CNV3-I1-14-ITM Alumni Role Model

Priyanka Agarwal....

As long as it goes in picking carriers after college, we see that people often go for a decent job with a fat paycheque in their respective fields. But have you ever imagined, a girl from the small town of Rajasthan, after completing her PGDM, would choose dancing career over a successful carrier in marketing?

So here is Priyakshi Agarwal, who dream a little bigger, is pass out of ITM Business School, Navi Mumbai (PGDM Batch 2014-16). Her PGDM was on the verge of completion, and she got a chance to be at the show of one of the living legends of our time, Dr Mallika Sarabhai. She chose the road less travelled. And after the show, she went on and straight away asked Ms Sarabhai and expressed her love for dance, especially Bharatnatyam and further mentioned that she wants to do the dance for a social change.

Priyanka comes from the part of India, where dance is not considered as one of the things that an aristocrat would do, so try imaging the social pressure. It is advisory to learn Bharatnatyam from the age 7-9, for the body to adapt the physical pressure because there is going be a lot of physical stress. She was all alone in the city, resisting with society, fighting every day with pain, some days she loses too, but then the light, the fire that's been burning inside her, like a Yagya is happening inside her, she said she was doing it like 'Sadhna.' She completed her Bharatanatyam in 2.5 years and the final show – Arangetram - was on 2nd December 2018 wherein ITM faculty attended the show to bless her. She had two roads diverged in the woods and she chose the one less travelled by and that has made all the difference.

Harsha Subramaniam