The evening is tranquil in Shyamala Surendran’s garden. The sunlight creates faint haloes around the trees and the sparrows cheep and twitter intermittently. The wind-chimes tinkle softly from the roof of the portico and the house feels like a haven in laterite and ochre. Shyamala’s pet parrot, in her cage, is perturbed at the sight of an intruder. She squalls at first and then sharply calls out ‘ thathamme …’ only to wake the three German Shepherds in their cage, who begin a barking symphony.
The building, on SRM Road, which today houses the Dharani School of Performing Arts, was built in 1978 by Shyamala’s husband Captain Surendran who was in the Merchant Navy. “I was a housewife then and sailing with my husband. I had seen several houses abroad and had definite ideas on what I wanted. I was in love with the fashionable arches, which, as you can see, are in plenty here,” says Shyamala, the founder and managing trustee of Dharani. “I had no idea then that I would be using this very space for dance,” she adds.
Shyamala started learning dance in 1984 when she was 34 and realised gradually that it meant more to her than what she thought. “Dance for me became a conversation with God, a spiritual exercise,” she says. She learnt both Bharatanatyam and Mohiniyattam and her gurus included the eminent Dhananjayan couple, Padmabhushan Kalanidhi Narayanan and Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma. Shyamala started teaching in 1987 and for 28 years now, she has continued to teach, inspire and perform.
“My very first classes were taken here,” she says, pointing to the garage. “There were very few students then, but soon, I realised that I needed a bigger space as the girls would not stretch out their arms fully because of lack of space.” Then her classes were shifted into the drawing room. As the number of students increased, Shyamala built a spacious hall behind the house that could accommodate the students.
Today, Dharani is in expansion mode, with more rooms added to the halls for the benefit of students from other countries and an auditorium for performance and lectures under construction. Shyamala is passionate about her new project and sees to it that her suggestions are implemented. “I have a clear idea of how it (the auditorium) should look,” she says. “The roof will be in tiles (in double layers) to reduce heat and it will be supported by old-fashioned pillars. The flooring will be red oxide and there will be a chaarupadi running around the auditorium.”
The auditorium is designed to seat up to 150 people, with a 20-25 ft stage and it is expected to be completed by August. The space will be utilised for classes, too.
“The environment is very important for learning dance or any art form,” Shyamala says. “The surroundings should be clean. One will not find positive energy in a place that is not clean. It is not the grandeur of the space that is important, but the ambience it offers. The floor should not be too smooth; there should be enough natural light and a lot of fresh air.” At Dharani, classes begin only after the oil lamp and the agarbathis are lit. “Any classical art form is a spiritual exercise. The students should be able to feel the positive vibrations, only then can they ‘be’ in class mentally.”
Shyamala says she cannot put a finger on what inspires her choreography ideas. “The ideas just come. I can never say when, where or how they do,” she smiles. However, good music is a positive influence. In some of her compositions, she has used the free flowing rhythm of the edakka after watching an aged artiste perform at the Ravipuram temple. “He taught me the basics and brought me his book on edakka .” Fascinated by the instrument, she experimented with it in her choreography. “The energy of the student matters when it comes to choreography. I want the students’ full attention and to get that, I need to be strict and have my posture right,” she says.
The house, on 18-and-a-half cents, is as much a home to her students. “They are like my own children. They feel at home here,” she says. The décor bears Shyamala’s artistic touch and the drawing room wall flaunts an old oil painting done by her years ago. In between her classes and travels, Shyamala finds time for her garden and her reading. “I take my art day by day. Whatever I do, I give it my 100 per cent.”
