MY ARANGETRAM EXPERIENCE

When I heard my cue for my Pushpanjali, I pumped myself for my once in a lifetime experience, my Arangetram. Though I was hyperventilating and fidgeting, I allowed my legs to propel me on stage gracefully. At first it felt as though it was another dance practice with the musicians at my Guru,Smt. Jothi Raghavan’s house.I brought myself to reality and felt my face glow with happiness that my year long preparation for my Arangetram had finally come to fruition.

I started learning Bharathanatyam under the tutelage of Guru Jothi Raghavan at the tender age of five. Over the past ten years of intense and scrupulous training, I reached the Arangetram preparation stage. Through many hours of dancing, I learned a great deal about my Indian heritage and culture, the different rhythmic thalams, and the importance of hard work.

As my Arangetram drew closer, I started to question myself why I got myself into this, and signs of nervousness overwhelmed me. Working with live musicians for my solo performance worried me, but the mridangist, my guru, and I tweaked all my jathis and Nritta pieces to fit perfectly in beat with the song.  The different rhythmic beats confused my brain daily, but my guru and mridangist patiently explained every change to me. The local singer, Smt. Geetha Murali and I worked through the difficult Telugu words of my Dasavatharam piece, and pulled it all together to make it one of a kind. As the dancer, perfecting my pieces was the hardest and most stressful step of the Arangetram process.

After four days of three to four hours of rehearsals, I woke up Friday morning relieved that I didn't have rehearsal. Soon enough though, it hit me that my big day was hours away. As my family and I loaded boxes of decorations into the car, confusion flooded me. I didn't want to believe my Arangetram was the next day. Shortly after, my family and friends joined me at the entrance of Littleton High School Auditorium. As they asked me how I was feeling, my reply was one that was expected-- “ I am nervous.” The more I said it, the more nervous I got. Within time the doors were unlocked and everyone went to work. I did the simple job of resting on the side of the stage and waited for my guru to arrive for the stage rehearsal we scheduled. After a tiring hour of rehearsal, the dances became more fluid and I finally reached the point of enjoying and taking pleasure in dancing my most difficult pieces. For the rest of the night, I tried to maintain cool and concentrate my mind on one thing, dance.

When Saturday morning came along, I awoke early due to a horrible nightmare about my Arangetram. The weather was unusually humid and and I climbed out of bed and ran downstairs to check if today was actually the day. The house was chaotic with the many relatives helping my parents with last minute preparations. I worked my way to the shower and ran out of the house to the Arangetram auditorium. Three hours before the start of the program, guests started arriving and I had to get ready. My friend’s mom got me ready by first attaching the hair piece and then laid down the many other head decorations. I felt this was like one of the many other performances I have done. Then came the time for the make-up, my friend took out the foundation and caked on layers of it on my face. I started to feel the butterflies in my stomach fluttering as the time cunningly passed by. After the make-up, hairspray, and costume had been set, my friend painted the alta (red coloring on the tips of my fingers and toes). I was ready.

The final step for the Arangetram preparations was pray to God, my guru, and my parents before I received my bells. I stretched my limbs and made sure I inhaled and exhaled even though it was hard to. Though getting myself to start the program was difficult, I finally got myself to start at my cue of the Pushpanjali. The rest of my Arangetram passed with ease till very end of my Arangetram.

Although my Arangetram training is over, I will continue to thank my guru for instilling the passion for dance in me.

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