Actress Navya Nair, who recently returned to cinema, is now most active in the world of dance. At her dance school, Mathangi, she teaches a large number of students. Navya, however, makes it clear that she does not train children for competitions. She says she was once a victim of the pressure of school arts festival contests, and she does not wish for any other child to go through the same experience.

Navya shared her thoughts in a video posted on MathangibyNavya, the official Instagram account of her dance school.
 

“Here, we never teach for competitions. Many might think that I too reached where I am because of competitions. There won’t be anyone who hasn’t seen my crying video. But why do we push ourselves into such unnecessary tears? This is an art form. There is no need for competition in learning an art.

“In competitions, they make children perform Varnam in just 10 minutes. But Varnam is a grand piece that needs 20 to 25 minutes. When Varnam is compressed into a capsule for contests, artistes from other states look at it with disdain. Yet, I always speak proudly about the talent and quick learning ability of Malayali children.

“What I want to tell all children and parents is that such competitions will take us nowhere in life. At some point, they can strike us hard and break us. We do not learn an art to compete. The only person we are allowed to compete in life with is ourselves. The only meaningful question is: how much better are we tomorrow than we were yesterday?

“Never compete. I never train children for competitions because I do not believe in it. I am a victim of competition myself. I don’t want any child to end up there again,” Navya says.