Prisha Thakkar Is Excited About Arpit 2020

  – Prisha Thakkar, a student and teacher at RSCA and Core Team member of ARPIT 2020 Kathak Concert

“Put music to our problems, and we’ll dance them away.”

My heart fills with nostalgia when I picture myself six months ago, travelling 9KMs to and from my kathak class and my college. I would rush back to see my students all excited to learn something new, doing my riyaaz, performing. That Pleasure!

It all feels so close yet so far! Who knew we will be confined to our homes? Who knew, a life source like air, couldn’t be consumed without a filter? Who’d have guessed that the definition of ‘NORMAL’ is going to change so drastically?

“Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end.”

The pandemic has definitely been tough and unusual for all of us but nothing stops us from pursuing our dreams.

Personally, being a Kathak student, dancer, performer and teacher, this pandemic has given me immense time to gain perspective and work on myself. I was able to devote my time for in-depth riyaaz sessions not just to try to master grace myself but to teach my students the art of striving for perfection.  Well, let’s not forget how disturbed my neighbours are with the sound of ghunghroos and how my family has leant to repeatedly listen to the Lehra/taal owing to the fact I practise all day long!

As a teacher, needless to say, my heart belongs to teaching kathak classes physically, having mini chit-chat sessions with my girls whilst they tied and untied their ghunghroos and adding the human touch while rectifying their hastaks and postures. But well, we gotta do, what we gotta do! Nevertheless, I feel overwhelmed to see my students so enthusiastic -logging into their accounts of seekLMS, waiting for class to start, revising their lessons, sending in practice videos and working on the corrections as instructed.

Lately, the Rujuta Soman Cultural Academy has taken a bold step to execute our annual kathak concert featuring student performances – ‘ARPIT’ digitally! Being a core member for the same, has been an exciting journey from the very beginning. Having calls day in and day out, managing viewership, content, virtual meetings with parents, recording performances from their respective homes, editing and finally putting it all together- trying to figure out how we can put up the best show in the limited resources available. Well, “The harder the struggle, the better the result”.

Seeing the passion of the students – deciding on costumes, collective efforts of the family to put up a background, recording – just fills my heart with so much of joy! The unity in diversity, that we possess in going to definitely make our show an Imperfectly Perfect one.

All in all, this pandemic has unquestionably played a major impact on my life. Holding the good memories of the past close to my heart. Creating new memories in the present. Here I am feeling grateful and thankful for all I have got. Learning, growing and evolving and instilling the same dedication in my students.