THE MOST striking feature about Sharodi Saikia is her eyes. And as she talks about her dance Sattriya, they lit up. She says, “Dance runs in my blood.”
Acclaimed as a leading exponent of Sattriya tradition, Sharodi has been pursuing this dance form for more than three decades.
“I started dancing when I was barely five. My first lesson was in Manipuri, and then I learnt Kathak. However, I found my true calling in Sattriya,” she says.
Sattriya is the traditional dance of Vaishnava sattras monasteries in Assam.
Sharodi was in town to perform at the closing ceremony of Kala Utsav at Rashtriya Lalit Kala Kendra, Aliganj on Tuesday.
“Kathak has been my true passion. But, my father insisted and encouraged me to take up Sattriya. I took up this dance form when I was 16. In Guwahari, I met my guru who insisted that I drop Kathak. It’s been 33 years since and I haven’t done Kathak.
But when I see Kathak my feet start thumping,” says she.
Sharodi is a multi-faceted personality. She is a Masters in Zoology. Later, she taught for eight years in Jorhat. With a diploma in Educational Planning and Administration under her belt, Saikia is also the Deputy Director in the Directorate of Higher Education in Assam.
{{/usCountry}}Sharodi is a multi-faceted personality. She is a Masters in Zoology. Later, she taught for eight years in Jorhat. With a diploma in Educational Planning and Administration under her belt, Saikia is also the Deputy Director in the Directorate of Higher Education in Assam.
{{/usCountry}}Saikia is married to a litterateur and a professor of medicine. “My husband has been a great support in all these years. He took care to built my career as a danseuse,” she says.
However, for her the greatest joy in life is to be a mother. “I love my son more than anything else. Motherhood is the greatest joy for any woman. I miss my son when he is away in the boarding school,” she says.
Sharodi also runs a dance school in Assam. “I only teach girls. When I impart something to a girl I feel as if I am passing on a tradition. It is a very satisfying experience,” she adds.
Luminously beautiful minus her heavy dance makeup, Sharodi is painfully humble.
She talks so politely that one has to strain one’s ears to listen to her. Soft and subtle beauty, she is an entirely different person when she is on stage to perform. She says, “When I perform I feel that the audience is like God. Through dance I not only communicate with my audience, but also exercise through which I reach spiritual high and it feels like I am interacting with God.”