From Responsibilities To Recognition – The Inspiring Journey Of Mrs. Neena Vijay Gadge

Nagpur, Maharashtra: “Every ending is a new beginning” — Mrs. Neena Vijay Gadge has truly lived this quote. Once burdened by family responsibilities and struggling with depression, she is now a successful Yoga Teacher and Meditation Specialist, inspiring many through her journey.

Bound by responsibilities from both her maternal and marital homes, Neena often had to give up on her aspirations. At a difficult point, she fell into depression. Doctors advised her to practice pranayama, and she joined yoga classes for a few months. It was during this time that her yoga teacher suggested she take formal admission and assist in classes.

Motivated by this, she enrolled in the P.G. Diploma course at Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University, despite never having studied Sanskrit or science. Family duties prevented her from attending even a single college day. When the exam timetable was released just 15 days prior, she broke down, feeling she could never be anything beyond a caretaker.

But her daughter, Vaishnavi Gadge—a science merit student—stepped in as her pillar. She simplified the syllabus, taught her, and ensured discipline in her study routine, even limiting her food so she wouldn’t sleep while studying! Neena proudly shares, “Usually parents build their children’s future, but my daughter built mine.”

Her husband, Mr. Vijay Gadge, stood by her at every step, offering unwavering support. Despite criticism from others, she moved forward with determination.

Today, Neena runs the NEENA YOGA & MEDITATION CENTER at Utthan Nagar, Gorewada, Nagpur, where students regularly attend and benefit from her teachings. On 23rd July, she was honored with the Maharashtra Ratna Award in Pune, and later received the prestigious Bharat Gaurav Samman in Delhi.

Her journey proves that with dedication, even the most challenging lives can transform into stories of success and inspiration.

From Responsibilities To Recognition – The Inspiring Journey Of Mrs. Neena Vijay Gadge

Indian Classical Ace Kathak Dancer NEEHARIKA TUMMALA Her Recent Performance In Manhattan , New York Was Highly Appreciated By Audience & Media

“I began my dance journey in undergrad under Joanna D’Souza, a senior disciple of Pandit Chitresh Das. It was Joanna di, who cultivated my love for Kathak, and developed my form and style.

When I moved to India, Seema Mehta, another disciple of Guruji’s continued to be a bridge for my education and exposed me to another facet of Guruji – his evolution in the last 2 decades. When I moved to New York, I was lucky to have Rachna Nivas, fortuitously relocate from San Francisco to New York, where I was able to build on my prior foundation and study this Gharana’s dynamic style, technique and wisdom.

During this time, I have also received a lot of love from Rukhmani Mehta, who trained me for readiness to be an apprentice dancer in the company, and from Seibi Lee, who transmitted knowledge during the covid years.

No other student in this lineage has been the product of so many elders, who have graciously poured their knowledge into me and have shaped me to become the dancer I am today. I am simply a product of their immense investments into me. With deep gratitude and blessings from the elders in my lineage, I walk into this stage, knowing that I am another link in a beautiful long chain.

Manthan, or in my case, Atma Manthan, is the churning of the self, is what my solo journey was. I had to turn within to understand my unique voice, style and what it is that I wanted to say through this medium.

I started with an invocation to Goddess Ganga, by Adi Sankaracharya, tuned by Jayanta Banerjee to raag Lalit. I sang the invocation because I wanted the audience to experience Lalit and devi, the way I evoked it. The haunting, yet peaceful melody beautifully showcased elements of our traditional rangmanch, re-imagined for Ganga.

I proceeded to Teentaal Thaat, where I slowly opened the raag through poses and improvisation and moved through vilambit, madhya and dhrut compositions. Thaat was deeply supported by Satyaprakash Misra on Tabla, who gave sangati where needed but also gave me ample space to play. The audience specifically spoke about how they loved our upaj and that the thaat was exciting because they didn’t know where it would go next.

My next piece was a traditional gat bhao, the story of Govardhan Giri, where the villagers of Vrindavan seek sharagati from Krishna from Indra’s storm. Gat Bhao immersed me in raag Miyan Malhar, where we created and showed a storm through kathak – the rain, the winds, the thunder. Such is the power of Kathak footwork and imagery.

Next I proceed to a Khamaj Tarana by Ali Akbar Khaan Saab, given to me by Joanna di, who learned it directly from her. It was her choreography that I got to do on stage after many years with more grace and taiyyari.

Finally, in an ode to my mother tongue Telugu, I presented a bhajan by Annamacharya, Brahmam Okate. This song says that all living things have the same supreme consciousness and reality, brahmam is one. A fitting way to end the evening by going back to the ultimately philosophy of the subcontinent.

Indian Classical Ace Kathak Dancer  NEEHARIKA TUMMALA Her Recent Performance In Manhattan , New York  Was Highly Appreciated By Audience & Media