On a journey to find myself by losing myself

“My mother was an Odissi dancer and It was her wish to have one of her children in Odissi. I was in 7th std when she took me to a school nearby, Rajdhani Kala Sansad. Soon I was disenrolled from Odissi and had no connection with dance till I passed my 10th std as my academics went bad. My mother and grandma got the form from Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyala for me. For the interview, all I had come prepared with was Bhoomi Pranam and Sabha Pranam. I was beyond happy to get selected and even happier that I didn't get a call back from any other college.

I have a history of playing side roles from being a tree to wind and what not. That experience gave me scope to observe the nuances of dance. Even after dedicatedly pursuing dance and making a career out of it, being a man I get so many questions on my responsibilities. Rudrakshya is a sacred space for me. The moment I enter here, I leave all questions & sorrows outside. Today, I am fortunate to get a Guru, father, friend and philosopher in one person, Guru Bichitrananda Swain. I will always remember that on my first day he taunted with a smile that I will be just a visitor for 8 days and then will go away. Now it’s been 7 years that Guruji’s blessings has kept me with him.

Odissi attracts me emotionally more than physically. This gracefulness in grandness is what I have worshipped. My biggest learning from Guruji is that if you are a human, nothing is impossible. I believe that just when you love a person deeply and expect to be loved back, you do anything to get it and it eventually comes to you if it has to. I put dance in the same place and it always finds its way to me. I immensely value the Gurukul system that I am a part of because it has not only given me a culture but a cultural company. It has shown me the miraculous importance of blessings.

I would want each aspiring dancer to have that faith because if you have the faith, dance will be with you in any corner of the world where your effort will be your guru and your patience will be your best friend"