Mridusha Allen

Mridusha Shrestha was born on Friday, January 28, 1984 in her parents' home in Kirtipur, Nepal to Mr. Mahesh Shrestha and Mrs. Yesuda Shrestha. She was their second daughter, her older sister being Manisha Shrestha (b. February 16, 1983). After the age of 5 years she lived in Sonada, West Bengal, India with her maternal grandparents and her older sister. She attended a Montessori School named Holy Cross while there. At age 9 years she returned to Kirtipur and studied for two years at Ideal Model Boarding School in Jawlakhel, Nepal. At age 10 her older sister returned to Nepal and they both studied at St. Mary's Girls' High School through grade 10, after which she attended Little Angels College in Kathmandu, Nepal. Mridusha had a keen interest in dance at age 7 years, and began professional dance training at age 12. She earned a Master's Degree (Bhimej in Nepali) in Bharata Natyam under the tutelage of her late Guruji, Mr. Mrigendra Man Pradhan and his wife, Krishna Pradhan. She was also trained in all forms of Nepali Classical, Semi-Classical, Traditional, and Folk dance. She taught dance for three years at Pushpa Sadan Boarding High School (PSBS) in Kirtipur, Nepal, where she earned many prestigious awards as best choreographer and dancer. Upon completing her degree First Division at Little Angels, she came to Minnesota State University, Mankato in 2003. At university, Mridusha began studying Physics and Dance. She took an Ethnic Studies course and quickly fell in love with diversity studies, after which she changed her major, pursuing a dual degree in Ethnic Studies and Dance. At MSU she studied under Professors Louis Schwartzkopf, Hanh Huy Phan, Kebba Darboe, Michael T. Fagin, Elden Lawrence, Sebastian "Bronco" LeBeau, Glenn Peterson, and Julie Kerr-Berry, earning her B.S. in Ethnic Studies and a Minor in Dance in 2007. She then went on and earned her M.S. in Ethnic Studies, with Dr. Kebba Darboe as her advisor. She greatly admired Drs. Jacqueline Vieceli, Jose Lopez, and Julio Mandojana. And she considered Char Rheume, whom she worked with for four years at the MSU International Student Office, a dear friend whom she loved. After completing her B.S. in December 2007, she and her husband, Wayne Allen, were married in Mankato, after which they honeymooned in Puerto Rico, a place they both fell in love with and considered a dream spot they hoped to visit in the future. On January 6, 2010 she gave birth to her son, Mahesh Lawrence Andrew Allen, the jewel of her existence. Mridusha was employed as a Private Tutor, and she was a homemaker, both of which she enjoyed and loved. She and her husband Wayne and their children moved to Springfield in the summer of 2013, where she became active in school activities and the community of Springfield, and had begun attending St. Paul's Lutheran Church recently, a congregation she had fallen in love with, and who loved her in return. Mridusha leaves behind her husband Wayne, her three children Liam, Fiona, and Mahesh Allen, her mother and father, Mahesh and Yesuda Shrestha, her elder sister Manisha Shrestha, her brother-in-law, Pujay Shrestha, and their son Jaman, her paternal grandmother, Lila Devi Shrestha, her brother Larry and sister-in-law Lisa Allen, many aunts and uncles, sisters, brothers, cousins, and many, many family and friends in Nepal and Darjeeling, India, as well as in the United States, including her best friends Mary Ellen Frame, Sarah Johnson, and Faith Allen. Visitation 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm Friday, November 14, 2014 St. Paul Lutheran Church, Springfield, MN 303 North Cass Ave. Springfield, Minnesota, United States 56087 Service Information 2:00 pm Friday, November 14, 2014 St. Paul Lutheran Church, Springfield, MN 303 North Cass Ave. Springfield, Minnesota, United States 56087