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Famous Kuchipudi couple take up formidable task

Thirteen-year-old Manpreet, despite being weighed down by the calipers supporting her leg, posed as Lord Shiva, maintaining perfect composure with her right hand raised in abhayam hasta to demonstrate the lord's power over the preservation of the universe.

Within minutes, another group of boys took over to perform the vigorous tandava while the girls won over the hearts of the onlookers with their sensuous lasya. Soon, some children in wheelchairs took the centrestage. With extreme dexterousness, they piloted the chairs, at times stopping in the tracks to rock them, never failing to keep tune with the music.

''If these handicapped children can learn a few nuances of Kuchipudi in eight to 10 weeks and perform like normal children, what right does the society have in shunning them?'' ask the world's most famous Kuchipudi couple Raja and Radha Reddy.

The couple has taken up a formidable challenge in their career -- training handicapped children to dance at the Republic Day parade.

''We wanted to show the world that the children with special needs are not inferior to others in any way. Given a chance, they can perform and even excel in arts like dancing,'' said Raja and Radha.

Over 100 physically and mentally handicapped children who took part in the rehearsal, will display their dancing prowess on a tableau as it passes on the Rajpath during the Republic Day parade.

''The tableau has been christened Sangamam to signify the country's unity despite the rich cultural diversity. It also symbolises the integrated effort of children with diverse special needs because of mental, visual, hearing, speech or orthopaedic impairment,'' Raja and Radha said.

Blind Relief Association chairperson, Dr Manju Bharat Ram was instrumental in getting the couple to choreograph for the tableau. The tableau is sponsored by the ministries of welfare and defence.

During the rehearsal, the children put up a laudable show which elicited warm applause from the spectators.

How does the couple communicate with these children? Rai Mathur, a teacher at the Jaurmal Perumal Memorial Senior Secondary School had the answer. ''Guruji understands the children better than us and is totally at ease while communicating through improvised sign language. It is really unbelievable,'' she said.

Raja Reddy said he initially faced difficulties in communicating with the children, but soon he was able to convey the intricacies of the dance to them through facial expressions and gestures. In the case of visually impaired children, he took the help of their school's physical education teacher.

Aged between six and 18 years, the children have been drawn from six special institutions in and around Delhi. And without exception, all of them were very excited.

A young girl with impaired mental faculty from the Okhla Centre for the Mentally Retarded stood her ground and blurted, 'Geeta Chabra' to identify herself. Afflicted by Down's Syndrome, Geeta looked proud to have been a given a chance to participate in the parade.

A visually impaired student, Akhilesh said he was very excited to be a part of the team working with 'Guruji'. Given a chance, he would love to come back for the next year's Republic Day celebrations.

''I love cricket and my favourite player is Rahul Dravid. Although I cannot see, I remain glued to the radio or television to hear cricket commentaries,'' he said proudly.

Fourteen-year-old Vinay Mehndiratta of the Balwant Rai Mehta School in Greater Kailash began foregoing his lunch after 'Guruji' said he was overweight for the performance. Vinay, who is speech and hearing impaired, indicated that he was very happy and did not feel any discomfort at all.

Viras, another speech and hearing impaired boy from Orissa, is learning photography at the All India Federation for Deaf and Dumb. Through gestures, he indicated that he was greatly touched by the love and affection of 'Guruji'. His ambition? Open a photo studio in Bhubaneswar.

''I told my parents to watch out for me on the television during the Republic Day parade,'' chimed Dimple, a student of Amar Jyoti, Karkardooma.

Raja Reddy said, ''To show that rhythm is pervasive in nature and in all beings the children will also perform a dance wearing horse masks. Horses are among the most graceful animals that exhibit rhythm in almost every movement of theirs. This seems to be in harmony with an omnipresent universal tune.''

Asked about his experiences during the assignment, he said it was an extremely satisfying task for him and Radha.

''The love showered on us by these innocent children has left a profound impact on us. We would love to come forward and extend help to them to lead a productive life,'' the country's most popular Kuchipudi exponent said.

UNI

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