My brief brush with dance, music and art in general
I did not realize when writing took over my passion for dance. Somewhere between age 7 to 18, there was an exchange of sorts in my mind and I guess I opted for writing.
My dance lessons started somewhat on these lines. There was a guru from the famous Pillai family of dance teachers. The dance school was in Matunga. I went and saw the school and touched the guru's feet and that was the end of my dance school. I started and ended right after touching the guru's feet. Why I wanted to learn dance? I loved rhythm and my body moved and my feet made patterns everytime there was song or music around me. I danced for hours standing in front of the mirror. Therefore, learning dance was the next best step and I wanted to learn. Well, after the feet touching ceremony, I did not give up. My family got me a teacher named Geeta, again part of the Pillai family to come home and teach me. The lessons started and they went on for about six months and vanished later. I could not fake discipline and practise tha, thai, thakka, thai everday of my life. Nope, I was a free bird, I am a gypsy, I decided. and therefore I could only dance to the tunes of my own drummer, my own imaginary music. And dance I never gave up, I danced at school functions, college/university and other get-togethers. won prizes and inspired my nieces to dance. They are dancers and one of my niece has a dance studio in Amsterdam. Yes, Bollywood jhatkas are there in all her dances, but the foundation is the classical bharath natyam. not trained by gurus, but mere inspiration.
Somewhere down the line, while dancing, I fell in love with writing and never realized that dance had quietly created a path for writing in my life, thus ensuring that I will never be devoid of a companion.
Dance to writing, there was a brief interlude with the musical instrument Veena... I learnt to play that instrument for over a year, I am not sure, but my guru said I was a natural at this string instrument and played very well and that I might have a future.
but then I played the tanpura when I was a mere three year old for my father and sang MS Subbulakshmi's famous Bhavayami Raghuramam (still only three years old) for my dad's cousin sister and my namesake Ranganayakee...
It is destiny, I have to be associated with one art form or the other. How good or bad I am, well, I will never know till I work at my skills and god's gift kindly bestowed upon me...
My dance lessons started somewhat on these lines. There was a guru from the famous Pillai family of dance teachers. The dance school was in Matunga. I went and saw the school and touched the guru's feet and that was the end of my dance school. I started and ended right after touching the guru's feet. Why I wanted to learn dance? I loved rhythm and my body moved and my feet made patterns everytime there was song or music around me. I danced for hours standing in front of the mirror. Therefore, learning dance was the next best step and I wanted to learn. Well, after the feet touching ceremony, I did not give up. My family got me a teacher named Geeta, again part of the Pillai family to come home and teach me. The lessons started and they went on for about six months and vanished later. I could not fake discipline and practise tha, thai, thakka, thai everday of my life. Nope, I was a free bird, I am a gypsy, I decided. and therefore I could only dance to the tunes of my own drummer, my own imaginary music. And dance I never gave up, I danced at school functions, college/university and other get-togethers. won prizes and inspired my nieces to dance. They are dancers and one of my niece has a dance studio in Amsterdam. Yes, Bollywood jhatkas are there in all her dances, but the foundation is the classical bharath natyam. not trained by gurus, but mere inspiration.
Somewhere down the line, while dancing, I fell in love with writing and never realized that dance had quietly created a path for writing in my life, thus ensuring that I will never be devoid of a companion.
Dance to writing, there was a brief interlude with the musical instrument Veena... I learnt to play that instrument for over a year, I am not sure, but my guru said I was a natural at this string instrument and played very well and that I might have a future.
but then I played the tanpura when I was a mere three year old for my father and sang MS Subbulakshmi's famous Bhavayami Raghuramam (still only three years old) for my dad's cousin sister and my namesake Ranganayakee...
It is destiny, I have to be associated with one art form or the other. How good or bad I am, well, I will never know till I work at my skills and god's gift kindly bestowed upon me...
Comments
Post a Comment