Live & Learn

 Dear Piya,

I am sorry.

I am not perfect, darling.

So, this happened-

The festival of Navratri is going on. I have been a fan of dancing Garba ever since I can remember knowing what Navratri is.

The colorful clothes, the beats of drum, the lit up arenas, the humming of garba songs, the crowd - it's a vibe!

And it have made me move, every time, every year.

In fact, I was a little sad, while pregnant with you, as I couldn't dance during Navratri that year.

But then, you made me dance way too much to your cuddly-coo tunes after birth, so that got balanced.

This year, I was very excited about you being of a lovely 5-years-of-capable-enough-to-learn-and-love-Garba!

But, alas! You remained at a hands-distance from the whole thing. You wouldn't join the circle to dance. You wouldn't move to the tunes. You wouldn't even dress up!

I was a little taken aback by how a garba-loving mother's kiddo can be so averse to the art form!

Now, I know that you have your own individuality. You have your own set of likes and dislikes. You have your own path to carve.

All said & done, how could you not like Garba?!

Yes, I hear the hypocrisy in my voice, love.

I couldn't have  and I did not force you.

But I did push you to participate every now & then. Needless to say, you stood your ground.

I danced on, with my heart torn between the tune & you, as you say at a distance, enjoying the swings in the garden while everyone else danced.

'The swings will be there tomorrow too! Navratri won't!' I tried reasoning with youz but to no avail.

Your school organised a garba event during one of the 9 days. Herein, you refused to get dressed in the traditonal garba clothing, stepping hard on my nerves, early that morning. With some convincing, you finally agreed to wear the said clothes.

I carried on with my day, and when you came back from school I greeted you with a loving 'How was your day, Piya?'

'I danced, Mumma!' you enthusiastically replied.

I looked at you, speechless.

You simply smiled.

Now, you are at a very tricky age, baby. You tend to stretch the truth every now & then. So pardon me if I did not quite believe you...

A day later, I opened the chat box from your school to find some videos from the day before's event.

For some reason, I nervously opened each video, trying to find you in there, somewhere.

I saw you standing just outside the garba-circle in one video. You watched as others danced to an inviting teacher's moves.

5-seconds went by.

And then 10 more.

And then 5 more.

This is when you raised your hands in the air, just a bit.

You tried to follow the step your teacher was demonstrating.

After a few trials you seemed to get the hang of it.

Now, you started moving towards the circle, passing ahead one student at a time.

And before I knew it, my eyes were filled with a wondrous smile!

You were there, in the circle, dancing to the tunes of Garba.

I maintain that you have your own personality to grow into, my girl, but somehow seeing you enjoy something I so dearly love touched my heart.

I called you and asked, 'I saw you dancing so well in your school, Piya. Why do you not dance when Mumma calls you to?'

You replied with a strong message, 'I danced with 'my' friends. You dance with yours.'

Not a day goes by when I don't get to learn something from you, darling.

But some days, the learnings are just too powerful...

You truly are a girl or your own making.

And I am nothing but proud.

Love,

Maa.