Perhaps I was one of his very few Telugu students, and perhaps the only
one who had the great fortune of doing gurukulavasam with him.
Yes, I was one of the few privileged disciples who travelled all the way
from Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, for a period of 10+ years, stayed
with Vadyar and was able to observe him up close. I would watch
with amusement as he would be deeply engrossed in watching any MGR movie
on TV, when he would play with Nrithya (singing ‘jannakitta girrakitta”
for her), Abhinaya or Rasika and even Aravind…all his favorite
grandchildren at that time. I watched in equal amazement as he
took classes from 7 am in the morning through the evening, hour after
hour, giving individual and absolute attention to each of his senior
students. I specially mention this because I have often seen many
teachers make their senior students take class for the average students
and give their personal and privileged attention only to the good
students. But not Vadyar… whatever be the capabilities of the student,
he took class for them with the same commitment and passion. Not
just classes but the performances of all students, irrespective of their
performance caliber were also conducted with the same fervor.
That he customized his choreography to match the physique and artistic
potential of each of his students, is a known fact in the world of
Bharatanatyam.
So well written Sandhya and that too fully from the heart! I had the good fortune of learning under Vadyaar but only for a short period of 6-8 months. I was also struck by his simplicity, sincerity, affection and his great musical voice and choreography. It affected me deeply to hear of his sudden demise. He brought back a deep interest in dance within me which was sadly fading away before I started learning from him. I am ever grateful to him for that.
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