Dona Ganguly gets ready for a stage show Picture by Pabitra Das

Dona is much more than just Mrs Sourav Ganguly. On the eve of a crucial performance at the ICCR (on Wednesday evening), she told t2 about her passion for dance, sharing her life with a star and enjoying every moment of motherhood...

You must be really busy!

I am not very busy. I don’t do much because I have got a small child (Sana). I like doing little things like taking her to school and carrying her bag because after a point, I realise that she may not need me when she is a teen. I try and enjoy motherhood to the fullest. That makes me very busy. Now I am talking to you but I have given her some sums on metre and kilometre conversion. My whole day goes in that.

Whenever I have a little time, I put it in my dance. I like teaching little kids. We have a very promising group. We roam around all over India. We’ve also been abroad with our group. I used to be a solo performer and I have travelled extensively. Now I also have this group that travels with me. So, I am very happy teaching kids. These kids are really talented. At Dover Lane Music Conference last year, my students came first and even this year my students have come first. We have not only come first in the Odissi category (she pauses to help Sana with her sums), they have got the overall cup as well…. They are becoming established. It’s very satisfying seeing that. It’s very nice performing everywhere and getting calls from places like Khajuraho festival and Ujjain festival.

So dance is your passion…

The fact that I have learnt from Kelucharan Mahapatra for 25 years and I am not wasting it gives me immense pleasure. Being the wife of a big celebrity who himself is very busy, dance is a fantastic way to keep myself busy and not get bored or bug him. It just adds to my lifestyle and my career. It is an additional thing that I enjoy and also gives me a little name and fame!

When did you start training?

I started learning dance when I was in KG. I used to train under Amala Shankar. Then I used to go to Padatik, take Kelucharan Mahapatra’s workshops and also lessons from one of his students. I started to learn from Guruji when I was in Class IV or V. By the time I was in Class X or XI, I had done Dover Lane Music Conference.

My mother and father supported me a lot. Getting these big gurus to stay in your house and teach you personally comes with a monetary factor and support…. My parents worked hard for it. The fact that I am keeping it up and teaching students who are also doing very well in life makes me very satisfied.

How old is your school Diksha Manjari?

Diksha Manjari is already 10 years old. Lataji had (Mangeshkar) inaugurated it. People don’t know but it is one of the biggest extra-curricular schools in Bengal. We’ve got a capacity of 2,000 students. My Odissi group has 300-350 students, which I divide into two days. We’ve got students for swimming, yoga, karate, kathak, Bharatnatyam, Rabindrasangeet, classical music, tabla and art. I don’t think any school has such a big capacity. Just to have 2,000 students in Behala, it is pretty huge!

What are your plans for the school?

I plan to take it to the national level and have spoken to places like the Sangeet Natak Akademi … but at the moment I am really busy with my child. Once my daughter is in her teens and can really take care of herself or when she goes to college or moves on to high school in England… After a time you don’t need your parents that much, you just need their overall guidance... she is too small, in Class III. This is the time you would want your mom to pick you up or buy an ice cream.

I just want to wait for her to grow out of that stage. Then maybe we will move on to a national level because we are slowly getting famous. In UP and Bihar, we are very highly ranked. There are people asking me to open schools and academies there.

I have five to 10 fantastic students now who are winning awards. Five or six years from now, maybe I’ll have 15-20 students who will help me run the schools nationally. All this is very time-consuming. When my daughter is married and gone, I can do these.

(From top) Sourav and Dona get married; on a Team India flight, with Venkatesh Prasad for company; with daughter Sana; with Sachin Tendulkar, wife Anjali and children Sara and Arjun. (File pictures)

Life with Sana…

I take her to school, I get her back, I help her do her homework. Shitkaler essay likhte bolechhilo… etodin shetai korchhilam.

All this is very much a part of my life and I enjoy doing this. My husband also plays with her a bit. I do everything with her. She learns dance from me. She loves Kookie Jar cakes, and cheese balls. Today they want to go shopping for a pencil box, tomorrow they want something else.

Life with Sourav Ganguly, the star…

It is pretty difficult. But it doesn’t get into my mind. I have known Sourav for a very long time. You don’t know what a Class XI or XII boy is going to be when he grows up. He used to play cricket but he may not have made it this big. His fame for me is a blessing of God, which we had dreamt of. We thank God that we’ve got this. But it really does not add anything. For me, cricket is important, but I am not a cricket freak. Sourav need not have been Sourav Ganguly — he could have been an editor or a reporter or an anchor. I would still be his wife. So, it hardly matters except that I try and support him in what he does. I try and match his lifestyle, which at times I feel happy about and sometimes I feel it is difficult to cope with. I don’t get worked up about being up to his standard.

Were you superstitious when he played?

Orom majhe majhe thakto. That part of my life is over. He is retired now. He has had a great career. I am so happy that God has given him that and made me a part of it.

Aamir the guest...

We did not expect them to come to our house! There is something to learn from him. Even if he hadn’t done this, 3 Idiots would have been a hit. Such a big celebrity working hard to give the film publicity and trying to add on to the movie — we can learn from his enthusiasm.

Favourite pastime…

I spend time with my daughter — take her out for a movie or take her to Tolly Club to play or read her a storybook, make her practise dance. She is a good dancer.

Dreams for Sana…

She swims a lot. She is a good runner. She was too young for tennis before but I may put her back. She is a very good athlete. She has got some genes of her father.

On Dadagiri Part 2…

Sana misses him more on Dadagiri than on the cricket field since she was very young when Sourav used to play.