Nrityagram...

From the moment I enter those gates…I feel part of a different world. It is a place so calm, so serene, that I forget everything else that's on my mind while I am there. This Sunday I went there after almost 7 months. I didn't realise how much I missed being there. But the sound of peace with the distant Pakhwaj beat brought it all back to me.
I joined Nrityagram in August 2003. The style of Odissi I had learnt before that was different from the one we are taught at Nrityagram. I am taught by the senior resident students. The first time I saw them perform, I was thinking...this is how Sucheta must feel looking at Van Gogh!

Dance to them isn’t just a string of movements put together…it is their life. They live, breathe, and dream dance. Their lives are completely devoted to dance. They are so different from the people I am used to being around! Take their sense of humor…while having lunch, our Pakhwaj player (who is by the way the most adorably enthusiastic guy I have ever come across) is the one who makes everyone laugh. And the day I was there…this is what everyone was going hysterical about: Budha was reciting an Odissi bol…and swinging a string of grapes in perfect rhythm! Just as the bol finished, he dropped the grape into the bowl…again exactly on beat! This doesn’t ordinarily seem at all funny (I for one was marveling at how he managed to move that grape on time)! But everyone thought it was the funniest thing they had ever seen. Their enthusiasm was really quite endearing (and infectious).

Generally when I go to Nrityagram…it is Surupa Sen who takes our class. Ordinarily, she is a very reserved person. She lives alone, with her horrifyingly ferocious great dane, Rakha. She is a great teacher, and there is no doubting her talent or capabilities. This Sunday however, for the first time, Bijoyini Sathpathy took our class. I don’t think that in all my 15 years, I have admired anyone more. Bijoyini di is, in addition to being incredibly talented, a wonderful person to be around. She recognises a piece of music by hearing 5 seconds of it! And when she dances, it is like a sculpture has come alive. Graceful movements that she perfectly brings together with strong footwork and feeling that makes her look like she dances for someone way above the likes of you and me in her audience. It is an absolute treat for us to watch both Surupa di and Bijoyini di practice (let alone perform).

I take my exam on the 21st. I somehow feel so insignificant. I have taken classical exams before (in music) and I have been examined in dance by my own teachers. But this time is somehow different. I (modesty put aside) have so far been used to being prepared for what I’ve gotten into, and generally being adequately good at it. This exam scares me though. I am afraid that I will let down way too many people by doing this one badly. And hearing about how strict the examiners are hasn’t helped one bit! I know that I will never be a Bijoyini Sathpathy. I have neither the talent nor the time to put in as much into my dance as she does. She and Surupa di, however, will always have a great amount of respect and admiration from me, and I hope that one day, I will be able to live up to their expectations.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!