‘Many formed a unique bond with him’

“I AM a bania with no family connection to any of the arts, but I just love dance” – this was how Sunil bhai introduced himself to me when I met him for the first time in 1971.

The event was Navagraha, staged by Chandralekha with Kamadev. Sunil was a wiry man, with flowing hair, and unmistakable energy as he bounded here and there taking photographs. I actually assumed that he was the official photographer for the event!

Our next prolonged encounter was when he lived at a neighbour’s cottage in Nariman Point [in Mumbai] and dropped in every day for a chat and a casual meal. I realised the bania had morphed completely into a passionate Sahridaya, follower of dance, dance events and artists. He had set aside his job as a lecturer of commerce studies to become a freelance writer, covering dance for magazines and newspapers. He always found a way of being wherever the most exciting dance event was to be found, and national trails were soon replaced by global ones.

From the advent of Chennai’s dance festival, we inevitably met in the city in December and January most years. The special thing about Sunil bhai was that many members of our fraternity had the experience of a unique bond with him.

Facebook was full of joyous messages when he wrote to say that he was recovering from coronavirus a few weeks ago. The news that this dear soul had gone into the beyond was an incredible shock.

Sunil bhai was ageless in his enthusiasm and energy, and new findings that were dance related, all the time. My last fond memory of him in the UK was at the Sampad Navadisha event in 2016 in Birmingham. He had on a splendid, handcrafted jacket, and when I oohed and aahed over it, he promised to show me the other ones he had designed for his wardrobe in India.

Pushkala Gopal is a ‘holistic Natya artiste’.