Sarita came home that evening with an
invitation card. She was going to present her first stage performance of
Bharatnatyam, a form of Indian dance, officially called Arganteram. Sarita is
an engineer passionate about dance. She began dancing at a young age, but could
not perform her Argantrem earlier. I set
about getting friendly with her a couple of months back when we were regular
for our walks in the picturesque forest, early in the mornings. Our stay in the
flat has brought me closer to all the kids in the flats. The babies teach me
their prattle, the little older ones involve me in their games, and these
youngsters are at home in sharing their dreams and future.
After Sarita left I flipped through the
pages of the card. The card had stunning pictures of four young girls who were
going to perform that Saturday. The card was no less than a wedding card, with
these beautiful girls in their dancing attires. As I read the names, Rucha’s
name made me sharp-eyed. She definitely
looked similar to the one I had known. I wondered whether the girl was the
same. I now began reading the details. She was undeniably my student, she
belonged to my favourite batch for whom I had been the class teacher. I kept
looking at the picture that took me back to those delightful years. She was a
petite girl, thin and fair with long black hair in standard seventh. As we
moved to the next class the students grew closer as now we knew each other
better. They were growing, so was I, but the greatest was their vicinity to their
growing aspirations. One of those days in the inter school competition I saw
the girl sway beautifully to the beats, she lived every moment then. It was the
first time I understood that the girl was zealous about dance. In course of
time I had met her mother too who had taken up catering a few people to earn
some more to help her kids pursue their passion. We moved on with our lives.
Today, it made me proud to read about
her. She was a tall young girl now. A graduate in fine arts, specialised in
graphics, pursuing her Vis harad in Dance. She
worked as a freelancer in the field of graphics. She was a lot more confident.
Every gesture in her dance and the pride in her body was a gesture of her
growth in her self appraisal. It reminded me of the incident when my students
asked me ‘how can we measure the self esteem and how do we grow it?’ Self
esteem grows the most when when one learns to believe in oneself and is unique
rather than a poor imitation of another personality.
Last
week while going to work as I drove through a narrow lane, I saw a young man,
who had woken up late. He was brushing his teeth and spat on the road, across
the street. He yelled shouted and abused his little boy of four who looked at
him in fear. This gesture made the boy shy and filled him with hatred and fear.
Wasn’t the father to be blamed for the negative self esteem he bore that
helped lower the morale of the little boy.
A few days back in the evening, I saw a
little girl of seven quickly snatch a bundle of clothes from her mother’s hands
and gently place it on her head. Her mother looked at her lovingly and helped
her adjust it better. Her two little brothers aged four and seven looked at her
in admiration as her mom pecked the little girl’s cheek for her kindness. I saw
pride puff up in the little girl as she walked with her mother and her
siblings. It was a kind gesture and an appreciation changed her judgment about
herself into a wonderful person. The mother’s gesture had proven to be a
pathway to positive self esteem.
Perhaps Rucha’s pride was her
dedication to dance in a loving environment that had bestowed strength in changing it into an
occupation. Parents support and a motivating atmosphere builds up
faith and self esteem.
“Self-esteem comes from being able to
define the world in your own terms, and refusing to abide by the judgments of
others.” ― Oprah Winfrey
Comments
Post a Comment