CHENNAI: The sexual harassment allegations against four dance teachers of Kalakshetra Foundation by several students have not only rocked the institute, which until a few months ago was only known for hosting scintillating cultural events but has also sparked a debate around guru-sishya parampara followed diligently in the institute.
According to students and alumni of Kalakshetra with whom TNIE spoke to, factors like implementation of strict moral codes in the institute, and suppression of the students in the name of guru-sishya tradition had irked the students for long but the final nail in the coffin that led to the outburst of anger was the lackadaisical approach of the management in handling the sexual harassment allegations.
“Teachers of the institute still have a medieval line of thought where they believe the Guru is the supreme authority and students are their slaves, who have to obey them without questions, to excel in the artform. I have witnessed instances where a teacher standing next to the chair won’t pull it and sit; instead, he will call students standing far away to pull the chair for him. In fact, one of my friends was forced to take tuition by a female teacher for her kids,” said a former student who was in the institute from 2015-2019. She alleged she was forced to drop out in 2019 due to dance teacher Hari Padman’s behaviour.
“One afternoon I was sitting in the campus during lunch hours when Padman asked me to go out with him. I outrightly refused his offer. And since then he made my life hell. He used to scold me using vulgar language in front of the entire class for petty mistakes,” alleged the former student, who had also given a written complaint to the internal complaints committee of the institute in February this year but to no avail.
The students complained that body shaming, verbal abuse, bullying, and the use of derogatory words against students are common practices by the teachers on campus.
Students alleged in fear of livelihood and in order to make a good career by finishing the course in time, many of the victims chose to accept the behaviour of the teachers and management for all these years.
Bharatnatyam artists have also opined that with changing times teachers need to upgrade themselves and build a healthy rapport with students. “Age-old strict practices which our ancestors followed are not going to work with the current generation,” said a Chennai-based Bharatnatyam artiste, who wished not to be named.
While Nrithya Pillai, a Bharathanatyam artiste and activist said, “It is important to remember that the staunchness of the students should be towards the learning and not towards the teacher. The figure of the guru has been portrayed as divine which significantly skews the power scales in favour of the teacher and makes students vulnerable,” said Nrithya.
The high drama that the Kalashetra campus witnessed over the last few days is something new for the institute, which came into existence in 1936. With over 200 students protesting, the Twitter war between supporters and those opposing the accused teachers, campus politics and professional jealousy doing the rounds in social media, the Kalakshetra issue has different angles and facets.