This Navaratri has been a full experience for Lakshmi. In school (Mirambika), she made a statue of Lakshman with Clay. That was displayed along with all her classmates' statues in the lobby.
She joined up with Rishika, Esha, Tara, Amaira and Tanisha and practised dance every day for 20 days. When we had to pick a song for the dance I asked Kausalya for a list of Tamil songs. So we learnt Subramanyam Bharati's "Om Shakti, Om Shakti...". I asked Shaumen Masterji for a song and he suggested "Durge, Durge...". But Vidya decided on "Thumak Chalat Ramachandra..." by Tulsi Das. So Lakshmi by now had exposure to many songs and learnt Thumak Chalat fully...She also really enjoyed the dancing. At first she would jump around. Then I told her to imagine that she was little Ram's mother and that she should be graceful and watch her child playing and suddenly, it was a different dancer. She was more controlled and beaming.
After her practice everyday, the mothers would practice dandiya and garba and she got to see that and do it too.
We went to Sudarshan's house to see Golu. Lakshmi went wearing a saree. She heard Kausalya and Rukmini sing. They did not know the words of Thumak Chalat -- she lead and both Kausalya and Rukmini followed her. That was a tremondous boost to her confidence. The same evening we went to see Ramayan at the Akshara Theatre. It was in English...a minimal cast...tasteful costumes and great delivery.
We also asked Shaumen to teach her "Jaago Tumi Jaago...". She watched a video with the song too on Youtube many times. She would feel that way many times and stand like Durga. She sang the song with Nandita the day she visited. One evening we went to the Charmwood Durga Puja. They had recreated a Purulia Village for the mandap. We bumped into Mridu and Sharu. They took her up in a giant wheel.
We also went to see a dance at the Ananya festival. It was a mix of many Indian styles where each dancer presented a river and a story about that river was enacted.
On Vijayadashami we went to Mala Murli's house. She danced there with a group of her students. Mala is very gracias and the Pooja was a great experience for her. I am grateful to have Mala as her guru. After that we went to see Ravan burning at IIT which is still not a very pleasant experience for her.
She joined up with Rishika, Esha, Tara, Amaira and Tanisha and practised dance every day for 20 days. When we had to pick a song for the dance I asked Kausalya for a list of Tamil songs. So we learnt Subramanyam Bharati's "Om Shakti, Om Shakti...". I asked Shaumen Masterji for a song and he suggested "Durge, Durge...". But Vidya decided on "Thumak Chalat Ramachandra..." by Tulsi Das. So Lakshmi by now had exposure to many songs and learnt Thumak Chalat fully...She also really enjoyed the dancing. At first she would jump around. Then I told her to imagine that she was little Ram's mother and that she should be graceful and watch her child playing and suddenly, it was a different dancer. She was more controlled and beaming.
After her practice everyday, the mothers would practice dandiya and garba and she got to see that and do it too.
We went to Sudarshan's house to see Golu. Lakshmi went wearing a saree. She heard Kausalya and Rukmini sing. They did not know the words of Thumak Chalat -- she lead and both Kausalya and Rukmini followed her. That was a tremondous boost to her confidence. The same evening we went to see Ramayan at the Akshara Theatre. It was in English...a minimal cast...tasteful costumes and great delivery.
We also asked Shaumen to teach her "Jaago Tumi Jaago...". She watched a video with the song too on Youtube many times. She would feel that way many times and stand like Durga. She sang the song with Nandita the day she visited. One evening we went to the Charmwood Durga Puja. They had recreated a Purulia Village for the mandap. We bumped into Mridu and Sharu. They took her up in a giant wheel.
We also went to see a dance at the Ananya festival. It was a mix of many Indian styles where each dancer presented a river and a story about that river was enacted.
On Vijayadashami we went to Mala Murli's house. She danced there with a group of her students. Mala is very gracias and the Pooja was a great experience for her. I am grateful to have Mala as her guru. After that we went to see Ravan burning at IIT which is still not a very pleasant experience for her.
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