A small village on the outskirts of Vijayawada in Andra Pradesh India, the birthplace of one of the most revered classical dances in India.
You think you know what heavy rain looks like and then you go to India. Raining cats and dogs is a grave understatement.
Summer of 2013, I was at my peak performing dance career. I was doing shows every other day and was travelling all over Andhra Pradesh. One weekend in July, I was invited to perform in Kuchipudi village to celebrate Vedanta LakshmiNarayana Sastry, a prominent figure in the history of Kuchipudi who was crucial in creating the repertoire we see today. I hadn't realized it at the time, but this was a really important event.
After a 6 hour train trip from Hyderabad, we had arrived in Vijayawada in middle of monsoon season. We immediately were met with such thundering rain that we could barely see 2 feet in front of us. I literally had never seen rain like that before. Luckily, we had family members in the area that were willing to take care of us as we figured out how to travel to the location.
Our family rented us a car and a driver drove us 2 hours to Machilipatnam, a city closer to Kuchipudi where my grandma's sister lived. The weather was so finicky - the rain had stopped midway through the road trip so it was suddenly bright and sunny. You know how vibrant and picturesque villages look in the movies with the never ending greenery and the dirt roads and beautiful palm trees? That's exactly how it looked, like my TV came to life.
Once we got to Machilipatnam, we unloaded all our luggage into my grandma's sisters place where I had to get ready. It was small quaint little house, just enough for 2 people to live comfortably. So naturally, with me, my mom, my aunt and uncle, my grandma, my grandma's sister and her husband, and my cousin, we were quite cramped. If any of you know how much space it requires to get ready in full dance makeup, you will know the struggle that was about to ensue.
I can't remember at ALL how I got makeup done in that space. I just remember that I had a tiny little mirror and I was doing one handed makeup while pinning my dress with the other hand and my mom was doing my hair from the back. Everyone had to leave the house for a bit so we could completely spread out all our stuff. But this wasn't actually the real problem.
Remember how the weather was super finicky? Yup, the rain was back and with a vengeance. The power was going in and out so we had to find a flashlight to continue with hair and makeup. Don't forget the time was ticking. We only had about an hour left to get completely ready and leave for the venue that was at least 30 minutes away. So, with that one small flashlight, we switched back and forth with hair and makeup, bickering about how long each thing was taking and fighting for more time we didn't have. And then I remembered.....the stage is an outdoor stage.
At this point, I was sure I wasn't going to perform. There was absolutely no way that this would happen outside in the thundering rain. There was no cell phone signal so there was no way to contact the organizers. I was so irritated, my motivation dropped faster than the bass drop in a trap song. I really don't know or remember how but my mom convinced me to just get ready anyways and see what happens. Better to be prepared than not.
After doing what I thought was the worst makeup and costume job in history, we left in the rain, cutting it really close to when we were supposed to leave, to Kuchipudi and to the Sri Bala Tripura Sundari temple. It was a very small town and the temple was in the heart of the city. Of course, this is what I had thought considering I could barely see anything in the rain. As we approached the temple, I could see the outdoor stage as we raced inside before my costume got drenched. (It did get drenched anyway and to this day you can see the rust on the metal clips that I used to pin my dress) It was there we met Pasumarthi Keshav Prasad sir.
Keshav Prasad uncle was the one who had given me this opportunity to perform. He had been organizing events in Kuchipudi for several decades and he greeted us warmly with so much excitement. He apologized sincerely for the rain and asked us to wait in the temple's office until he could figure out how to keep this going. He said, under whatever circumstances, he would make sure that I would get to perform that day.
Right before he left to speak with the temple priests, he kept thanking us for coming and we kept thanking him for inviting us. To be completely honest, this kind of hospitality was unheard of in the event organization world and is something my mom and I still talk about today. If more people were as respectful as he is, we would view events and event organizers so differently.
45 minutes had gone by and it was still raining and we were losing hope. Keshav Prasad uncle came back and looked me in the eye and said "Do you want to perform directly in the temple? It'll be cramped but this is such a momentous occasion, it is essential that we celebrate."
The rest is history. I shared the small space with another incredible dancer, Mrs. Pallavi Kumar from Texas, who was also invited to perform that day. We were inches away from Devi and I remember feeling so exhilarated. There was a larger crowd that day as well, cramped inside the small temple premises despite the rain being so unforgiving. I had performed excerpts from 'Igiri Nandini', and another piece which I can't remember now but I remember it being so powerful in that space.
At the end of the short performance, the temple organizers placed this 50 pound (or so it felt) garland over me as if I was a huge personality. I had no idea it was coming and I remember almost toppling over from how heavy it was. It was such a grand gesture and I genuinely remember feeling like I'm not sure what I had done to deserve it. I am incredibly grateful to them for their welcome and appreciation and made the experience even more memorable.
As a teenager, I didn't quite understand the value of performing in these temples other than the fact that I was so excited that the village was called the same dance I was spending so many hours of practice on. It's a relevant excitement at that age but definitely showed off my lack of maturity. However, only after leaving the place and learning and reading more about it from my dance teachers did I come to understand the vibrant and rich culture and heritage that I was a part of.
For a girl living outside of India, learning classical dance outside of India, to then going to the village in India where the form that I was practicing had originated, excitement is another understatement. I had never seen or set foot in an Indian village before and my only knowledge was from Telugu movies. Looking back, I realize just how crucial that trip was in establishing my purpose to dance. It's not just about the movement and the story telling, but taking a piece of history forward and reminding us all where we come from and how far we have come and how much more there is to go.
I always live by 'no regrets' but there's a few things I wish I 'regret' from this experience:
1. I used to be very 'put technology away and live in the moment' type person but now looking back I wish I made someone take a video of the whole thing. Or I wish I had vlogged or did something more to remember what had happened. I'm sure if I had, I would have been to have a better memory and remember all the small details that I'm sure would have made a difference to how I felt about the performance. I would have cherished the whole experience more, you know what I mean?
2. I wish I had left my attitude at the door. I should have appreciated every piece of that experience, even through the rain and problems that kept happening. Everything does happen for a reason and, had it not rained, I would not have been able to perform right in front of Devi in the temple, which is, according to the people that I got to speak to during the event, was incredibly rare. There's really no purpose to be angry or upset with anything that's not in your control. Lead with a positive spirit and you will receive a positive outcome.
I will definitely be visiting Kuchipudi again, this time with a better attitude, more knowledge and allow myself more time to be able to explore the surroundings. I'm so sure that a place as iconic as it is from the rich history and housing some of the greatest legends in this art form to the gorgeous scenery and temples has so much more to offer.
K U C H I P U D I