12-year-old Saladi Eshan from the city is all set for his Kuchipudi dance performance this weekend. He is confident about pursuing his passion for classical dance and music alongside professional education courses. His mother Saladi Mrunalini is a versatile Kuchipudi dancer, choreographer and teacher. She was trained by Kuchipudi Guru D.V. Satya Kumar and Guru Vedantam Satya Narasimha Shastry.
Talking about her son, Mrunalini shared, “Eshan showed interest in dance since the age of seven. He used to see me dance and automatically make dance postures on his own. I was not very keen to teach him dance, being unsure of his future as a male dancer. But my husband advised me to encourage Eshan and teach him. For a few years we were in New Delhi where I was part of many social message-oriented productions encompassing dance and Indian culture. I have been a part of productions in almost all parts of India from Leh-Ladakh to Kanyakumari including the Northeast for Kanchenjunga Festival, Sindhu-Darshan, Khajuraho Festival, Brahamotsava Festival and Sharad Utsav. My colleague Rasheedi Hasan spotted Eshan’s good voice and started guiding him in music. After coming to Hyderabad, Eshan is taking Carnatic music lessons from Guru P.V.S. Seshaiah Sastry.”
For Eshan, dance performances made him a hero among his classmates and friends. “Whenever I perform in front of friends and classmates, they like my performance so much that they not only applaud during the programme but come and lift me up after! Even in my residential locality, children who have seen my performances started to learn classical dance from my mother. I love dance because I can express my feelings through it. Dance also makes me fit. My father encourages me and even told me how to walk towards the centre of stage before starting a performance. These are very small but important points to be taken care of for a successful presentation. There are many dance competitions in which I have participated and won first prizes. I also enjoy playing cricket in my leisure time and study about space, history and planets,” he says.
“There is only one life for us in which we can try and achieve many things. We may get 99 per cent support from our elders, but we need to make that one per cent effort to be successful in life,” concludes Eshan.
