At one point of time, I Dance was something that made me happy, it was an integral part of me. I grew up in the 1990’s, where the biggest dance competition was the local dance competition organised by the Society during Ganpati. Every hit song had to be performed at the mandatory society annual get together by the children. There were no cell phones or recording devices easily available, which meant that we had to rely on the 36 photos wala role camera. There were no behind the stage photos of selfies or pouts.
We did not have make up artist or professional makeup. One bottle of Lakme Foundation and one Lakme Compact was to be shared by all the girls in the building. It would be the prized possesion of an elder and we children were not allowed to handle the same. Many a times, we had contributed small amounts and also bought make up for our performances.
Costumes unlike today were not that fancy. It would usually be the same rented Ghagra Choli from the common Dresswala or we would have to borrow and alter so that all our dresses looked same. But life was fun then. We danced to let ourselves free, free from any stress of the world. The practice sessions were fun and disciplined, no fights or no arguments.
Yes, we did develop cold feet and were nervous, when we would peek and see the entire auditorium full of audience. But our love for the music and Dance was so deep that stage fear could not grip our minds. The last I had danced so freely was during the pre-wedding functions of my wedding. Somehow after that day, I neither got the opportunity nor the occassion to dance. My husband has two left feet and is miles away from dance, so that long pending desire or learning salsa with a partner has gone down the drain.
I had learnt kathak, when I was about 4 years for about a year from Respected Parkar Sir at Vasai. I regularly participated at every dance program that I could since then. There was no reason for me to shy away from that. My second relationship with dance was when I started learning Bharatanatyam at the age of 21, when I had put on weight. I also performed on stage once and cleared my first year from Nalanda University but time constraints due to work stopped me from pursuing it.
If there is one more desire in my life then that is to learn dancing once again, which I hope I would start once again.
There is one person, who had played a major role in encouraging me to dance and that is my Mentor, Ms. Supriya Mundapat, she was not only Dance Teacher, the lady behind my strong love for dancing and the person, who brought out the best in me. Apart from my family, she is one person, who has played a major role in my overall development.
I hope I start dancing once again before I get Arthritis. Somehow, I am unable to take that first step towards something that was once upon a time my lifeline. These days, I am just happy watching my daughter share the same love for music and dance and the best memory that I have today is of my son performing during his school annual day.
I am very bad at keeping photographs and could not find any at present, while writing this blog. Hope I will be able to find them soon and upload them.
The Ghungroo in the Feature Image has been made by my father at home. During those days we would get the single line ones which had to be then stiched on a cloth.
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