The Shishya

Vedika started learning Bharatanatyam at a young age of three. She demonstrated keen interest and passion in learning adavus and solkattus.

When she joined the Shishya School of Arts at the age of five, she was ready to take on newer challenges from performing on stage, participating, and winning in many dance competitions, spreading the art of Bharatanatyam at community events, libraries, temples, senior centers, and the prestigious Carnegie Hall.

Guru Sukanya Mahadevan has been a stellar teacher in encouraging Vedika to overcome stage fear, embracing her genuine spirit, uniqueness and inspiring her to elevate to the challenges of Arangetram.

The 12-year journey of learning Bharatanatyam has shaped Vedika into a determined, disciplined, loving and a compassionate dancer. Her spirit to give back to community is apparent from the joy she gets from being a student teacher at Shishya and helping others to overcome challenges, which makes learning dance fun and enjoyable.

Vedika is an eighth grader at Community Middle School. Outside of Bharatanatyam she enjoys cross country, track, yoga and painting. Vedika enjoys playing piano and can spend hours playing with her dog Athena. Vedika's love for animals inspired her to make handmade dog toys using recycled t-shirts and celebrate her birthday donating at Save animal shelter.

As a Girl Scout she's contributed to many community initiatives which earned her Presidents Bronze award. Vedika is now aspiring for her Girls scouts silver award project called - Healthy Harvest, which encourages community to grow their food and the impact of healthy food has on mental and physical health.

Vedika enjoys her time with her brother Sid, driving her around the city, playing table tennis and lawn tennis together.