Beating the odds

So when giggles,laughs,stares and nods of disapprovalfrom the so-called high profile people accompanied his dance classes ,Jadhav paid no heed. “It was embarrassing initially when people especially of the middle class and the higher middle class looked at us with pity,mockery and sarcasm. But I told my students that good things come in small packages. This step however small it is will be one stair of the ladder to your love for dance,” he says. And when one of his students,a newspaper vendor from Dhankawadi,won accolades at Entertainment ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega,Jadhav’s words did receive their true worth. Putting up a unique act of a dance performance with four legs Rahul Mane had Farah Khan asking for an encore. The choreographer’s compliments were more than just an act of praise for the class XII science student,who earns the extra bit of income for his family as a newspaper vendor. “Many of us did not even have chappals to wear. Other kids laughed us upon. We did not have a proper rented place for our dance classes but still the passion to learn dance kept us tied together,” reminisces Mane.

Today,when Jadhav’s parking place has been renovated and made into a proper room,and dance enthusiasts from so-called high profile families flock his institute,his priority still remains the same- to impart dance training to the underprivileged. The 30 kids from slums in his present batch learn dance free of cost. “The slums have immense talent waiting to be tapped. They just need encouragement,motivation and support,” smiles Jadhav.