I remember counting down to the day of my arangetram, which seemed to creep up quite fast on me. I was so nervous for the day to come, yet excited at the same time. During the time of working up to this day, my guru, Smt. Jeyanthi Ghatraju, and I are worked very hard. Although my arangetram took a lot of discipline and cut down on my social life, never for a second would I have given myself the opportunity not to have it. This experience brought so many positive aspects into my life. My guru and I became really good friends and talked about almost everything. By dancing, I learned a lot about Indian mythology and for the first time in my life really enjoyed it. By having an arangetram, I had more motivation to dance and as an end result feel as if I'm now a better dancer.

The week before my arangetram, I was so nervous, and tried not to think about the day to avoid feeling nauseous. My guru prepared me quite well for the day and the stage rehearsal with tips like "your flowers for Nataraja just won't fall off your sweaty hands", "you'll wake up very early on the day of arangetram and would not know what to do", etc., During the stage rehearsal I made quite a few mistakes and felt really tired. This almost made me feel that I was not ready for an arangetram the next day.

The day of my arangetram dawned as any other day. Sure enough, I woke up earlier than usual, went over all my dances, and blanked out numerous times. This filled me with anxiety and I said, "I just want this over soon". We made it to the green room and got started on the hair first and then the make-up. Slowly, I felt a sense of acceptance as my ability as a dancer. My guru was always focused on my strengths – my smile, showing confidence, etc. and they were all running through my mind. We did the Salangai pooja and received the blessings of all the elders and the musicians. Now, taking a deep breath, having one last glance at my Guru and with Vasanthi aunty by my side cheering me up, I really "ascend" the stage.

My parents welcomed the guests and introduced my guru. My guru gave a brief introduction to Bharatanatyam and thus commenced the recital. Following the traditional invocation on Ganesha, "Vinayaka ninnu vina", I started my recital with Panchamurty anjali in ragam Gambheera Nattai. I then went on to Tisra Alarippu and Shanmukha kavuthuvam. Vasantha jathiswaram, Sarasijakshulu shabdam all sped through; never in the billions of times I'd practiced them, had they gone by so quickly. Before I knew it, I was done with my Simhavahini varnam. After a brief intermission and costume change, I was much more relaxed and started to really enjoy. I presented my favorite piece, Shankara Srigiri. Followed by, a Kavadichindu, "Maadu meikkum kanne" followed, which seemed to be a hit among the children. My thillana in ragam Paras felt like a fitting finale and. I concluded the recital with the Ramachandraya Janaka mangalam.

All in all, it was a great day, well worth the effort and time put in by ever so many people, who helped out in many ways than I can mention. The foremost were the musicians of the evening. Smt. Bhuvana Ganesh was at her best with her mellifluous voice, ably accompanied by Sri. Surya Sundararajan on the violin, Sri. Gaurishankar Chandrasekar on the mridangam and Dr. Suresh Mathur on the flute, and my guru, Smt. Jeyanthi Ghatraju, doing the nattuvangam. They inspired me the most with their passion and devotion to what they do and helped me keep my spirits up. A special mention has to be made about 10-yr old Pranav Ghatraju, who played tabla for my kavadichindu piece. He was a last minute addition to the orchestra and with his sheer enthusiasm stole the hearts of the audience. Other than the musicians, another important person was Vasanthi aunty, who helped me backstage, checking and fixing things, reminding me to sip some water in between items, and above all, being there with me all the way through. I hugged her about six times!!

During the reception, I wasn't tired or hungry or even thirsty. At that point, I was all in bliss, full of vigor and high spirits. As I said in my thank you speech, Jeyanthi aunty has done the impossible, to instill the love of dance in me, which my parents have been trying since I was born. Not only have I accomplished a task that I put so much time and dedication into, but also feel fortunate to have so many of my family and friends there to support me during this major milestone in my life.

|