Madhulatha Anthigari, 53, gave 12-year-old Sai Charan from Narasampet three chances to admit he’d made a mistake. As a child who loved to dance to film songs on TV, it was highly likely he would later regret signing up to study Bharatnatyam and Kuchipudi. Or feel shy at being the only boy in his all-girl class. But Sai Charan told the principal he was sure. Sai Charan loves to dance. Why shouldn’t he when he dances so well, the girls in his class will tell you.
He wants to be Michael Jackson, an ambition that most classical fine arts colleges and schools would scoff at, but here in Telangana, they understand it perfectly. After all, the skills you are certified in must give you the ability to find a job, and the mix of classical and modern has produced an AR Rahman, an Illayaraja, a Yesudas, and a Prabhudeva. In Telangana, they seem to be clear about that.
After Sai Charan, four other boys — Premkumar, A Manosreeharan, J Ankit and B Arvind — have signed up to learn classical dance too.
The boys are part of the first co-educational Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institution (TSWREI) school that offers a fine arts certification along with a matriculation certificate.
Read more of this encouraging report by Gayatri Jayaraman published in Hindustan Times...
