs.