Few words can describe the unique feeling of completing an arangetram. The sweat from my neck dripping, the bruises from my bells throbbing, the beads from the tilted Andal bun on my head jingling, and the adrenaline from reaching my mangalam rushing are only four of the feelings I felt the moment I thanked mother Earth in my namaskaram after completing my arangetram. After seriously training for a particular event for over a year, I could not help but shed a singular tear mixed with sadness and relief at the fact it was over. The arangetram experience involves perseverance, diligence, and focus exhibited from the dancer and support given from her audience. My arangetram experience encompassed just that.

I started learning Bharathanatyam at the age of six from my guru Jothi Raghavan. After over nine years of stylized training, I reached the arangetram preparation stage. This is the point where my arangetram experience began for me. During the many hours of training, I learned a great deal about my Indian heritage and culture, the different musical thalams, and the price of hard work.

As the date of my arangetram drew closer, my knowledge of the different thalams and the challenges of crafting jathis (Pure Nritta paragraphs) grew immensely. After working with my Mridangist for 2 weeks prior to the arangetram, almost all of my jathis and Nritta items were tweaked to fit perfectly in beat with the song. At this point in my arangetram experience, nervousness seemed to flood all parts of my life because of the many small flaws, which I disregarded earlier, with a large percentage of my dances. The different thakadimi’s and thakathakita’s perplexed my brain daily, while my guru and Mridangist patiently explained every change to me. As the dancer, I found fool-proofing my dances as the most stressful part of my arangetram experience.

Next, came the week before arangetram practices with my local musicians and my guru. As the week progressed, the dances became more fluid and I finally had reached the point of sincerely anticipating the arangetram and taking pleasure in dancing my most difficult items. Shortly after, came the Friday before arangetram when my family and friends came to the hall in which I was to perform and decorate. Usually a perfectionist, I am often perturbed by the smallest decorative flaws but on this day, I maintained my cool and only concentrated on my dance.

At last, the sun rose on Saturday morning to awaken me on the day of my arangetram. The weather unusually humid and the temperature unusually hot, I climbed out of bed and immediately set to work on crafting a thank you speech. I raced the clock as I cranked out whatever I could possibly say about my family, friends and teacher to accurately express the gratitude I felt. Three hours before my first dance, I managed to eat yogurt rice in the hope of having enough energy to perform. Then, at the arangetram hall, as my teacher got me ready by first attaching the hair piece and many other head decorations, I started to feel the butterflies in my stomach as the time cunningly eased by. After the make up, hairspray, and costume had been set, my friends painted the red on the tips of my fingers and on my toes. Now, as I waited to pray to God and wear my bells, my dance friends calmed me down before my first dance. Fidgeting with my flowers during the entire slokam on Ganesha sung before the Pushpanjali, I stretched and pumped myself for my once in a lifetime experience, my arangetram. As the music of my Pushpanjali played, I allowed my legs to propel me gracefully onto the stage and I began the best day of my life. On stage, it felt as though I was at just another dance practice with my musicians and guru. My feet stamped at the perfect moments in all my off-beat jathis, I felt my face glow with the happiness that my arangetram finally had arrived. The rest of my arangetram passed with ease except of course for the slight problem of being locked out of my dressing room during the intermission, but all turned out well. Finally, after my dance as Andal and my Mangalam, my arangetram was truly over.

To those dancers who are preparing for your arangetrams, I advise you from experience to enjoy every moment of your arangetram day. Enjoy the pain of having your hair basically pulled out in the process of attaching the rakoodi to your head, enjoy the pain of your bells pounding against your feet, enjoy the standing ovation you will receive at the end of your mangalam, enjoy the many compliments you will receive from people you hardly know, and most of all enjoy the care that your friends and family show you throughout your arangetram experience. Although my arangetram training is over, I will still continue to thank my guru by pursuing my passion for dance for many years to come. After my arangetram experience ended, my career as a full-fledged dancer, before on the horizon, is now my present.

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