Can I consider him a senior colleague, contemporary,  elder brother, or an inspiring legend in the Natya field? Maybe all in one, a personification of perfection. Chandru Anna, as we address him fondly was a ‘humanist and a humourist’. When Balagopal and I arrived in Kalakshetra in 1953, he was the only one to communicate with us in broken Malayalam; that was enough for us to feel at home. For a year his loving care gave us comfort, but soon he left the hostel. His occasional holiday visits cheered us with his humour, entertaining boys’ hostel inmates, imitating various personalities in the campus as well as his Varanasi colleagues. He also entertained us with scenes from films and Therukoothu songs full of humour conveying moral values. 

Before he left Kalakshetra, I had the first and the best impression of him playing the role of Manmatha (Cupid) in Kalakshetra’s Kumara Sambhava (Kalidasa) dance drama  along with Rukmini Devi Amma playing the role of Parvati. 

Soon, I took over the role, following his footsteps, an impressionable inspiration indeed. On one of his sojourns to Chennai, Rukmini Amma asked him to play the role of Janaka in Sita Swayamvaram, while I was Sree Rama. With the least practice and rehearsals, he acquitted himself with ease and confidence, which was a litmus test for his ability to grasp quickly and retain in his memory forever. Rukmini Amma reposed strong confidence in his talent and virtuosity and invited him to lead and travel abroad with the Kalakshetra troupe.  

On certain occasions, we have performed together in Delhi and Chennai. We have included a couple of his compositions and choreography in the Bharatakalanjali repertoire, especially the evergreen Dasavatara Varnana (from Jayadeva’s Gita Govindam). This is one of our frequently repeated repertoires and the last time Chandru Anna and I performed it  was in Chennai during a Nartaka Festival in Narada Gana Sabha.

To some, this was a surprise when a short video clipping was screened on the memorial day on 4 July 2024 by Natyarangam. We have done the full-length margam as a nartaka duo in memory of Rajesh Balakrishnan. Unfortunately many would have missed those rare sangamam.  

When he was heading the performing arts department at Banaras University, he arranged our program for the students, the same way just a year before his retirement as the Dean of Baroda University. After a long break of almost three decades we had the  opportunity to exchange the pleasant memories of Kalakshetra days. He was a bit hesitant and apprehensive about his return to the South having spent his prime performing years in the North. I believe my unwavering conviction and encouragement that gave him the courage to make the bold decision to move back to Chennai. Of course, he also benefited greatly from the steadfast support of his classmate, Enfield Viswanathan, a prominent patron of the arts, who played a crucial role in helping him establish and settle in quickly.

Both he and his wife, Jayakka, were a significant presence in the performing arts community, and their involvement—regardless of junior or senior status—greatly uplifted the spirits of performers and connoisseurs alike. His absence from the front row of theatres will be profoundly felt, and his charismatic presence will be deeply missed by everyone.

Long live the memory of the great legend of Bharatanatyam!

(The author is a Bharatanatyam exponent, natyacharya and founder/president of Bharata Kalanjali, Chennai)