A time that was

Almost two decades ago, yours truly could dance in a competiton from 8AM to 6PM and still go for the formal "social events" that went till midnight. 

It was the best of times and that was it. Then life took a different turn and the dance floor was something that was frequented only in dreams or while day dreaming and choreographing moves for some nice song on the radio. 

Recently, after a long time.. switched on the radio and listened to a few songs. One of them happened to be Justin Timberlake's Mirrors. Loved the song and it brought back so many memories of NSYNC and a group of us dancing to some of those songs that were remixed to select dance beats. 

A thought triggered another and an attempt was made to check out the ballroom clothes that have been packed up since 1999! They did not fit. It was a clear image of a square peg in a round hole when I looked in the mirror. 

So I started focussing on select poses in the hot yoga room that were good to get rid of the handles at the waist. Bikram Choudury's book had details on what pose does what and it was a handy guide. After three months I tried the clothes again two weeks ago and voila!

It is still tight around the lower ribs now, but not bad eh?

Feels good to be able to fit into pants that were stitched in 1996! 

San of course is just shaking her head and so are the kids. Now the next step is to put on some weight in the face without putting the weight back on in the hips. Must be a pose for that! 

ps. Mommy, not to worry! There are no plans to get back on the dance floor. Dancer's pose in the yoga room will be it.

Viennese Waltz revisited

One of the most glorious sights and my all time favorite in the Kabali temple utsavam is the way the gods dance into the temple, just before sunrise on the Rishabam (White or Silver bull, Rishabam is the sign Taurus). They time it just right and the way they rock the god to 3 beats per bar is amazing!

The last time I saw this was almost two decades ago. At that time the strange draw to this dance was not understood. During my foray into ballroom dancing in the mid nineties, the Viennese waltz was a favorite and I never realized why. This year standing there listening to the drum beats and the band as the god started dancing, I closed my eyes to savor the music for a second and there was this sudden urge to do a viennese waltz in the middle of the Rishabam watching crowd.

My mind said "cut cut cut.. we are in the middle of a very eastern ritual here and you suddently want to waltz with the videocamera in hand?", but the body was swaying to what was definitely, ballroom music of the highest quality.

Lord Kapali was indeed doing his dance to waltz timing and the note they played was a very western note too(you can hear it in the video). Finally after so many years, it felt like a giant jigsaw puzzle clicked into place!

Will always cherish this memory for a long long time to come. Lore has it that watching the god enter the temple just prior to sunrise is equivalent to watching him ascend Mount Kailas or heaven.

This time I got goosebumps watching the dance. (Probably got goosebumps watching it 20 years ago as well, but do not remember it)

Now for the photos...

The silver Rishabam

The golden Rishabam for Karpagambaal

The golden peacock for Subramanya (still remember how my brother and me were always scared of the peacock because of the snake in its mouth)

The morning started so perfectly that day, as we (my mum and me) walked slowly in search of an autorickshaw. The large crowd has dispersed within a few minutes after the procession ended and there was a silence all round the temple tank. Decided to take stitch photos from the tank. This is the best stitch I could get of the 3 mada veedhis (3 sides of the temple tank)

The old Rishabam was a hand painted bull that resembled the tigers and lions. Looks like the Taurus has received a massive upgrade. This one is just awesome! You take one look into its eyes and it transports you to a magical realm.

What more can I say?

Kapali rocks!

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Transformation

Warning to relatives and friends who have not been in touch for the last 15 or so years ...

Due to the shocking nature of the photographs (shocking to you that is) with reference to this post, please ask your kids/someone else who has never seen me, to see the photos and give you a description so you are mentally prepared!

In case you did not understand the magnitude or seriousness of Mr. Punjaab Power transforming into Jodi No. 1, it was very much real..

It was not easy to dig them out (and the computer inept me had to wait for San to help fix the scanner) and there was permissions to be obtained..

So I shut up and give you these photos.

First some exhibit A's of Mr. Punjab power or Banaras power as we would like to call it..

Bachcha from BHU

Please notice arumbu moustache!

A few years + hair gel + bow tie + spangles + tight pants + some attitude later, being interviewed on local TV at a dance competition.

This picture was taken in UK at an international dance competition.

Six pack Sundar...You have to believe me, I had a stomach like a wolf after all that dancing!

A photo of me dancing with my teacher, one amazing teacher! If they give our Ph.D's for dancing, she would probably have a dozen...

There you have it. From a "jolna" bag carrying moustached kid to a "hep soniya" and back to a diaper bag carrying dad, life goes full circle!

The wolf has now turned into a hog!

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