Maitri 2012

Disclaimer: I am going to try to remember everyone that I need to acknowledge, I apologize in advance if I missed out on someone. It's completely unintentional. 

If you've known me since 2007, you are probably well aware of my affinity towards dance. Calling it an affinity might just be an understatement; an obsession might fit better. Last Sunday (April 15th), the Graduate Indian Student Organization felicitated me for having been involved with them for the last five years, and more so, for being the complete tyrant I become on the day of Maitri to make sure things run smoothly. From the bottom of my heart, "Thank You". I couldn't bring myself to say anything on stage that day, simply because I knew I would sob midway (I cry for little things, a big thing like this would have set the flow of water quite early). So to seem less ungrateful, I decided to write. 

People who know me have often questioned my dedication towards my Ph.D. in Economics. Some might even argue that it was in the background, while dance was in the foreground. I am going to say the very diplomatic thing - No Comments - and move on. While there is no harm in my dangling conviction, I'd like to boast a little bit by saying that I was able to handle both of them with quite a lot of help and self-motivation, although which held priority early on is a difficult thing to evaluate. I hope I can maintain this passion, simply because I've realized that I cannot live without dance, be it classical, hip hop, the thumkas, the lachaks, the machaks.

A little known fact is as to where this self-inflicted pain, I mean motivation to take part in Maitri came from. It was Vikram Shete's committee's Maitri in 2007 and they'd put up a great show. However, something in me kept saying, "I can do better than this". No offense to the dancers; it was just my judgemental self taking over. The year after when Srinath's committee started Maitri's organization, something brought out the inner love for dance in me, and I have never looked back one bit since then. That first year, the bond I made with Kranti and Karthik, I owe my future involvement with Maitri to them. The urge to betternthe previous Maitri kept growing and it became progressively harder to fulfill people's expectations. People just kept saying what are you going to do next. The last two years have been very challenging and I am going to blame it on Dance India Dance and students to showcase what they can do and what they wanted to do. But increasingly, GISO started seeing better, top-notch dancers enter the arena and it just got easier. I was sick of hearing, "Shreyasee, kuch faadu karte hai na is baar." Little did the know that their "faadu" wish brought me nightmares. Late night videos, editing songs, trying to not copy steps- its a challenge, but once you have a great team that can relate to your passion, its a cake walk.

Personally for me, Maitri has done exactly what it set out to do - facilitate making friends (and this is where chances of messing up are high). Darshan, Apeksha, Vignesh, Kiran B. Patil, Arun, Dandekar, Rohan, Sharat, Avinash, Katha, Vishnu, and the list goes on. In the process of all this, I've become "Mummy" to a lot of them and I secretly love being exactly that. Every year, people thought, "Okay, that's it. This has to be her last Maitri." Only to see me return the following year. I couldn't even let go of it this year, even when I had a day to rest before I defended my dissertation. But, I promise you I am not coming back next year. A little part of me is relieved that I don't have to come up with new steps. However, the majority of me hates it, that I will miss every moment of it, is a misrepresentation of what I have put up. Its all a farce. But one needs to move on, and that's what I am going to try to do.

Thank you very much for all the love and support 

Shreyasee (Mummy)