When Ghungroos Tinkle

It all Started this way...

My mother always told me, that I jumped around too much, that I was too hyperactive and kept dancing around. I always have loved to dance and choreograph for small events, and even otherwise, just for fun. I would prance around, dragging my friends with me, pulling my family members on the sofas to sit and watch the jumping that we did to the most popular music then...

I was also often chided for wasting so much energy and collapsing a few minutes later to the exasperation of my parents, who ended up pressing my legs until I was satisfied that the pain wouldn't bother me.

My mother decided, that before my supposedly infinite amount of kid-energy dissipated, that it was to be channelised into a particular direction, in this case, dance coaching. I went to western freestyle dancing when I was about 6 years old, I think?

But that didn't last long....

Then I also went to a Bharatanatyam class a bit later, though I was very intimidated by the teacher. The teaching style didn't particularly click with me, y'know?

So, that didn't last long either....

Then there was that personal tutor who taught me and my friends but left (when he got married, I think?), and again, I was left with the same problem.

And then, my mother caught wind of dance classes opened near my home from a distant relative. The budding academy's first program was to be in the Sai Baba temple in the vicinity, in a few days from then.

So, I found myself in the temple on the given date, thoroughly enjoying the unique dance performance that I witnessed.

The very excited nine-year-old that I was, I found myself let go of the childish prejudices that I had of Bharatanatyam, or more precisely, the image of Bharatanatyam that I had in my head.

The effervescent dancers danced to an English song! Why, wasn't that impossible? Classical dance was performed by old people, and it was always boring to watch!
There were adults in the mismatched group, along with the few tiny tots who cutely moved around with not-so-clear gestures, but still, it was quite the sight.

"Who is welcome in the house?
Sitting on a little mouse,
Gaa-ne-shaa,
Gaa-ne-shaa!

"He has the face of an elephant,
The body of a man!
Gaa-ne-shaa,
Gaa-ne-shaa!

"Guru of the lords,
Guru of the lords,
Just and wise!
Just and wise!
Gaa-ne-shaa,
Gaa-ne-shaa!"

And I stared, awed, at the very simple, but also so different, dance that had captured my heart and set my mind on learning the art.

That day, I realized that art isn't just about doing something just for the sake of it, art comes from the soul, and it can be modernized without losing its traditional, cultural roots. Very profound for a nine-year-old, I know, but it's the truth!

I returned home and only kept gushing about the dance to my mother, and she took me and a friend on the next possible weekday to the dance academy which taught the very differentiated Kalakshetra style of Bharatanatyam to learn dance.

Well. How was I to know that the spark of interest that had led me to this academy, would one day transform into this blooming passion and love that I now have for this beautiful art?