Ghungroo - The Siren Call of Lovers (#1 - Completed)

Chapter 20 - And Then I Dance

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What drives us to beautify our bodies? To add tattoos, piercings, henna to our bodies?...it's not a recent thing, or something confined to a single culture. We've been doing it for centuries, all around the world.

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Chapter 20

The following day I'm up early. It's the day I get to see all of my work of two years come together.

The thought of Riaan is at the back of my head, sure, but I push it further down so that I can concentrate better on what's important at the moment.

I've wasted enough of my time thinking about him over the years. Let him deal with it.

I meet Sips at the exhibition hall. He introduces me to the videographer, whom as I guessed earlier, is of the female kind. She's a tiny little thing with a funky pixie hairdo. Her name's Kate. I thank Kate over and over again. She seems to get a bit overwhelmed by this but I don't care. I'm really grateful for the help at no charge.

We talk a bit about my paintings which now fill up the perimeter of my exhibition space. Both Sips and Kate seem impressed and genuinely interested in my works, so that's a good start.

I quickly explain to Sips the kind of mood I'm going for, and a few other details we have not discussed before. We agree on things and I go to change while they busy themselves with setting up their equipment.

I change into a pair of white tights and a white Lycra crop top. This is my blank canvas. I am the canvas.

I braid my hair and strap on my ankle bells. I can already feel the pull to dance that this simple ritual evokes in me. The bells and braided hair will do for today. Kumari Devi and my mother can do the full make up and dress on the night of the exhibition.

I go out to my exhibition space and see that Kate and Sips are ready. The tinkle of my bells are amplified in the large hall, something I have not anticipated. But it is a pleasant sound, so I'm not too concerned.

Sips raises an eyebrow at my skin tight outfit. He winks playfully at me and I roll my eyes at him.

Art for arts sake. The show must go on.

I light incense which I have brought along with me. I hold my hands in prayer and invoke the spirit of Lord Shiva. I ask him to guide me in my dance now. I take my position at the center of my space. The music begins.

And just like that I dance. I am transformed. I become one with the music, the rhythm.

The cosmic dance of Shiva is an allegory of the five manifestations of eternal energy. There is Srishri (creation), Sthiti (preservation), Samhara (destruction), Tiribhaca (illusion) and Anugraha (release). The dance symbolizes life's cycles of creation and destruction, birth and death.

And in the centre of it is woman, real and tangible, and a part of this reality.

I hope my message is coming through. Me, as the exotic, the 'other' struggling in a world that places labels on individuals. I show, through my dance, the essence of me.