Indira Kadambi, Bharatanatyam dancer and teacher
CORONA - Co Rona - Pyaar Carona !
World is crying together on one hand and on the other hand families are bonding with love more strongly than ever. So there are always two sides to the same coin.
Nothing looked worrisome when I left India in early March for a six-week tour in USA. By end of my 1st week, I heard cases have been increasing in America. End of 2nd week heard India may ban all incoming flights. So I tried to advance my ticket. But India closed its gates on 22 March. So here I am in Connecticut happily stranded at my cousin Lakshmi's place. Why I say happily is first of all she is my best buddy, who is a musician herself and loves art and secondly, she stays so close to the hiking trails. Imagine me being stuck in Manhattan! So, those who know me well know that I am worshipper of nature. So, I never regretted for a second to be here with my cousin and also knowing well Mother Earth required this much- needed healing time from us, the greedy humans. Even though I am well aware of many loss of lives around and my heart goes out for all of them, I am also aware of each ones karma and in that belief, I am now living peacefully in this moment by teaching and sharing my art with so many passionate students from all over the world, helping financially those in need, hiking alongside beautiful Farmington river and Avon mountains, playing with my niece and nephews, bit of cooking, watching thriller detective sort of movies and also working on some of my favorite songs which I used to listen often but never thought dancing to it, andnot to forget reading some of love/hate stories on social media. Last few years, I am trying and working hard on living day-by-day and taking each moment as it comes and hence it does not make sense for me to worry about in this moment. I believe when the entire world is crying together by the catastrophe caused by an invisible virus, entire world should also believe in that invisible HIM who would help all of us to sail through. We all need to accept what comes in our way gracefully and do what we need to do and move on with heart filled with gratitude.
Priya Dixit, Bharatanatyam dancer and Head of Akshara Arbol International School, Chennai
Straddling two loves - my dance and my school has been rewarding me amply. I make time to practice in between all the virtual webinars and meetings. Also spending time finding our repertoire online as all my dance music is stuck in my mother's house. I am also working on some dance projects with my daughter - discussing , arguing sharing through the creative process.
With my second love, I have been working with my team on some media projects. The latest being our Earth Day video production. We had over 60 tracks of student voices to combine and got some stunning visuals of wildlife and human emotions from two avid photographers that needed to be edited and produced. Through all these I see and wonder about many aspects of human life, emotions, thoughts, and processes in newer perspectives.