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At Ramlila, golden doe from US

NEW DELHI: The ladies' green room at Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra is abuzz with activity and last-minute confusion, moments before the evening's Ramlila production. As one takes a quiet look around, a blonde actress stands out among the half-ready Sitas and Surpnakhas. This is a 22-year-old American, Goura Prema, who is playing the golden deer in this year's production.

An American in Ramlila? What does Ramayana mean to her? Pat comes the reply, "I have been raised with the story of Rama and know it by heart. I am a Hare Rama devotee. In fact, I first played the golden deer in a Ramlila adaptation in America when I was all of five years old."

Prema, whose passion for dance brought her to Delhi two years ago, has been associated with the Kendra for a year now. "I am learning chhaau, the dance form from Orissa and am also taking lessons in bhajan singing. I came here after seeing a Ramlila production of the Kendra at ISKON temple, where I was staying" she says.

Before that, she studied western dance jazz and ballet and even Bharatanatyam back home in California. Though Prema holds an Associates degree, she feels that a mundane nine-to-five job was never her calling in life.

Learning dance in India has been a totally different experience. "Western dance doesn't have the same bhaav as dance forms here and this is what drew me to India. I tried enrolling for Indian dance classes in the west too. But I have to adapt to a totally new way of life being a foreigner and learning it in Delhi."

Prema says that it is wonderful working with an all-Indian cast they are teaching her Hindi as what she can manage to speak is "still quite accented". And she thanks her stars that the production doesn't require any dialogue deliveries.

Any plans to go back home? "Maybe after a few years." she says with a smile. Till then, you can catch this golden deer at the Kendra's ballets.

Source: The Times of India

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