Have you heard of the “Third Dimension”?
I was introduced to this concept during a session with the renowned Bharatanatyam dancer Ms. Ananda Shankar.
A Third Dimension is our calling. It is an activity or passion in which we can immerse ourselves. It is something in which we can lose ourselves while discovering ourselves…. It is our superpower and the secret sauce that makes each of us unique! It is also our alternate identity beyond our professional avatar.
Head to this link and watch the Ted Talk by Vaishali Kasture, a well known runner where she speaks about the Third Dimension and the importance of discovering and nurturing it.
As young adults, most of us have multi-dimensional personalities which often become two-dimensional as age and responsibilities increase. Like force-fitting a round peg in a square hole, our colourful multi-dimensional personalities are force-fitted into two-dimensional personalities focussed on work and family. There are of course people who fuel their passions and keep it alive even as responsibilities increase. It is obviously not a walk in the park and requires grit, gumption, guts and discipline to keep the flame burning bright.
One such person who immersed herself in her Third Dimension is Ms. Ananda Shankar.
A renowned dancer, choreographer, scholar and bureaucrat, Ms. Shankar has several feathers in her cap including being the recipient of the Padma Shri award for her contribution to arts. Ms. Shankar was a dedicated student of dance at Kalakshetra and then went on to pursue her career as a bureaucrat in the Indian Railways. She was the first female officer in South Central Railways. Her passion and profession were like railway tracks parallel at times and merging at others.
Her Ted Talk, “Fighting Cancer with Dance” is ranked among the top twelve Incredible Ted Talks on cancer. Ms. Shankar narrates her story of how she navigated a harrowing phase when she was diagnosed with cancer. She used her Third Dimension as the guiding light that led her out of a tunnel where she was engulfed by the darkness of cancer. She danced with cancer, through cancer and out of cancer. Her fight against this deadly disease was a tough challenge that she navigated with dance.
The Third Dimension is a passion that can ignite the mind and relieve the monotony and stress of life. My Third Dimension is creating and experimenting with art, writing and photography. Over the past decade, a demanding job, motherhood and the ever increasing Bengaluru traffic left me with little time or mind space to pursue my passions. When the pandemic hit us, I embraced my Third Dimension to break the monotony of the stay-at-home life. During the pandemic I consciously carved out time to get my creative juices flowing again. I pampered myself with art supplies, experimented with new art forms and got my friends into painting as well! I began writing again, after almost a decade. I am co-authoring a children’s book along with my husband. Yes, it is our little family project! Just like you can’t forget swimming or cycling once you learn it, your Third Dimension internalizes itself within you. There are times when it is dormant, but the moment you ignite the flame it burns bright again!
Our minds are strengthened by learning. In the recent past I have rekindled my passion for creation. I have embraced my Third Dimension and used it to navigate life’s rocky roads. Have you discovered your Third Dimension yet?
