'Dance makes you a better human'

All eyes were on her that evening—every stalwart of Carnatic music and Bharatnatyam was present at the Music Academy in Madras, waiting to see if the young lady would take her nritya to the next level in the next one hour.

- NITIKA KRISHNA

All eyes were on her that evening—every stalwart of Carnatic music and Bharatnatyam was present at the Music Academy in Madras, waiting to see if the young lady would take her nritya to the next level in the next one hour. She was far from nervous; in fact, she was excited to perform, though she had performed that particular margam (sequence) only once before. But she gave it her all, blending her stellar abhinaya (expression) with an effortless nritta. Just as she was done and her heart beat with excitement and apprehension, the legendary MS Subbulakshmi walked onto the stage. "What would she say?" the young dancer wondered. But the singer didn't say a word. Instead, she gave her the biggest, warmest hug.

As 75-year-old Nandini Ramani fondly recalls this heartwarming memory to CE, she smiles with a childlike innocence. For that one moment, she becomes a shishya—not the guru of students in India and abroad, not the dance critic, not the Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee. And certainly not the wise danseuse having a conversation about her life's work with Dr Anupama Kylash at Saptaparni's Smrti Kosha: Reinforcing Lived Legacy—'Who Am I?'