COMMENT | In the 80s, when I was editor of Times Two, the second section of the New Straits Times, I received a feature submitted for consideration. It was from a Malaysian, freshly returned from Australia after finishing with Mechanical Engineering and steeping his feet in dance – ballet, the Bharatanatyam, Odissi – Ramli Ibrahim.

I published that first piece and several others from Ramli, until he got too busy developing his Sutra dance company. Shame, the fella can write. The fella can draw too – did a couple of beautiful ink drawings of his cat to accompany a piece.

In the subsequent three decades or so, hundreds, if not thousands, of students, have gone through the rigorous training of Sutra, a few of whom have gone on to start their own schools.

He has received prestigious awards in India and lauded for keeping the...