An Artist is not Born but Made!

I am so thrilled to share with you that I stood Second in Talent Hunt (Pratibha Shodh) organized by Gujarat State Sangeet Natak Academy in Vadnagar. Everyone sees the glory moments but what they don’t see is behind the scenes. I’m thereby writing this blog to let you know how much power does the spirit of “Not Giving Up” have!

4 days before the competition I got a call from Gujarat State Sangeet Natak Academy regarding my selection for this final round in Bharatnatyam field which was to be held on July 10. But , I had my college exams and then a small vacation lined up till July 9. In the morning , on July 9 , it was almost cancelled that I ain’t going for this as I neither had my performance edited audio track nor my body was prepared for it as I had last danced lately in Feburary. At 6 pm in the evening, I just thought why not give it a try ! If I could finish my song editing by 8 pm , then I’ll pack my bags and go by bus at 9 pm . Perhaps, my thought just turned out into a reality and I was done with my song editing.So I with one of my other friend got the bus tickets and started travelling. By 6 in the morning on July 10,we reached our destination.

I had not practice on the audio track and nor my body was prepared for it . So , I had no other option except Practicing! I managed to find some open place there and for almost 45 min I did my warmup as it was needed to open up some muscles and joints required for dancing. For giving my best onstage, I personally need quiet a lot of practice to dive deep into the piece that I am performing. So ,I kept on practicing , rehersing and setting actions to the audio track !

I was supposed to report at 10 am , all dolled up in my costume. So at 9 a.m I sat down and held the zip of my bag to open it up. Not even in a fraction of second , honeybee stinged me on the starting bone of my thumb in my right hand. What’s next , lost hope !! I couldn’t even move my hand , how will I dance !! My friend managed to find a key and started rubbing that key on the sting. Still there was no relievance in pain. 15 minutes later , I called up my childhood friend who’s now a Doctor to be and she advised me to dip my hand in a bowl of water having concentrated salt. After half an hour , I was feeling a bit better. All my competitors were dressed up , prepared for competition and I was sitting there in my normal clothes pitting and sympathizing myself with the honeybee bite.

I took deep breaths and reminded myself “Yes Bhakti , You , You have crossed so many hurdles to come all the way from Surat till here. Why to give up? Stop pitting your self and start dressing up!!” Keeping everything else aside,as there was rush in using the mirror for the makeup, I opened my mobile’s selfie camera and did my makeup. My friend , helped my with my hairdo , as I was not able to move my hand. Almost I was dressed up. The moment , I started wearing my ornaments, my 2 ornaments broke off. One Necklace and other head ornament. Again , I was low that what is happening today! One after other setbacks are approaching! Again took a deep breath and patted myself “If there are locks, there are keys too!” . I managed to repair both my jewellery anyhow with pins and safety pins. And finally went on stage forgetting what all had happened with me because nobody actually cares about your behind the scenes. I was going to be judged by what I’ll perform on stage.

I danced and gave my best and the results are all you know!! Last moment decisions and preparations works sometime :)!So , perhaps, from the decision of not going , to just going without any prior preparation , to all these unplanned incidents , I would just say “Keep Going!” Give your best at each and every moment! You never know how life may surprise you. I went through so many obstacles but being an Artist ,I had the spirit of not giving up. Therefore , it’s rightly said that “An Artist is not born , but made!”