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FEATURE
Dancing with Deva
Infusing a powerful medium into the culture of San Antonio
By David Schulz, CHP, is a member of the BCMS Publications Committee.
It’s a great achievement for a school to
reach its 35th anniversary. For a school run
by volunteers, devoted to an exotic art,
spawning three sister schools, it’s an unmit-
igated accomplishment a rare feat. But to
succeed and endure so well in a city with
three centuries of its own dense-packed cul-
tural roots? Well, that’s a story.
And it begins in India, when Rajam (Ra-
mamurthy), a young medical student raised
in a small mining town, takes the test for
Foreign Medical Graduates (ECMFG) to
enter a residency program in the U.S. It was
the very last exam given in India, thereafter, house staff were arrested, I narrowly missed
the government, alarmed at the growing
brain-drain following independence,
slammed the door in 1967, halting the test.
“But I was successful in passing and began
a pediatric residency in Cook County Hos-
pital in 1967,” Ramamurthy said.
“I came to the U.S. with the idea of
training in Pediatric surgery. As an intern,
I trained under a great pediatric surgeon,
Dr. John Raffensperger,” she said. “Real-
izing that to do pediatric surgery one
trained in general surgery and limited
practice to children, I was disenchanted.
It was during my first rotation in the new-
born intensive care unit that I fell in love
with Neonatology.”
Infant patient care was, as always, a criti- sle like in Chicago.”
cal issue needing attention. Although
neonatal intensive care units were estab-
lished in most teaching institutions, neona-
tology as a specialty was recognized by the
American Board of Medical Specialties
when I was in my third year of pediatric
training and I was the first Fellow in the
program to complete the fellowship.
“Things were changing very quickly
then,” she recalls. Change was happening
outside the hospital too, as in 1968 when
Chicago became notorious for its highly-
charged political atmosphere and demon-
strations.
26 San Antonio Medicine • February 2017
“What sticks in my mind,” says Dr. Ra-
mamurthy, “was the Vietnam War and the
medical students who were in the thick of
it.” But as a foreign student, she was coun-
seled to stay away from controversy.
“I couldn’t be quiet. I wanted to support
my colleagues, many of whom were re-
cruited into the services. Activism was
everywhere… I was the secretary of the
house staff organization and we pulled off
the very first boycott demanding improved
patient care, better salaries for trainees and
better supervision. When the leaders of the
going to jail as I wasn’t on call the night the sible for our daughters to have an
police showed up,” recalls Dr. Ramamurthy.
In 1977, Dr. Ramamurthy’s husband, an
anesthesiologist, had an offer from the Uni-
versity of Texas Health Science Center in
San Antonio in the startup of their pain
management program. With two children
under 3 years of age, Ramamurthy decided
to work part-time. Very quickly the de-
mands of work pressured her to become
full-time. The Windy City’s loss became the
Alamo City’s gain.
“We loved San Antonio,” Ramamurthy
said. “It was the perfect size for us and a
great place to raise kids; Great weather and
it was easy to get around with no traffic has-
And then, dance struck. “When my
daughter was about to turn five, we were in
a gathering with a number of families, and
as the women were chatting, the conversa-
tion turned to Indian dance … how much
we loved dance, and loved to dance.”
Dr. Ramamurthy paused the narrative to
provide context of this ancient art: “You see,
under British influence, traditional Indian
dance was denigrated and kind of taboo,
parents did not encourage girls to learn
dance.” It was a remnant of the days when
only the courtesan community learned to
perform the Bharatnatyam, a 3,000-years-
old art. Bharatnatyam encompasses the dis-
ciplines of music, dance and drama that was
a medium for educating the public about
spiritual, social and political concepts.
“This is how culturally embedded lessons
were transmitted,” she said. “It slowly
moved to the Temples as a holy offering,
and eventually, daughters were devoted to
the Temple by families as Devadasi — sim-
ilar to novices entering a convent.”
Back in San Antonio, Ramamurthy says
“So four physicians and one computer pro-
grammer, were talking about making it pos-
opportunity to study this ancient art form
that was denied us.”
“We decided to establish a school in San
Antonio. Our teacher, Revathi Satyu from
Terrel, Texas, had started a school in Dallas.
But she could only come from North Texas
once a month. “We agreed that wouldn’t
work for five and six year olds. The mothers
decided to learn and hold a class every
week.”
“So there we were, five of us and six chil-
dren, formed the Arathi School of Indian
Dance in 1981. It was the third school in
Texas and one of the earliest ones in the
U.S. We would learn with the children, take
notes (Camcorders had not arrived),and
teach every Friday evening.”
Words don’t have the bandwidth to de-
scribe the rich experience of Indian dance;
far better to direct you to the Arathi School
videos on YouTube … and be prepared to
be mesmerized by colorful costumes and
amazing young students. Both strenuously
athletic and peculiarly precise, the Arathi
training demands physical discipline no less
than any classical corps-de-ballet.
Celebrating the school’s 35th anniversary
this fall offered Dr. Ramamurthy a chance
to review the value of dance instruction, to
health and development.
“Dancing is in par with any aerobic