A Kathak dancer, Alaknada believes that dance requires hard work and perfection. She always wanted to become a dancer and is also a brand ambassador for MCG's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.A Kathak dancer, Alaknada believes that dance requires hard work and perfection. She always wanted to become a dancer and is also a brand ambassador for MCG's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

Alaknanda Das Gupta is the director, founder, and guru at the Alaknanda Institute for Performing Arts, Delhi.

Speaking about her childhood memories, Alaknanda says that her childhood was full of hard work. Her mother was a lecturer in Delhi University, and her father was a music director. She always wanted to become a dancer. It was a struggle for her as she was the only dancer in the family. Luckily, she once went to Pt. Birju Maharaj’s show, and he advised her to join the Kathak Kendra. She joined it at the age of six and spent 14 years there.

According to Alaknanda, by the grace of God, art chooses you, and then the journey starts. From the age of four, she knew and understood that she wanted to become a dancer. She believes that hard work makes everything come true.

Alaknanda says her parents were completely behind her throughout her dance career. She is fortunate to have been born into a family where she had the freedom to pursue her dreams. She used to put in hard work and a lot of practice to achieve success in this field.

Sharing about her accomplishments, Alaknanda says that for her, success is very relative and being happy is the biggest accomplishment in her opinion. She is a cancer survivor and did 12 shows between her Chemo therapies because of her positive attitude. For her, being happy and alive is success.

The biggest inspiration for Alaknanda is life, as she believes that life itself is a motivation and inspires her every day. She got inspiration from everything and from a lot of people in her life.

In her free time, Alaknanda loves to cook food and feed other people. She also likes travelling to different places to see the beauty of nature and to explore the various cultures and lifestyles.

In her advice to aspiring dancers, Alaknanda emphasises the importance of rhythm and expression in dancing. Expressions are your emotions, she says.

To attain mental peace, Alaknanda dances and goes out for a drive. She loves every kind of dance and music.

Her life mantra is to enjoy every day and to celebrate life. She says, always face challenges and try to solve the problems.