Kiran Krishna (right) and her mother Seena. Photo: Gopika K.P.Kannur: The day two of State School Kalosavam gathered momentum with classical dance competitions such as Kuchipudi and Mohiniyattam at various venues across Kannur. The Mohiniyattam contest, which has been a crowd-puller for decades, took place at the Town Hall.
Among the participants who gave a striking performance was Kiran Krishna of T.K.M. HSS, Kollam. Watching Kiran on stage, performing with a heavenly grace and poise, one certainly wouldn’t imagine the turmoil she had been going through.
A Class XI student, Kiran is still mourning the death of her father, Krishna Kumar, who had vowed to watch her perform this time. Kumar had never seen his daughter perform on stage as he was working in Saudi. However, just five days before Kiran's school youth festival, Kumar met with a fatal accident.
Although the dates of the youth fest were finalized by then, the school authorities postponed the event for Kiran's sake. However, Kiran's mother Seena was not sure whether her daughter would ever wear the ghungroo again. "If not for her teacher Lal Kumar, my daughter wouldn't have had the courage to go forward. In fact, he is the man behind her success," said Seena. After 15 days, Kiran wore her dance costumes again; cleared sub-district, district level and reached this stage.
Kiran has been learning classical dance for the past eight years under the tutelage of Lal Kumar at Revathy Kalakshetra in Kollam. On stage, Kiran brought alive with enchanting movements, an episode from Panchali Vastrakshepam. "I have tried my best and like every other participant, I hope to win," said Kiran.
She has been performing in State Kalolsavam for the past three years and has got third prize in Mohiniyattam when she was in Class VIII. Kiran is also prepping up for her Kuchipudi performance, which is scheduled for Thursday.
Kiran has an elder sister, who is a nursing student in Kollam. Apparently, the family is now striving to make ends meet as Kumar was the only bread-winner. However, they have a greater resolve to move forward in life: Kiran's dance training.
