Lavanyaa Gladston: THE MARTIAL ART COUPLE

Lavanyaa Narain and P Gladston run NeoKalari which offers training in Kalaripayattu, a graceful martial art form of Kerala. In Kalaripayattu, the emphasis on physical discipline is balanced by equal importance to mental discipline

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They are practitioners of the Northern style of Kalari, having had rigorous training under the tutelage of Shaji John, for the last fifteen years. They have been practicing Kalaripyattu in a very systematic dedicated manner. Both of them are trained to wield advanced weapons such as dagger (kadara), sword and shield, urumi (flexible sword), and many other wooden weapons and barehand techniques.

You are a professional practicing Architect and have been a performing classical dancer for more than 2 decades. Please share the series of events that led you to take up Kalaripayattu.

Lavanyaa - I started learning Bharatanatyam at the age of 11 along with my sister. We had our first public stage performance in 1991. We were very active in the performance circle and did many thematic shows in India and abroad. My Grandfather late K.Balaram was a famous architect in Chennai. I have never met him. I had seen his buildings and a road named after him in Chennai. This was an inspiration for me to get into architecture. I got into the School of Architecture and Planning, Guindy, one of the premier institutes.

In my twenties, I felt there was so much energy in me and I wanted to learn and practice a form where there was no performance pressure. Bharatanatyam is a performing art, and Architecture is also a visual art in one sense. That is when I came across Kalaripayattu, wherein the first class made my body overflow with abundant energy. The way my body felt after every session made me continue the practice of Kalaripayattu. The emotional connection you get with the body was an added feature for me to look into the form from a deeper perspective.