I was busy packing for a short trip to Kerala during the short winter break from school in December. That’s when my Mom got a call on her mobile. With least interest upon who it was, I was in my own world of excitement to meet my sweet little cousin. After few moments I could hear Mom telling me,

“Malu, you have got a chance to perform with Paris Lakshmi who is performing for NSS Kuwait next month. That was Smitha aunty on the line asking for our consent and I agreed”.

For a moment I could not digest the name. “Paris Lakshmi, who is that?”, I asked my Mom.

“She is a talented classical dancer and cine fame. You have seen her in the film “Bangalore Days”, she replied.

“Oh yeah, I have seen her. She is a foreigner, right?” my interest grew.

“Yes, she is a French lady who is now married to an extremely talented Kathakali artist Sunil and now settled in Kerala.

That’s quite interesting. Back in Kerala during my holidays, I got a chance to watch the Malayalam movie “Salt Mango Tree”, and to my surprise I recognized her, playing a prominent role in that. I was happy that she was coming to Kuwait in few days and I am going to perform with her.

By the time I returned to Kuwait, the practice sessions, with a team of 10, were in full swing. I was told that she will join us only the previous day of the program. Keeping space for her at the center, we learned the whole dance. It was a semi-classical piece which was choreographed by her team in Kerala. The music was a bit fast and the steps were purely classical. To be frank, without watching any of her performance, I doubted her perfection on stage being foreigner attempting our classical dance and was quite surprised to see such hard steps.

Finally the day arrived. On the previous evening of the program we were all at the venue sharing our information about her whereabouts. Suddenly all were silent and I heard the murmur, “she is coming, she is coming”. I could see the eagerness in everyone to see a foreign lady who is a Bharatanatyam exponent. Expecting a so called ‘celebrity entry’ to the hall, initially I could not place her. And there she was in a green and orange cotton ‘Churidar’, walking slowly with a sweet smile, watching the stage from distance. I was literally wonder stuck to see a French lady in such an appearance and started admiring her beauty and simplicity. Neatly plated long hair with red coloured ‘Sindur’ on her hairline, a light liner of ‘Kajal’ to adorn her eyes, and a long ‘Bindi’ to beautify her forehead and that’s it, she looked like any other married woman of Kerala. She was happy to meet us who are going to share the stage for the program.

To my surprise, when we were trying to make her comfortable by communicating in English, she was trying to speak to us in Malayalam. With kids like me who are comfortable with English even if we are in a group of friends from Kerala, she stood apart with her sincere effort to use our language while communicating to us when she had all the privilege of using English. At the rehearsal she just gelled among us with ease.

During the break I could not hold myself from having a chat with her. I felt that she could read the eager in my eyes and was patient enough to answer all my queries about her. She was a bundle of surprise for me. Her eyes dilated when she talked about her artist family who is an ardent lover of Kerala culture and art forms. The ‘Lakshmi’ in her name was not adopted after marrying a Keralite. Her parents gave her the name Myriam Sophia Lakshmi Quinio and that is how she is known in the world of art as ‘Paris Lakshmi’. Right from the childhood she got trained in various western dance styles. I was all the more stunned when she told that her dance teachers were also French, Armelle Choquard and Dominique Delorme, who were students of V.S. Muthuswami Pillai, Dr. Sucheta Chapekar and Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam, the pride of India. Later she herself came down to our land to join them.

I loved the perplexed look in her eyes when I asked her why she chose Bharatnatyam, when there were many art forms in India. She didn’t know what to answer and finally this is what she said with a smile,

“I don’t know, may be because I was influenced by few Tamilian friends I have”.

She also added, “My family loved India’s culture and traditions the most and I have visited India many times in childhood. Dance was there in my blood and may be my parent’s love for this country also influenced”.

She also has a flare in ‘Kathakali’. Her dance school is named as ‘Kalashakti school of Arts’ which is located at Vaikkom in Kerala.

Next evening, on stage, she was just amazing with perfection in her postures, the clarity in her mudras, facial expressions and the grace with which she danced. The passion for dance was visible in her with which she could entice the audience. Myself being a dance student, it was immense pleasure meeting her and associating with her was an experience with lots to learn and imbibe. Thank God for giving me such a wonderful opportunity.

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