at the age of five,
bharatnatyam wasn't a friend of mine,
after a lot of crying,
slowly and gradually,
it became a part of my life.

yet, when my kalaguru,
the person who introduced me,
to this new friend,
suddenly left me alone,
in this new world,
i was left with the unfamiliarity,
coursing through my veins.

the pressure of juggling,
the books of science,
in one hand,
with the ghungroos,
on the other,
there was no time,
left on my hands,
for my friends,
or my families.

i wrote the codes,
to my success,
countless projects,
going on in my head.
i danced to the tunes,
of my dreams,
a million melodies,
a million melodies,
singing through my feet.
but somehow,
forgetting to live for myself.

with innumerable sweat and tears,
through the competition,
the victory was finally mine,
but not without,
- the jibes,
from my competitors,
making me feel unworthy,
the knife of being underserving,
hanging over my head.

like a pendulum,
swinging back and forth,
i travelled from,
one place to another,
in tightly packed compartments,
always running low on time.
i tried to concentrate,
on just one thing.
still, i walked around the circles,
coming back,
to where i had started,
the world of academics and art.

then came the biggest conundrum,
to look after,
my body deteriorating,
my body deteriorating,
or to the tunes,
to which my feet used to hum.
i chose the path to good health,
with the loss of dancing spirit i dealt,
to my unfortunate fate,
i knelt.

the desire to win,
sometimes overpowering my mind,
filling me with,
unsure thoughts,
about my ambitions and myself.
still, i didn't let them,
break my confidence.

until one day,
i finally succumbed to failure,
all my hardwork,
drowning,
in the land,
i realised,
was filled with,
power and politics,
without any saviour.