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VOL. XXIV NO. 8, August 1-15, 2014
An American who danced with the Travancore trio
(by V. Vijaysree)

Ruth Woodman on the dance stage

New Hampshire (USA) based Betsy Woodman, an alumna of Woodstock School, Mussoorie, is the author of three children’s books set in North India. But she lived in Madras as a child of 6-8, when their next-door neighbours during that time were the Travancore Sisters! Betsy’s mother Ruth was a trained ballet dancer. So, she learned Bharata Natyam from them and even performed with the sisters. In recent times, Betsy has been remembering those years in several blogs.

My mother, Ruth Woodman, had studied ballet in New York City before marrying my dad,Everett Woodman. By the time they reached Madras, she had two little girls and was about to give birth to a third. The dance career had been put aside.

But as luck would have it, our family happened to move in next door to a family of dancers. The three daughters – Padmini, Lalitha, and Ragini – were known as the Travancore Sisters and were also wildly popular as film actresses.

Left to right: Lalitha, Ragini, Padmini.

The sisters took Mom under their wing and allowed her to study the classical Indian style of Bharata Natyam with their guru. She even performed once with them, the local newspapers expressing some astonishment that an American – and a mother of three – could do so well on the dance stage.

Later, in New Delhi, she founded a ballet school, and gave performances to support various charitable causes.

When we moved in next door to them, Lalitha was twenty-three, Padmini twenty, and Ragini about fifteen. They were already well established in their film and dance careers.

They quickly added suffixes, meaning “older sister” and “older brother”, to my parents’ nicknames. Mom became “Poochie-akka” and dad “Evie-anna”.

* * *

We were the new kids on the block in 1953, the block being on Edward Elliot Road. It could have been a difficult adjustment but, instead, it was like falling into a warm bath. This was largely because of the kindness of our hospitable next-door neighbours – the Mom, Saraswati Amma, her three daughters, their brother, Chandran, and their cousins, Ambika and Sukumari. We were still learning the ropes and no doubt made gaffes right and left, but not to worry, they made allowances!

In their publicity photos the Travancore Sisters looked breathtakingly glamorous, but in real life they were the girl-next-door wholesome and unaffected, and nice as could be.

Lalitha (1930-1982) was the oldest. She got her start in films when she was eight. My parents remembered her as quieter than the other two, with her own gentle mystique. Dad liked to recall the time she sat up all night with a sick kitten in her lap, willing it to live after everyone else had written it off for lost; the kitten recovered.

Here she is, on the left, with Padmini, centre, and Lalitha, right.

Padmini (1932-2006) appeared in over 250 Indian movies in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi. She often portrayed a sassy, independent-minded young woman. In Mera Naam Joker, she even played a woman masquerading as a male street entertainer with a performing dog. (She was fierce in that role.) As a dancer, she was nothing less than divine.

Later, Padmini married and moved with her physician husband, Dr. Ramachandran, to New Jersey, where she founded her own dance school.

Like the older two, Ragini was a stunning dancer with a sparkling screen presence. The tallest of the three, she would often play a male role in dance dramas. She could also wield a cricket bat!

Perhaps the sight of these three beautiful ladies has been a remedy for homesickness for people spread over the globe by the Indian diaspora. But you don't have to be Indian to love them.

The sisters are no longer with us, but decades after they made their movies, they still have devoted fans. – (Courtesy: Betsy Woodman’s blog. Pictures from the Woodman Collection)

(To be concluded)

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In this issue

Madras Landmarks - 50 years ago
Build as you please
Watching heritage go up in flames
The father of primary healthcare in India
Will this magnificent interior be restored
Two enter their 100th year
Madras week programmes
An American who danced with the travancore trio

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Short 'N' Snappy
Dates for Your Diary
Readers Write
Quizzin' With Ram'nan

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