Going Down The Memory Lane

This post is a winning post of Write Over Weekend an initiative for Indian Bloggers by  Blogadda

 

Days turn into weeks, weeks into months , months into years and so on. And all that stays with us forever are memories of the same. I am a self confessed photo maniac.I love being captured in the frame  though these days due to my bulky figure I actually manage to get into the frame. Whenever it’s a function, its an occasion I see to it I am being clicked. It’s  lovely to have moments captured and then relive them years later.Initially I used to be very conscious as to how I am looking in each and every pic. But then a friend of mine, told me once “Photos are for memories , doesn’t matter how people look in it. The more the weird people look , the more memorable memories associated with it”  Pictures as memorabilia can bring the best and the worst memories out.  Even though I have a lot of wonderful pics each with a story behind it, I would like to share the one below.

Source :My parents :p

   Started learning dance( bharatnatyam )  at the age of 5, I was an average learner.Shy to perform in front of so many parents and students I would always hide and dance behind the huge number of students dancing. And my teacher would stil very smartly find out whenever I missed a beat or whenever I wasn’t upto the mark. I would have my classes every Friday morning. So called “Good dancers” or my batchmates would come up and occupy the  front positions and do every thing to grab teachers attention. They would come with their moms (whom I believe had nothing better to do than giggle at others).Whenever I did something weird , I would find them giggling.i would find my batchmates giggling. Being al alone in the merciless crowd , with my mom nowhere around I soon started finding the dance class , more of a trauma. I started finding reasons to bunk my classes. Till the age of 14, dance was just a routine for me. it was a way to keep my mom happy. It was her dream to see me perform. At the age of 14, my parents thought I must have my Arrangetram (i.e the first stage performance) where hundreds of audience  come in and the dancer performs for around 3 hours nonstop. The practice goes on for a year before performing in front of the strong audience. It takes a lot of hardwork and perseverance to master the dance moves.

Now coming to why the photo is really special. During my practice sessions, a lot of things changed. No more I was surrounded by my bully dance mates and their parents. My mistakes were not laughed at or frowned upon. A new level of confidence gave birth . I began to enjoy the dance form.  This photograph was snapped during my Arrangetram performance  11 years back where a new dancer in me was born.  I danced as if no one was watching me.I danced for myself. I  got into the skin of the character and essayed the roles effortlessly. The only compliment  I still remember was someone from the audience came backstage and told me, ”When you peformed the role of Duryodhana and stripped off Draupadi’s saree,  I got goosebumps. You were so natural”. And after that there has been no looking back.

For me the photo reminds me of my journey from an average to a better dancer. The picture reminds me of my struggle to achieve something good.The pic reminds me of my mom’s dream getting fulfilled. The pic is a reminder of how slim I was back then :P Jokes apart it makes me proud everytime I look at it because it reminds me of the things I have achieved as also keeps me rooted to the ground when I think of my old days. It arouses a new level of confidence whenever am low and reminds me that everyone can achieve what they wish for in life only if they work hard for it.

Everytime I look at this pic i can hear just one strong voice coming out of it which says, “You can do it!!! No one can stop you , nothing can deter you .The race is yours , the fight is yours and you will always emerge successful only if YOU WISH TO”