Our daughters Serena and Sonya recently completed their arangetram on June 26th, 2011. Our planning process began last September, and in earnest by mid-October of 2010. As parents, we started the process with all the excitement and anxiety of any large event. We asked for and received plenty of advice along the way which really ended up keeping us both sane and on track as the day approached. Even with it being our own children on stage, we worried about every detail like stage fright, mistakes in their dance, stamina, jitters and technical issues. Although we certainly couldn’t control all of these things, as parents, these thoughts kept us on our toes. Oddly enough, when the day finally arrived, none of these things mattered, whether they occurred or not.
As our MC, Priya Subramanian said at the beginning of the show, “An arangetram is both a beginning and a culmination of sorts.” Subhashini later added that a live show carries a magic which is all its own since once the moment has passed, you cannot get it back. At that moment I fully appreciated all the effort the girls and our family had undertaken. The girls had done what they set out to do which was to proudly display their skill and their art and show confidence in all that they had mastered over the years. As parents, we wanted nothing more so our mission was more than accomplished. The show went on with all the joy and love for the art form that the girls have grown within them since a young age. Whether you are a student, parent thereof, enthusiast or all of the above of Indian fine art, I highly recommend you participate and relish these arangatram events that takes a labor of love to produce and an afternoon of memories for yourself, your family, friends and community to treasure for a lifetime.
–Written by Karthika Ahuja