Selvi. Kavitha Ramu IAS is presently the Director cum Mission Director of Department of Integrated Child Development Services in Tamil Nadu. An University rank holder in M.A. Public Administration, she cleared Indian Administrative services and joined as Deputy Collector of Tiruvallur District, Tamil Nadu in the year 2002.

Kavitha Ramu has held several positions including that of Revenue Divisional Officer, Tirupattur, Vellore District, Joint Commissioner for Relief and Rehabilitation, District Revenue Officer, Tamil Nadu Road Sector Project, and as the General Manager for the Tamilnadu State Tourism Development Corporation.

Kavitha Ramu is a Senior Bharathanatyam Artist who has been performing as a soloist for the past 20 years. She has performed under the auspices of various reputed Sabhas in India and has toured abroad with over 625 performances to her credit. She had the rare opportunity of co-ordinating the cultural events for the opening and closing ceremonies during the SAF games held in Chennai in the year 1995. She is an A grade artist of Doordarshan and an empanelled artist of the ICCR.

In an interview, Selvi. Kavitha Ramu tells Marie Banu about AbunDance, a video series on social issues.

About your childhood and education?

I was born in the temple town of Madurai, and started learning Bharatanatyam at the age of four. My father, Shri. M Ramu, was an IAS officer and my mother, Smt. Manimegalai, worked as a professor of Economics before marriage.

As my father was a civil servant, he was transferred every few years. Thus, I studied in nine different schools and when I was 12, my family finally settled down in Chennai.

At Madurai, I learnt Bharatnatyam from Guru Smt. Neela Krishnamurthy who is the sister and long-time Nattuvanar of the famous doyen of Bharatanatyam Dr. Padma Subramanyam.  When I was eight years old, I performed at the fifth World Conference that was held in Madurai. This was my first major performance.

When I moved to Chennai,  I met Kalaimamani Smt. K.J. Sarasa, legendary Bharatanatyam Guru who had developed the Vazhuvoor style of Bharatanatyam and was trained by her for 15 years.

Your journey as an IAS officer and a Bharatanatyam dancer?

To be able to continue with my passion despite the professional requirements has been an incredible journey. Dance has taught me discipline and focus,  service has taught me the importance of time.

I have been always dancing since my age of 5, and the only factor that did not change all my life was, dancing. I have never taken breaks during public examinations during schooling, nor in college. That was dance for me and it has always been part of my routine.

Having said that, there are some compromises I have made. I don’t take up overseas tours over 15 days, I see to that all my season programmes (Margazhi music and dance festival held in December and January months) are slated only during weekends.

I have been a soloist performer predominantly, and when I have to stage a group performance, I choose my dancers who are flexible with their timings.  My orchestra is also very supportive,  and we have rehearsals at 7 am or after 8 pm.

About noon meal for the elderly through the Department of Integrated Child Development Services?

Nutritious Meal to all the children, through the Department of Integrated Child Development Services has provided freedom from hunger and basic foundation for health and education of children without any hindrance. 

Likewise, noon meal for Old Age Pension beneficiaries has always   been there since 1983. But, many people were not availing the facility, either due to lack of awareness or other factors.

We are now making conscious efforts to take this programme across to the Old Age Pension beneficiaries, so that the spirit of the programme is captured and many people are benefited.

Please tells us about the video series on social issues (AbunDance).

The purpose of any art form is to take a message to people, be it through a religious story or a mythological story or a theme designed to propagate the message.  I think it is the duty of artists to initiate conversations through Art and establish a dialogue with people. In that way, I thought it was about time I did something through dance, a medium I am most comfortable with, to establish a connect with people. That’s how and why AbunDance happened.

I would like to reach out to people through a variety of mediums including dance videos, talk shows with prominent faces or even a lecture and convey a wider perspective and give a different meaning to it.

‘AbunDance’ is a video series through which I aim to explore various social and environmental issues that exist in our society, for instance, dowry, female infanticide, environmental issues, etc. I chose the name ‘AbunDance’ as dance is part of the word and also because there is an array of topics I would like to cover through this platform.

Your advice for IAS aspirants?

Time management is the key, so that there’s no stress. You should lead a normal life while preparing for civil service examination.

Aspirants of any competitive examination for that matter, should not take any pressure unto themselves.  Apart from the scheduled time that they have allotted for preparation, they should sleep enough, eat healthy, spend time with their family and friends and also allot time for television and movies apart for fitness.