Told she would never dance again, she proved them wrong

Sumona Vohra was determined to have the Bharata Natyam arangetram her injury and personal challenges had robbed her of.

Sumona Vohra, who was told that she would never dance after a severe foot injury when she was 14, held an arangetram (debut public performance) recently in Bellflower, California.

Vohra, who is in her late 30s, returned to dancing four years after the accident and pursued her passion for Indian classical dancing. She has become a teacher of Bharata Natyam, Bollywood dance and yoga, and also teaches English as a second language in California.

She was determined to have the arangetram her injury and personal challenges had robbed her of. After more than 12 years of training, she did it under the tutelage of Ramya Harishankar of the Arpana School of Dancing in Irvine, California.

"I started my journey of Bharata Natyam in 1989 with Chari Narasimhan in Fairfax, Virginia," Vohra, the older daughter of Anila and Subhash Vohra (a veteran producer, writer and editor with the Voice of America in Washington, DC), told India Abroad.

"After that initial grounding from one of the best Bharata Natyam teachers in America, I continued to explore this art form with a variety of styles from different teachers."

In October 2008, she began intensive arangetram training under Ramya Harishankar.

"It was she who encouraged me through some of the most difficult times and made me appreciate this beautiful dance form even more. She helped me hone and refine my technique, expression and aesthetics and most importantly, the very spirit of Bharata Natyam that made me confident of my debut public performance," Vohra said.

She has received the Alliance for California Traditional Arts grant and performed at a number of dance recitals, cultural events, competitions and social festivals. In 1998 she won the first prize representing India at an international dance competition. Despite these achievements, she said, an arangetram was special.

"It has been a very unusual journey for me and I hope my story will encourage people of all ages to remember that it is never too late to do anything," Vohra said. "I certainly would not have been where I am without the support of so many people in my life. I am so deeply grateful to my parents and my little sister Lisa, who have been my solid pillars and cheer leaders. They gave me the courage to move forward and reach for my dream, and I deeply appreciate and simply cannot put into words the love and encouragement I received from them."

Says Vohra's guru Ramya Harishankar, "It all began a little over three years ago, when Mona (Sumona Vohra) sent me a link to a dance she performed in Virginia and expressed her desire to finish her Bharata Natyam training. Two weeks later Mona showed up at my door in California and said it had been her dream to finish the arangetram and asked if I could help her. And that was how her journey started. I know this journey will always continue, wherever she may be."

Former Bharata Natyam teacher Narasimhan adds that she was always impressed by Vohra's dedication and determination. "I demand a lot from my students, including discipline, punctuality, flexibility and cooperation, all of which Sumona gracefully demonstrated," she said. "She went above and beyond what was expected of her, coming to extra practice and rehearsals for annual summer recitals."

And her father Subhash Vohra could not be more proud.

"It all started in 1982, in London, at a BBC-sponsored boat picnic on the river Thames," he said (Subhash Vohra was working with the BBC before coming to the US and joining VOA). "There were more than 150 people, staff and their family members, and Sumona performed a dance number that everyone praised and thought she had been taking dance classes. It was her natural talent and our friends suggested she should learn from a professional dance teacher. Soon, we moved to Germany for six years. It wasn't easy to find a dance teacher there. In 1988, we came to America, and the first thing we wanted to do was to find a dance guru for our daughter."

Sumona Vohra is also a certified yoga teacher from Cloud Nine Yoga in Huntington Beach, California. Besides teaching dance and yoga at her alma mater, she teaches at the Sindhu Gurukul Center in Norwalk and Yogavidala in Los Angeles.

Linda Crossley, Vohra's yoga teacher, said, "Mona shared with me her passion for dance and how she felt that yoga was an extension of her dance. And, through our work together for months in yoga training, I came to understand the depth of her passion."

"Mona's pride in Indian heritage, culture, spirituality and traditions has always been with her since she was a child," Subhash Vohra added, "and is still a deep part of the young woman she has become."