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Blessed to have performed for APJ Abdul Kalam

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Raja Reddy
Raja ReddyJul 30, 2015 | 18:59

Blessed to have performed for APJ Abdul Kalam

Former president APJ Abdul Kalam had known us, Raja and Radha Reddy, the kuchipudi duo, since he invited us for tea at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in 2002. He wanted us to choreograph performances set to some of his poems and said he would be very happy if we did so. We said it would be only our honour. I told him, if he wouldn’t mind, I would happily take up his English poems because the language was universal.

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Our busy schedules didn’t allow us to adapt his works immediately. Almost a year-and-a-half after the meeting, we finally presented pieces set to two of his poems: The Life Tree and The Vision which started off as “I climbed, I climbed, where is the peak my Lord”. Both were set to Western classical music. We called him, saying that we’d like to come and present his poems at his office. But he insisted that he would like to attend the premiere at the Kamani Auditorium on April 29 - which is International Dance Day - in 2004. We hoped that he would stay for 15 minutes and see some of the work which was presented by me, Radha and our students. Instead, he sat for almost two hours and watched the entire show. The security team was concerned that he was running over time. He said, "Please don’t disturb me. I’m enjoying. This is what my inner soul wants." After that he came on stage and spoke for 15 minutes saying how happy he was with the performance. He said, “This is the real anandam (happiness).” He got a CD of the performance because he wanted to see it again and again.

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He was not just a great scientist but also a great man. He used to enjoy playing the veena, and did so for half-an-hour every morning. He used to listen to songs of the renowned Carnatic vocalist MS Subbulakshmi and other devotional tracks. Dr Kalam was responsible for starting the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar which is given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi to young practitioners in the field of music, dance and theatre. The Sangeet Natak Akademi, until then, was known primarily for giving awards to scholars and exponents and that too after a certain age. Many people would come on wheelchair to receive it. Dr Kalam said we should also encourage talented youngsters, pat them on the back for their devotion to arts. He started the tradition of encouraging the young in the field of performing arts.

At the meeting in Rashtrapati Bhavan, he behaved less like the president of India and mingled with us more like a friend. He was a very knowledgeable person. He insisted that we should have a big vision and work hard towards realising it. He spoke well of the country. He said we are fortunate that we are born in this great country. That there was no other nation in the world like India.

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(As told to Suhani Singh)

Last updated: July 30, 2015 | 18:59
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