JOIN USOn Friday night, K L Nagendra and his family, who live in a quiet neighbourhood in Banashankari 2nd stage, were in high spirits.
Honey, Nagendra’s daughter, was selected to perform Bharatanatyam as part of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The euphoria evaporated on Sunday. As the family read the papers, they were shocked to find that Honey was the mystery woman who, for reasons yet unfathomable, walked slightly ahead of the Indian contingent in the marchpast.
Nagendra, who owns an export firm, says Honey never intended to gatecrash the Indian contingent’s marchpast. “I spoke with my daughter. Honey said she requested an official that she would like to participate in the parade with the Indian contingent, as she was already inside the stadium,” he said over the phone, when a Deccan Herald reporter managed to get through to him after repeated attempts.
Mediamen found Nagendra’s house locked. His wife, Jahnavi, is in London with Honey and is expected to be back with her next month. The exporter and his elder daughter locked up the house and are said to be living with their relatives in Anekal. Nagendra owns a leather factory, located on Kanakapura road. Honey is the younger of Nagendra and Jahnavi’s two daughters. She is said to be in London for the past one year, to pursue post-graduation.
Neighbours and friends of Honey were full of praise for the work ethic of the post-graduate in her mid-20s, and her commitment as a dancer.
“She has been performing and training for her Bharatanatyam performance abroad (in London),” said Yashoda Ramdas, a neighbour. According to Ramdas, Honey's mother, Jahnavi, was thrilled at her daughter having the feat of being among the performing artistes at the Olympics.
While some appreciated her “guts” at being in the Indian contingent's opening parade, other neighbours were dumbfounded at their quiet neighbourhood being caught in the harsh glare of media limelight.
“We were not even aware of this girl being in our neighbourhood. We saw the entire media contingent and now realise that we did not even know these neighbours of ours,” said Srinivasan, a resident.