The classroom is full of laughter. A soft tune plays in the background as a group of children move their hands in graceful arcs, learning the language of dance. One boy pauses mid-step, unsure of what to do next. His teacher bends down, smiling, and gently shows him again. This time, his face lights up, and he joins in with the others.

This is an ordinary moment at Ramana Sunritya Aalaya (RASA). But for the children here, it is much more than a dance class. It is a space where they are not defined by labels or limitations. A place where art becomes a bridge to confidence and joy.

At the heart of this world is Dr Ambika Kameshwar — a Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dancer, vocalist, and educationist — who, over 30 years ago, asked herself a simple question: Could theatre help every child discover their potential?

The day a dance class changed everything

Ambika was just 18 when she walked into a classroom that would change her life. She had been invited to teach music and dance to visually impaired students at Bengaluru’s Ramana Maharishi Academy for the Blind for their annual day programme.

“It sounded like a huge challenge,” she recalls. But the children amazed her. “They would feel the hand gestures and body stances and reproduce them perfectly.”

The performance turned out to be a success. But what Ambika remembers most isn’t the applause — it’s what she saw in the children. “They had become individuals who had a sense of confidence, a sense of belief in their own talent, their own creativity, their own identity. So then I realised, this was what I was looking for all the time.”

That experience stayed with her. Even after the annual day, she kept going back to teach. “The learning experience for me was as much as the learning experience for them,” she tells The Better India.

Volunteering, research, and an unlikely friendship

When Ambika moved to Chennai after marriage, her world widened in new ways. She began volunteering at the Spastic Society of India, an organisation founded by her co-sister, Poonam Natarajan. Working closely with children there only........

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