Kolkata: Amala Shankar passes away at 101

KOLKATA: Veteran danseuse Amala Shankar passed away in Kolkata on Friday at the age of 101. On Friday morning, her granddaughter, Sreenanda Shankar, posted on Facebook about her demise “at the age of 101”. Her Facebook post said: “We just celebrated her birthday last month. Feeling so restless that there is no flight from Mumbai to Kolkata. Heartbroken 💔 May her soul Rest in peace.This is an end of an era. Love you Thamma. Thank you everything.”
Born on June 27, 1919, in Bangladesh, Amala was married to renowned dancer and choreographer Uday Shankar. Though she grew up in a village, it was her grandfather (Akshay Kumar Nandy) who chose to take her with him to Paris, where he was participating in the International Colonial Exhibition. She was 11 when she first met Uday Shankar there. Uday Shankar was 19 years elder to her and she used to initially address him as “Borda”.
It wasn’t love at first sight. But things changed when she saw him perform at Madan Theatres in Kolkata. Very impressed with his performance, she had actually said in front of her parents that “this is the man in my life”. Back then, nobody had taken note of this.
In fact, her father had always wanted Amala to take up writing as a career. At the age of 14, Amala wrote the book, “Saat Sagorer Paare”, where she had also written an introduction to every chapter. But, it was on the insistence of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose (who had seen her performance) that she was sent to join Uday Shankar’s dance centre in Almora. Their relationship had blossomed with time. They had tied the knot in 1942. Their son, Ananda, was born in the same year. Besides being a part of various dance productions that toured the world over, Amala also acted in “Kalpana” that was written, co-produced and directed by her husband.
From dance and choreography to painting and writing – Amala has left a major contribution in the cultural world. On June 27 this year, the family had celebrated her 101th birthday in Kolkata. Her demise is truly the end of an era.