Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Thulasiram Govinda chettiyar. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Thulasiram, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

It was 2012 when I had the opportunity to be a part of a reality dance series on major television in India. I was working in the IT industry then, and it was pretty challenging to manage my full-time job as a software engineer and compete amongst 2500 contestants that auditioned for the show. While 9-5 was spent at the office working on the projects that paid my bills, all my after-work hours were dedicated entirely to honing my dance craft and making an impression at the show.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Currently, I pursue a masters in Kinesiology, a curriculum that I can relate to and hope to learn the science behind movement. I have always been fascinated by movement from an early age and dance was something that always got my attention. Although I never tried or formally learnt dance until later part of my life, I have had a certain admiration towards the craft, little did I know that it would play a major role and alter the course of my life.
For the quiet and timid boy that I was all through school and college, getting a word out was distressful, let alone dancing or getting up on a stage. My introverted, 9 to 5 IT engineer life seldom had any surprises until that one fine evening when I saw our office dance team perform. Something about the audience cheer, and the dancers’ zest on stage, held me captivated at that moment. Little did I know that, that one moment of awe was going to become my life.

Soon after, I started looking for dance classes and I was fortunate to find someone teach weekly hip-hop classes in and around my workplace and that was my first ever dance class and I was 21 at the time. It was during this experimental phase that an opportunity to take part in one of the most prestigious Dance reality shows on live TV in India. For a boy still fresh off college with minimal life and dance experience, this break was electrifying just as it was terrifying. But I was not ready to let go off, a life-defining experience in the name of being a neophyte in the field. It did catch up to me sooner than later however, as I could only make it to the top 30 contestants ultimately. Nonetheless, the struggle, the training, the chance to meet fellow dancers, and most of all, the reality of what dance is as a profession was a far greater endowment than a winning trophy could ever have been.

As I continued to build my dance skillset, another piece of my life close to my heart, yoga, had long been at a standstill. The unsettling feeling of not being able to pursue my passion, the intoxication of doing what you love for a daily job, the dire need to do what I cherish the most for I would have to work no more, gave me many sleepless nights. I started training to be a certified teacher in Hatha, Ashtanga and Shivananda schools of yoga, alongside my soon to be over IT career to bring about a change and set my life on a different path. In such a predicament, came my move to Vietnam, where I was invited to teach yoga classes for an acclaimed franchise. As fancy as the move sounded, just as hard was the job. I was laboriously teaching 6 classes a day, often three at a stretch, all with complete demonstration as I could not instruct in Vietnamese. The exhaustion of long days, added to the lack of communication, made survival difficult. But as the saying goes, nothing good comes easy and my solace lied in the satisfaction of knowing that I was doing what I love.

Fast-forward to a year later, I find myself in the land of opportunities, the United states of America, the place where many of the cherished boy’s young dreams finally come true. Although I had a few family friends in the country, this was a new beginning, a clean slate so to speak. In the initial part of my struggling days, attending workshops organized by my dance idols, like Kinjas, Bdash and so on, was as far as I could penetrate into the dance circle. Gradually though, my network expanded, and soon I became a guest instructor for ABCD school of Bollywood Dance, Phoenix. In collaboration with fellow dancers in Dallas, I started Team Ground Zero (TGZ). We became a renowned name in the Dallas Metroplex after having made it to the finals of the popular Zee TV dance reality show, Dance USA Dance, held in New York’s Playstation Theatre.

The past few years in the United States have been an exponential growth journey for me professionally. It has redefined my own definition of me, carved me as an individual and created more room for self-improvement. The journey I am set on is not an easy or a traditional one. As much the excitement, just as many obstacles. The goal, nevertheless, is to keep moving ahead, not looking back to regret, but only to reflect. Afterall, all one can do is hope because no matter how many lemons life throws at you, hope is the only constant that gives you the strength to make lemonades out of them.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

No dream-achieving path lacks obstacles, and I am no exception. To begin with, choosing to take dance and yoga as my career itself was a challenging choice. This meant quitting a financially stable, secure full-time job for the sole love of one’s passion with the mere support of nothing but hope. Moreover, being the sole income earner of the household, my career choices invited a lot of unwelcome criticisms from both society and even my immediate family. But undeterred by all societal pressures, my wife (then girlfriend) stood by me and encouraged me to do what I love, no matter how big the risk. To this day I believe that, if not for that nudge in the right direction, I would have regretted not making one of my life’s best decisions.

But just passion does not make a career. Holding dance/yoga workshops or classes requires an affordable studio space, a sponsor, and most of all determined students/attendees who are willing to be there. Now all of this happens, only once you can establish yourself as a dancer in the area. With dancing becoming more and more eminent these days, there is a huge talent pool of dancers out there and gathering that loyal bunch of students for yourself is a gradual ladder to climb. And doing all of this in a brand-new place, away from your hometown, only adds more to the plate. In the past few years, I have been fortunate enough to obtain a few opportunities to have established myself as an artist in both Dallas and Phoenix, gathering that set of students with time. There is yet a long way to go and many more hurdles to surpass. But, at the end of the day, it’s a question of how willing you are to fight for what you want and I, am not ready to quit just yet.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most exciting part of my work is when people enjoy watching my work. Being able to entertain people and making them feel that their time spent is indeed worthy is what I thrive to achieve every time I set out to perform on stage. In addition, brining an idea to life through movement and music is the most rewarding aspect of my creative process.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thulasi.ram/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThulasiramGovindaChettiyar/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thulasiram-govinda-chettiyar-634047147/

Image Credits
Vasanth Vaseegaran