Amidst the crowd that cribs to be born as women or of having a girl child, Mrs. Rani Shinghal, age 49, feels proud of being born in a family that thought of things that were high above such narrow mind sets and, raised men and women equally, proving gender as just a WORD.
Continuing the legacy of Dance with Natya Sudha, which was started off by her father 54 years ago, Mrs. Rani Shinghal expresses how being a woman proved to be an asset for her. “I never wanted to be a man, I adore myself and glad to be a woman” said Mrs. Shinghal.
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It is difficult to believe that dance was not her first choice of career; she always aspired to be a Lawyer. But, it was her father who always felt that she is a born dancer, and like him one day even she will feel, breath and live dance. “You have to dance and make me proud, these were the words of my father” said Mrs. Shinghal. She expresses how her father was right and eventually, though she was herself performing and training others, after giving birth to her first child she felt ‘This is it! This is what I am, a dancer’.
Started practicing at tender age of 3 with her father, and gave her first performance (Arangetram) at age of 7, Mrs. Shinghal kept performing on stage till she was 27years old, and after that she started training students in school, and as well as at her own place.
Honored with awards like Kalaichelvi, Natyakalarani, Shobana, Distinguished Citizen Award (Delhi, 1997), Mrs. Shinghal tells, how her journey wasn’t a piece of cake and how dance has been her lifeline. While narrating few incidents which were challenging for her, she shared the most difficult phase of her life- “After giving birth to my second child, I was on bed for months, and the illness continued for 7 years, but still I danced and took classes. Dance worked for me like a medicine, it has always got me out of such drastic incidents. Even Doctors, who said I will not be able to dance, were amazed to see me fit and fine, in short span of time.” said Mrs. Shinghal.
Further she adds that nothing can fail you till you are dedicated, sincere and working hard towards achieving your goal. All that comes your way is for a purpose; one should aim to make oneself better.
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She feels fortunate also about the fact that she is known because of her parents, and also the students who got trained under her guidance. The only thing she feels unfortunate about is of not having her GURU’s, her father and mother around her anymore for learning and blessings. “My sole aim in life is to teach dance till my last breath. I am happy I could fulfill my father’s dream and made him proud, but still there’s a long way to go. An artist should never be satisfied.” answered Mrs. Shinghal when asked about her life’s milestone and where she sees herself as compared to her father.
Ending the interview with us, she said that nothing but hard-work and dedication has got her to the position she is in right now, and will take her to more heights. She also advices to our readers, that “Anyone who is pursuing any career, especially in dance (of any form), hard-work and dedication are the base of success. There is no escapism from it.” At last summing up her life she said “My life, my journey is only dance.”
