The bells on my ghungroos jingled as I took my first few steps onto stage. The lights beamed on me as I stood in the center, where an auditorium filled with hundreds of eyes of my family and friends, watched me in admiration. I had the biggest smile on my face, because I knew this was it, and I wasn’t nervous at all. The last eight years of hard work and dedication had finally paid off.

Tons of memories flooded my mind at the moment. I remembered the day my dance teacher from India called my mom and brought up my dance graduation. He said, “I saw Suravi’s potential and her quick learning skills when I was in America. Bring her to India, she’s ready to graduate, I believe in her.” His words of admiration made me feel a strong sense of  honor and gratitude, and these words have stuck with me from that moment on.
As a graduate of Indian classical dance, the dancer must perform several solo dance items with live musicians and multiple costume changes. The last dance item is done on a brass plate, and I’ve always tried to learn how to dance on the plate when I was younger by watching others. However, I was never formally trained up until this moment for my graduation. Since I knew I had the support and blessings of everyone around me, I was able to do it. By successfully being able to dance on the brass plate, a dance so complex and requiring so much delicacy, I proved to myself that I truly was ambitious.

Once my dance teacher awarded me with my certificate, I was so grateful that all of the hard work, grueling practices, and constant boot camp had successfully happened and paid off. Throughout this entire experience I felt as if I was finding a map to hidden treasure, There was a lot of time and effort put into learning how to read the map and going in the right direction, and once the treasure was found, happiness was achieved. I was able to make myself extremely proud, as well as my dance teachers, my parents, my family, and everyone else I’ve met and gotten to know along the way.

My certificate states that I have completed my Bharatnatyam Arengetram and Kuchipudi Rangapravesham, which means that I have passed the highest level of dance for two Indian classical dance forms. In all honesty, this certificate symbolizes my life. I was always interested in dance as I was growing up, and when I first stepped foot into a dance school when at the young age of 7, I knew this was going to be my passion for the rest of my life. I’ve taken this beautiful and majestic art form and made something out of it with my life. These last eight years were  not a waste of time, they were only eight years spent in preparation to set me for the rest of my life. This certificate will help me with anything and I want to be able to enjoy my passion forever. I want to teach kids, I want to teach everyone, I want to be successful in the world of dance and I’m proud to call myself a Bharatnatyam and Kuchipudi dancer. I would always want to be known as that girl so I can pass this art form on to my future generations.