A little girl named Annapoorni used to watch her sister learn dance from doyenne Kalyanikutty Amma. Her dream to dance was gradually relegated to the far corners of her mind, as she pursued her studies to graduate in Physics from UC College in Aluva.
When the Indian Institute of Technology Madras opened admissions to its post-graduate course in Physics, Annapoorni applied and secured a place. And inadvertently crossed a milestone - she was in the first batch that had woman students. “We were just two girls and naturally, were ‘famous’ in that male-dominated campus!” laughs Annapoorni. That was in the early sixties of the previous century. Further studies took her to the US, where she pursued her doctorate in bio-engineering.
What was it like to be in the US in the sixties, single, vegetarian and pursuing a tough course? “It was tough,” says Annapoorni with a smile. “Vegetarianism was unheard of and I had to scout Italian stores for ingredients that were vaguely Indian. Sambar was some pulses cooked with tomato puree! In those days we did not have the cultural diversity or exposure we have today and their society was predominantly white. To me, all my professors looked the same! I moved about with a lot of trepidation but I couldn’t complain or go back as I was the one who had asked for it.”
In due course, Annapoorni married her college mate V T Shadagopan, an astrophysicist who was in the US for higher studies. “We got married without any fanfare, like ‘poor church mice’,” remembers Annapoorni, with a chuckle.
Raising a family and hours of work and travel with a successful career in the telecom industry kept her busy until age 55, when the anklet bells from the back of her mind began to sound louder and her feet yearned to dance to another tune. This drew her to Ambika Sukumaran, the well-known Malayalam actress of yesteryear. Annapoorni joined her dance school in New Jersey, as a student of Bharatanatyam.
Annapoorni Shadagopan
“Ambika Sukumaran, a student of Guru Gopinath, lived in New Jersey and held classes for young students in a rented hall. She also conducted private classes at her home and that is how I ended up going to her house once a week,” reminisces Annapoorni. “After the class, we would sit chatting. Being a Malayali in a foreign country and of the same generation we forged a friendship that lasts to this day, even after she stopped her classes.” Annapoorni remembers her first guru as a kind and warm person, who never raised her voice in anger even when a student failed to meet her expectations.
“She could detect the smallest mistake in my footwork and taught me a lot about abhinaya,” remembers Annapoorni in gratitude.
Annapoorni’s passion for dance led her to train further in the dance school run by Meena Basu Nag. In the school, she learns under Tatyana Popova, a graduate from Kalakshetra, who is also proficient in Flamenco and Bolshoi ballet. “I want to be a student forever,” says Annapoorni, while encouraging and introducing other seniors to the joy of dancing.
In tune with dance
While in Thiruvananthapuram, her birthplace, recently, it is her avid zest for dance that saw her performing a Mohiniyattam number at the wedding of a relative, attending the Soorya festival and paying a visit to the Natanagramam, a memorial for Guru Gopinath. “I feel especially inspired to see it, as it is in memory of my guru’s guru. Ambika fondly called him ‘Gopichettan’ and remembers him as a teacher who was very sincere and treated his students as family,” she says.
Travelling is her other interest. While official trips have taken her to many places in the world, she now travels for fun with family and friends. “My only regret is that my travel plans sometimes clash with the programmes in the dance school and I miss out on them. But I continue to perform with students who range in age from 13 to over 40,”adds the 76-year-old with a smile.
She says that her passion for dance helps her keep her body lively and creative. Her words to the world — “Life will just go by anyway. But follow your heart and do what you want to do.”
