INTERVIEW RAGINI PRAJWAL A TRUE ALL-ROUNDER

Ragini Prajwal who made her big screen debut in Kannada movie Law is bound to go places. She lights up the stage with her performances and her performance in Law is much appreciated by the critics and cinema lovers alike. Ragini dons multiple hats of being a dancer, entrepreneur, and someone who masters the art of balancing life personally and professionally.

Adept at Bharatanatyam and Kathak, dance is her first love and she loves to be known as a dancer first. She has proved her mettle as an actress, dancer, and a businesswoman, but it was not just enough for her. Her craving to learn more and achieve more never stops her from exploring and experimenting with new things.

A TRUE

In an exclusive interview with The J Mag, she talks about her dance, her journey to success, her family and much more.

ALL-ROUNDER

Dance is my first love and its magical

The dance opened a world for her, and everything revolves around the dance. She started learning Bharatanatyam at the age of 4 and later, she joined Shiamak Davar Dance School which she continued for 8 years. Her passion for dance did not end there, once after watching the performance of Kathak maestro Nirupama and Rajendra (Her guru), she was fascinated and drawn by the dance form and decided to pursue Kathak. From then on, there was no looking back. Today, it has been more than 15 years with Abinava dance academy, and she is now part of the core team. My gurus gave me a rich tradition and dance vocabulary, awakening my sensibilities. They taught me to enhance, adapt, then stay true to your passion. Dance with joy, passion, and truth. Dance is an endless process with great depth. It brings out my happy hormones and calms my mind eliminating all the negative thoughts.

RAGINI PRAJWAL IMAGES

Beauty is being nonjudgemental and not doing anything with physical appearance because that is very superficial. Beauty is about being nonsuperficial.

My gurus gave me a rich tradition and dance vocabulary, awakening my sensibilities. They taught me to enhance, adapt, then stay true to your passion. Dance with joy, passion, and truth. Dance is an endless process with great depth. It brings out my happy hormones and calms my mind eliminating all the

RAGINI PRAJWAL IMAGES

Luxury is different for each and my luxury is when I am in my comfort space, it doesn't have to be any purchase or anything materialistic. My comfort zone is my luxury.

With a belief that anyone can give class, but it takes a lot to teach, she opened Urhythmix Dance Studio in Bangalore and become to known for the unique teaching in dance and fitness.

Passion is incomplete without Purpose

She was always into multi-tasking and never felt it tough. The experience never reinforced the difficulties of trying to do it all, and all at the same time. It was always challenging but never difficult for her. She had mastered the art of balancing numerous tasks at different levels. “If you have clarity in life then, adorning various hats is not a problem. There is always a time when you experiment in life. When you have a passion, it is also important to have a purpose to define that passion. One cannot carry passion just for its ‘liking’. Uncluttering your thoughts will give you clarity and paving the way to better focus.” Ragini believes.

Art of Balancing

Ragini argues against the merits of being average, of being nonchalant, dull, and mediocre. She says never to settle for normal and try to achieve beyond. The pull towards mediocrity is too strong and easy to attain

KABIR GOWDA PHOTOGRAPHY

but nothing can be accomplished out of it. “I have always told myself that mediocracy is not enough. Do not be happy with that which is only normal. Do not define yourself by saying this is all you can do. I always had this urge of learning, which is why it was never a pressure to do anything and instead it is always a pleasure with everything I do with any field that I am. So, balancing has always been the part and parcel of what I have been doing.”

I love travelling and the most enchanting experience was my honeymoon in Norwegian cruise and then taking the Mediterranean coast of Europe, had the best time travelling in Rome, Barcelona, walking and trekking with my husband.

Love for Kundan

Ragini loves her jewellery and Kundan jewellery is very close to her heart. ‘ I am a huge admirer of jewellery and love wearing them. Being a Kathak dancer, I love traditional jewellery unconditionally and Kundan jewellery is my favourite. “Occasionally I also secretly sneak into my sister’s jewellery box”, as she has a great collection, says Ragini with a chuckle.

CLICKBUGS PHOTOGRAPHY

The Recipe of Happiness

According to Ragini, it is simpler to be happy in life while you are not keenly involved in making yourself unhappy. So, instead of adding up more things to your life, it is more valuable and sensible to remove what hurts our happiness in the first place. The positive attitude anywhere around makes her happy. She loves people with a positive attitude around her and the vibes they pass it on. “My journey has been everything thing that I have planned from being adventurous to risky. Throughout my journey, a lot of observation has taken place, which helped me to be what I am today. My journey has been very non-judgemental from my end. It is always important to make me happy first and then going on to the journey. Because if it does not make me happy, then I would not go for it at all. I see my self-worth; I know what I want and what is a definite dealbreaker for me.”

From one woman to another

When the conversation hit on what every woman must try once, Ragini said it without a blink is ‘self-love’. Adding to further she said, it appears apparent to some people, most of the woman struggle with the idea of putting themselves first. They were raised to believe that they ought to continually put others before themselves, ignoring their needs.

Action-oriented

‘Never stop learning’ is what Ragini’s mantra. Even during the pandemic, her hands are full, and she is action-oriented with her dance and fitness studio and online sessions. Besides, her dance she is also super busy with her platies certifications, and fitness regime.

We woman always keep ourselves as a second priority which is a very innate quality in every girl/woman. I feel a woman should think of herself as a priority first, as when we don't prioritise ourselves, then there is a lot of things that we miss it out in life.

The Enigma of being

By Anil Prabhakar

“I make jewe ery for a woman who knows her mind; the quinte ential Han Singh woman doesn’t n d an approval from her f her or husband to make the purchase.”