Journey of a Kuchipudi dancer from Pakistan to India

VIJAYAWADA: Born in Peshawar in the Punjab province in 1940, D Nilimma Devi (77) belonged to a Hindu minority community in a densely Muslim-populated area dominated by communal violence. Her father DM Sapra was the managing director of the industries department under the British government.
Along with the Independence Day celebrations, there was a spate of communal violence in Peshawar. When Nilimma was just six, her mother fled to the refugee camp in Delhi, taking her and her sister. Sapra escaped the jaws of death after his Muslim driver rescued him while his friends were shot dead.
For eight months, with almost no communication with her father who was a refugee himself in Firozepur, Nilimma took solace in art where she used to walk miles from Old Delhi to New Delhi to attend her Kathak classes.
“The cook in the refugee camp was surprised and used to advise against it to my mother as he felt that girls shouldn’t go that far,” Nilimma laughed.Later, she learned Kuchipudi under renowned artist Nataraja Ramakrishna from Telangana.

“After many months, when we met our father, he asked me why I could not pursue the art when he could afford it. We realised dance has liberated our family from all those struggles as it gave us a spiritual enlightenment and even a livelihood,” she said.
After several performances, Nilimma finally migrated with her family to Washington DC and contributed in spreading Kuchipudi to countries like Kenya. She also created a curriculum on Indian art at George Washington University in Washington DC covering its philosophical and mythological significance.