She seems to have mastered various facets of creativity, artand dance: she is a dance choreographer, has trained in classical kathak,fusion and folk dance, is a pro at cooking and she also paints. Ajanta Burbanhas further explored each of these creative elements which had led her to fameand a path of fulfilment.
The year 2005 saw her winning the title of Kitchen Queen atthe cooking contest organised by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited. Sheemerged winner from out of 500 contestants with her dish Samundri Sham Savera(a dish of stuffed squids) after a gruelling month that tested her culinaryskills. This achievement led her to conduct cooking classes in Goa and herrecipes “ especially the authentic Bengali ones such as Jhinga Posto andChingri Malai Curry “ were sought out by chefs and hotels. Recently, she wasalso one of the contestants of Masterchef India.
Hers is one of the known names for dance choreography withinthe entertainment industry as is evident from the call she got from Zee TV tobe a judge for the Dance India Dance auditions in Goa in 2010. Being a judgeinvolved selecting 10 contestants out of the 1500 who auditioned. She informsthat her tryst with choreography began 12 years after she got married. “I gotmarried when I was only 20. Family and children took up the time I would havedevoted to dancing. Twelve years later, I was asked to perform a dance and thatgave me cold feet. I did perform, but this was an impetus for me to get back towhat I loved most “ dancing,” says Ajanta. In 2009 she wrote, directed andchoreographed a dance called ‘Tsunami’ which was well received and had herbeing invited to Port Blair for the Island Festival. Another dance drama thatshe worked on was ‘Sculptor and his Creation’. Ajanta has also trained in DanceMovement Therapy which uses a set of movements to release energy and relieveailments. She conducts workshops and training sessions for the same andreceives invitations from corporate houses to conduct the same for theiremployees.
The walls of her living room are adorned with paintings. “Iam inspired by love and that is the theme of what I paint,” she says. With moretime on her hands after her two children studying and working in Mumbai, Ajantareveals that she would now like enter the arena of television.
