By day, he’s a software engineer. Come evening, however, Kaladhar Bejjanki logs off his cutting-edge job and embraces an art form spawned ages ago in his native India.

Dance is his fancy; preserving old customs, his forte.

“When the sun sets, the choreography begins,” said Bejjanki, founder of Yuva Dance Academy in Ellicott City. Opened in 2016, the studio numbers 130 students of all ages, mostly children of Indian descent eager to learn both the folkways of their forebears and the rituals deeply connected to their ancestral roots.

Bejjanki and his staff of 12 lead students, ages 3 to 60, through native dances ranging in style from classical to folk, ancient dances that have been performed everywhere from the palaces of monarchs to the streets of Mumbai.

“I have a passion for dance and the culture. That’s my motivation,” said Bejjanki, 40. A native of Hyderabad, he emigrated 18 years ago, having worked as a choreographer there, and settled in Elkridge, where he lives with his wife and two children. The burgeoning Indian population in Howard County spurred him to set up a dance studio, primarily for kids, whose families want them to embrace the ethnology of their kin.

“Many people celebrate with dance in India; it’s a big thing,” Bejjanki said. “Parents want their kids to know their culture. When they see them sitting and playing video games, they want them to know those traditions before they get lost.”

In Howard County, the Indian American population numbers 23,313 of a total 334,529 residents — 7 percent of the county’s residents — according to 2022 data from its Department of Planning and Zoning. That’s the highest total among all Asian Americans, followed by those of Korean descent (15,183).

Come Sept. 16-17, the county’s Indian Cultural Association will hold its 5th annual Festival of India at the Howard County Fairgrounds. Last year’s one-day event, featuring food, fashion and entertainment, drew 15,000 people. Colorful dance performances by Bejjanki’s students, and the others mentioned here, are a highlight.

“Song and dance are intrinsic to Indian culture, which first-generation immigrants want to preserve for their kids,” said Niti Srivastava, executive director of the ICA. “In olden days, and even now, people dance in temples. The music is very foot-tapping; it gets kids moving. Also, Indian songs tell stories, so it is very compelling.”

While some instructors at the county’s three Indian dance studios teach formal Indian classical dance, which is largely religious in nature, other opt for a mix of that and more casual types, which appeal more to children.

“It’s a free-flowing [mix] of many forms,” Srivastava said. That includes “Bollywood” (a combination of Hollywood and Bombay) dancing, a popular if simplified genre seen in the explosion of Hindi films. Bejjanki has even fused hip hop into the choreography for his students, who perform in competition and at festivals, family events and recitals held at Howard and Wilde Lake High Schools.

“Indian dance is celebratory and highly energetic,” Bejjanki said. “Costumes are colorful and shimmery. We also use props, everything from cymbals to clay pots atop dancers’ heads in some folk dances.”

Most of Bejjanki’s students at Yuva Dance are preteens (Yuva means “young” in Hindi and several other language) but some have stuck with it from the studio’s start, seven years ago.

“Why do they come back? They like the competition, and parents want their kids to be accomplished,” he said. “Some of those who come here become like family.”

‘Keeps me close to my own roots’

In the basement of her home in Woodstock, Sushmita Mitra schools young girls in the dances of her native land. For Mitra, who’s from Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) the capital of India’s West Bengal state, it’s more than a means of melding children of Indian parentage with their heritage, and drumming the music and movements into their souls.

“They learn structure and discipline, because this is pretty rigorous [exercise],” said Mitra, 44. “Dance is a great way to stay fit, plus it teaches girls about self-respect and boosts their self-esteem.”

Mitra learned the ropes from her mother, a classical dancer in India and — after emigrating here, earning a graduate degree and starting a family — she followed suit and began tutoring her own 5-year-old daughter. Word spread through the Indian American community, and parents sought Mitra to teach their own kids.

But classical dance can be arduous, so Mitra often opts for a hybrid style more to her students’ favor.

“Sometimes we teach fusion dance, with more contemporary, Western and ‘poppy’ songs,” she said. “These kids were raised here, so I want to teach what they like while also bringing them closer to the values of their culture.”

For Mitra, director of engineering for the Maryland Transportation Authority, the moonlighting has complemented her life.

“Everyone has something on the side that they pursue,” she said. “It’s part of my journey and my growth as a person — and it keeps me close to my own roots, as well.”

A passion and a mission

Six years ago, Marahuri Subramaniam seemed to have it all: home, health, family and a prominent job as an architect. Yet something was missing. Dance wanted back in her life.

Growing up in Bombay, of musical parents, Subramaniam favored classical Indian dances with names like Bharatanatyam — “pure joy,” she called it. But her move here, a career and her children put her hobby on hold for a spell. Finally, when the twins turned 2, she acquiesced.

It’s now or never, she thought. So Subramaniam set up a studio in her Ellicott City home and began plying her craft. Now 25 students, mostly ages 5 to 17, gather there evenings to learn the rhythms, moves and intrinsic spirit of a formal dance style once staged for Indian kings of yore.

Her passion gives her great pleasure.

“I can be absolutely tired when I get home from work, but it takes me less than five minutes to change and start sharing that knowledge of Indian culture,” said Subramaniam, 43. “Classical dance takes a great commitment; for two years, you learn basic steps, like a little child learning ABCs, and that can get very tiring. The dance follows a strict geometry and has many different speeds, starting slow and ending fast. It’s all about stamina, and holding [one’s endurance] to the end.”

She and her students have staged productions at Shriver Hall, on the Johns Hopkins campus, and at Indian temples throughout Maryland.

What do her charges enjoy most? The brilliantly colored silks and saris, elaborate costume jewelry and makeup; the occasional props, like masks and sticks that give dance a taste of the martial arts; and the mythical ancestral storylines that their movements and expressions portray, like rhythmic mimes.

“There’s no talking but a lot of foot-banging, and the kids enjoy it,” Subramaniam said.

Flutes, violins and percussion instruments magnify the oft-frenzied twirls and climactic beats and make performances “an absolute joy for the eyes and ears, if you are a dance lover.”