This weekend was a
weekend to remember. There were 2 different reasons that made these two days
extremely special. Both have one thing in common: me & my memories. J
We had planned to
attend my sister in law’s bharatnatyam arangetram in Chennai on Saturday. I was
really excited about it for over a month. I had done my own arangetram 19 years
back when I was about 8 years old. After that, forget dancing, I hadn't seen a
live bharatnatyam recital in years. My eagerness was so evident that my whole
family immediately planned to go to Chennai. We reached a bit late but
nevertheless I was stunned by the sight in front of my eyes.
One glance at a
bharatnatyam dancer and you think “Beauty Personified”. The first thing that’ll
strike you are the eyes that are heavily accentuated with kohl. These doe-like
eyes enhance the dancer’s expressions. Our eyes are windows to our soul. Words
fail us but our eyes always show the unadulterated state of our being. Then
there are the color stained lips that make the smiles look even better.
Glittering jewellery, flowers, altha, long braided hair and ghungroo complete
the classic Indian look.
I am not an expert in
bharatnatyam. I was just another tamilian girl who learnt dance in her
childhood. When I think about this dance form, I feel there are many aspects
that when intertwined together create a magical art. Expressions, Postures,
Mudra, Footwork, Music & Story are important pieces of this art. The
postures and mudras in bharatnatyam look beautiful yet it takes years of
practice to perfect them. Anything less than perfect make them look clumsy. The
rhythmic sound of feet meeting the floor and tinkling sound of the ghungroo is
a treat to one’s ears. Music binds the art and the story together.
Coming back to the arangetram,
there were three dancers who were taking turns to dance on-stage. The upside of
this is more breathing time for the dancers but the downside being the need for
synchronization. Even with breaks, dancing for 2-3 hours straight drains one’s
energy. When I saw these dancers panting and trembling with imbalance, I was
taken back to my arangetram when my aunt used to feed me glucose between
performances. I remember not liking it back then but now I was feeling grateful
to all the adults who insisted.
All in all it was a
memorable Saturday with some wonderful performances.
The other thing that
took me down the memory lane is the Sony show “Reporters”. Reporters is the love
story of two people in the media world. It has Rajeev Khandelwal in the lead
role. It’s the same Rajeev Khandelwal who shot to fame with Kahin To Hoga. Back
then I did not quite notice him since it was a “SOAP”. It was too melodramatic
for my taste. Then Left Right Left came around and I was hooked on to it
completely. There he was again, a handsome yet tormented army officer. The
story had the right mix of action and romance. It was then that I started
liking Rajeev. Then as years passed by I watched his films – Anwar, Shaitan,
Soundtrack & Table no. 21. Now when he is again back on the silver screen,
I keep remembering those days when all of us used to watch episode after
episode. Now he plays an enigmatic character. He’s a shrewd editor-in-chief who
revives a TV news channel and brings it to the top. He’s portrayed as arrogant,
smart (extremely smart), intuitive, courageous, aloof,… And there are times
when they let you glimpse at the real Kabir Sharma – funny, humane, romantic,
fun-loving, caring,… Reporters keeps me on my toes and makes me wait for the
next episode just like LRL.
The human mind is
fantastic. You don’t realize its capabilities until it surprises you with a
bang. It sees, remembers, connects, recollects, analyses, decides and best of
all creates.
