Mahesh Mummareddy

She almost gave up, after being at it for 6 years. My daughter is learning classical dance from the age of 5. 4 years 10 months to be exact because she was literally pestering me to join her from the age of 3. The dance requires a lot of leg movements and I was advised not to join her before 5 years. She used to insist that I pick her up, one class after her class, so she can watch the next batch. Such was her level of interest. It is called Bharatanatyam, an intricate, difficult dance straight from the temples of South India. I have attached a video for those who not familiar ( or you can google to get 100s) It takes 5 years to learn the basics right. It is a long journey, like any classical art form in the world. The Gurus themselves are super strict. You need to respect the dance as the divine. Else you are out. She learnt for two years at Chennai, India. Then we shifted across the country. Luckily, we found a teacher here too, and but this Guru too shifted. Then I enrolled her with a well established dance school at Chennai, where we were originally living. Online classes ( not the best choice, but the only choice we had). The next level of dance was getting difficult. Posed more problems as it was online. ( Many refuse to teach it online though pandemic has changed that attitude a lot) She was getting frustrated and said she does not feel like attending any more. This hit me hard. She is always an enthusiastic learner. I called her teacher and she minute she picked my call she said “I understand that she is finding it difficult, as she missed two classes. I will help her, with some individual classes. She can play the reference dance videos at slow speed” That is all it took. My daughter took her time to study the steps from the playing the video slowly( an option I was not aware of). She then told me ”This is easy now. I could have done this before”. Mam helped her individually. Not knowing the correct way of execution and not wanting to ask in class was her problem. Not her dance journey. Not her capability. She has not mastered them, but knows that there is a way out. Most important, she knows that she need NOT QUIT. I have been there, you have been there and am sure many have been there. Ready to give up, because we are not getting results. Ready to give up, because we think we are not capable Ready to give up, because we are not ready to face failure in front of others. A natural feeling. At that point all we need to do is See the bigger picture - why are you even doing this? See the details - What exactly is frustrating for you. Seeking help - Get mentor. A little help goes a long way Working on the details can help us keep moving S0 my dear reader , if you ever feel like giving up. DO.NOT. Work on the WHY - You. Will. Find. A. Way If it is with regard to writing, my DMs are always open. p.s - Video courtesy TEAM ANARTANA