PIONEERS | SEEMA
Just the Way She Moves FROM A SMALL TOWN TO THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE, MEENAL SAJWAN DESCRIBES HOW KATHAK DANCE HELPED HER FIND HER FEET
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ast July Meenal Sajwan completed a four-and-a-half year stay in Mexico. She was on assignment by the Indian Council for Cultural Affairs to teach Kathak dance at the Indian Culture Center in Mexico City, and to perform at cultural events the Indian embassy orga-nized throughout that country.
56 | SEEMA.COM | MARCH 2021
ALPANA VARMA For Sajwan, that was the culmination of a journey lined with hurdles and huge demands for courage. But all the forces in the universe conspire with those with determination. Growing up in the small town of Haldwani, at the foothills of the Himalayas, Sajwan’s family was quite orthodox. Girls like her were brought up to follow the rules, with little say in their
own lives. Sajwan says she had no exposure to Kathak in her childhood. In fact, there was so little awareness of any of the classical performing arts that her town did not even have an auditorium. She would watch Bollywood movies and imitate what she saw with her friends. She also got to dance at weddings in the neighborhood. But, sometimes, in the movies, she also got a glimpse of classical
