Losing Steps!!

Weekends. What would a-twenty-something software engineer do? Get up early in the afternoon. Brunch with total lethargy. Meet up with old friends over coffee. An exorbitant dinner. Crash watching a movie. This was my itinerary too for an unassuming Sunday; until I got a call from a dear friend to attend a classical Indian dance recital.

Unable to either dampen nor weaken my friend’s determination and enthusiasm I agreed to go only if she, a dance exponent herself, explained to me the subtleties of the all the dance movements presented, somewhat like an art-appreciation-crash-course. Because I had promised myself I would not attend anymore dance recitals; after I had dozed off in total boredom years before, only to wake for the thunderous applause at the end of the recital.

As the showdown to the recital fast approached many thoughts lingered in my head. Why do people dedicate their lives to this discipline? What is the joy unleashed in a dance performance to the performers and the audience. How is that I cannot understand what gave my grandparents and their generation such happiness and thrill? As informed, I reached the venue ahead of time which was charged and bustling with activity. I just sat seeing populace, including foreigners, poring in, later only to go back home due to the shortage of space. Not for once had I imagined it would be a houseful performance.

My mentor for the evening told me the first item was one where the dancer plucks flowers and offers them to god. All I could see was the dancer turning around and around making expressions of anger, happiness, disgust, angst and bliss. With total enthusiasm I was explained the reason and meaning of every movement, I could see a beautiful movie being aired in front of me. All this was done without the backdrop of expensive sets, just with the creativity of the choreographer and talent of the performer. This tapped a region in my brain, where I could visualize the entire story with various characters accomplished by just one performer. At the end of the three hour recital I was left in total awe and appreciation for Indian classical dance.

It is said that the affluence of a society is identified by the way it treats its artists. Today we are the beholders of great affluence, but without the knowledge of art. It is time we make an attempt to explore art and keep our tradition alive and for a more selfish reason that we are losing out on something so enchanting and captivating.