General
UDUMBARA SEVWANDI KUMARI PHENOMINAL MULTIPOTENTIAL VISHARAD DANCING DOCTOR AT THE SUMMIT OF FAME – by Sunil Thenbadu
Visharad Dr Udumbara Sevwandi Kumari Aradhya Chandrarathne possesses a medical degree MBBS( Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Surgery)from the Faculty of Medicine,Karapitiya affiliated to the Ruhuna University, is a reputed dancer in a variety of dance styles fondly titled ‘Dancing” Doctor having concurrently in year 2012 after her medical degree had been capped with Visharad degree in dancing in Bharatha Natyam Bhathkande Sangeeth Vidyapith,Lucknow, India.
She is the eldest in a family consisting of four siblings with two younger sisters and solitary brother.Her parents are both teachers,father had given up his medical degree midway at the University of Peradeniya opted to take up teaching profession.Udumbara has absolutely no hereditary affiliations to her flair for dancing which is only through her innate skills. She has had her primary and secondary education at the Welimada Central College in Welimada where her mother had been in the tutorial staff.The family had been inhabitants of a gorgeous village Nugathalawa between Nuwara Eliya and Welimada. In school Udumbara had excelled to overwhelming heights in numerous academic adherents.
‘There are three defining qualities of highly intelligent students.’ In the end ,true intelligence is marked by how you acquire and improve on the necessary skills needed not only to flourish in school but also in life.It needs to dispel the idea that accolades defined one’s intelligence.True intelligence is not measured by ones ability to memorize facts and recite equations Hopefully intelligence can be manifested and developed beyond the four walls of the classroom.”…Quotes of Educationalists
Udumbara has had an unbelievably outstanding student in her school from grade one coming the first in class always.In the scholarship exam she had topped the marks from Badulla district.Though she could have entered to any popular girls school in Colombo on the insistence of teacher mother at Welimada Central College had remained in the same school.Her dominance in each class had continued in the same vein coming first in class also winning prizes for all subjects in both in arts and Maths streams at successive prize distribution ceremonies. She had in addition participated in extra activities like in many all island school competitions. She had established a record in winning prizes for five consecutive years in the inter school competition for composing lyrics for songs and poems in the drama and music category in the inter schools” Sangeetha Rangana Gee Naluwa” competitions.Her English vernacular too was at a high ebb which eased her to clinch awards in inter school competitions in English essay writing.Udumbara during her tenure in school had recorded invincible indelible achievements not easy to be emulated by the next generations of children.She had confessed that she has had immense innate talent within her for dancing which her father had said dancing could ruin her studies career.She then had to listen to him to select Art ‘Kalawa” and English Literature for her senior school.But Udumbara had quipped that she has dancing talent scripted within her such that even watching and listening to dancing classes she could grasp the steps.
Udumbara with her such intelligence, admission to the medical faculty of the Ruhuna University was a mere formality. She had quipped that the tenure at the Medical faculty was a very strenuous with workouts with clinical work in addition to theory.She had quipped that there are so much of reading needs to be done which is also fatiguing exercise. It is during this time she had opted to attend to Bharatha Natyam dance classes under veteran dancer Dr Mirenda Hemalatha.She had affirmed that though she had classes only once a week she used to practice daily as a strategy to neutralise her mental fatigue condition.
During the first year in the medical faculty of the Ruhunu University she had keenly participated in the first year “Kala Ulela”.Udumbara had proved her prowess overwhelmingly capturing the first place for dance, also for best lyrics for poetry which hitherto had been a favourite area of hers.She quipped that while a junior student she had entered into a competition of the Cultural department to compose lyrics for a song for “ proposed “Weera Abhimana…” to which for her surprise as she was still very young her lyrics had been selected to first place.It is learnt that a music melody had been made by musician Sena Weerasekera while the song had been sung by students in the Sirimavo Bandaranaike school. But lately as the field of lyric writers have become corrupt and commercialised she had stopped writing for songs but continued to write for poems only.However lately she had composed lyrics for a song “ “Saraswathi Abhinandhana Geethaya” for her own dance to the “Siva Ranjini Raga” to which Dr Rohana Weerasinghe had made the musical score, sung by Sangeeth Nipun Sadhana Ranathunga. With her innate talent for dance styles though she had not prolonged much while in school had come in that valuable to scientifically apply to enhance the talent she possessed. Nevertheless, as she had quipped the dancing steps and movements were etched within her.
The studies in the faculty of medicine she had affirmed as very tedious having to read a lot of books in addition to attending to clinical ward work.She had felt the strain as it needed a huge amount of sacrifice .In order to neutralize the strain she had to face she on her own had opted to join the Bharatha Natyam classes of versatile dancer Dr Mirenda Hemalatha at her Ashramaya.Though it was a class held weekly Udumbara was determined to practice daily in order to neutralize the effects of the stress when following lectures.She had quipped that this practice had enabled her to balance the two, studies with dancing in equal proportions.
It was in year 2014 Udumbara had held her Bharatha Natyam ‘Arangethram’ as a passing out student of Veteran 79 year old Dr Mirendo Hemalatha at a massive ceremony at the Tower Hall Foundation in Colombo10.As many are aware this program lasts uninterrupted for three and a half hours and the participant need to dance continuously to the live music and singing in an orchestra.In the event a member of the orchestra makes a mistake the participant need to adjust accordingly hence it is a massive exercise to complete. After her Passing out ceremony she is currently taking part in a prolonged project at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital along with Dr. Miranda and Prof. Manouri Senanayake to use dance therapy for children suffering from Downs’ syndrome and to those for loss of brain cells unable to think.
Since then Udumbara had participated in many dancing shows purely for charity.In years 2016 and 2017 she presented “Narthana Sevwandi” (dancing roses) to amass funds for the childrens’ Heart Project in Sri Lanka.Then again in the successive years in 2017 and 2018 had presented “Induwara Nuupura”( Anklets of Blue Lotus) towards collecting funds to build a new cancer unit in Karapitiya along with Galle branch of cancer society.
Udumbara had won two international awards in successive years 2018 and 2019 for classical dancing at the “Nritangana” dance academy in New Delhi,India. She had quipped that she had given priority for her hospital work had completed work on a Friday morning to look after babies in the baby clinic at the base hospital Elpitiya in Galle district in the premature baby unit as the medical office in charge.After completing her duties had rushed to Colombo to proceed to KIA to board a flight to New Delhi at mid night and thereafter had to travel to the auditorium of the Sri Jawaharlal Nehru university to participate in the international classical dance festival organized by Nrityanjali organisation all by herself had won an award and returned all alone winning the award.What a courageous endeavour by young ‘dancing doctor’ Udumbara a feat that need to be celebrated with acclaim and ovation. She remembers another interesting incident worth mentioning.After she landed in New Delhi it was early morning when she had no alternative but to rest on the exit passage at the Indira Gandhi international airport when a lady in a uniform had identified had asked “doctor do you remember me” having taken treatment from you at the Asiri Central hospital.To her surprise she had been the young pilot who had pilotted the plane to new Delhi.She had helped her to find the exit from the airport.It had been a beautiful unforgetful moment in her life when was lonely in an unknown airport.
She had followed many dancing styles had obtained a distinction in Ballet exam conducted by the Russian centre of Sri Lanka along with the Moscow national ballet academy.She had won a Bronze medal in Ball room dancing .Also studied Kandyan dancing from Jayawanthi Paneebharatha.She is learning Kathak dancing from Dancing Nipun Moksha Samarasooriya while Belly dancing from Anastesia April
Udumbara had been adjudicated as the Miss Talent in Miss Sri Lanka for Miss British Empire 2019.After which her photo on cover pages of many magazines in November 2019.
Udumbara the dancing doctor became instantly popular when a song and dance video singing the song of Visharada Shashika Nisansala “Chandra Paayanna” went viral taken for fun when a doctor duo were working.However a cover song was made which has been hit where Udumbara excels with her enormous dancing talent.A lot of articles had been published in Sinhalese newspapers with captions like “Punchi Dostara Nona” “Natana Dosthara Nona” etc .
From the above it is positive that Dr Udumbara Sevwandi Kumari is a physician with multipotentiality as a strong intellectual with curiosity excelling in many diverse fields. All her followers and fans would no doubt wish her more triumphs in her future career which would blossom to unprecedented levels.
Sunil Thenabadu in Brisbane
e mail sthenabadu @hotmail.com
WhatsApp 0061444533242.
