Arts

The arts, specifically dancing and drawing, have always been a huge part of my life. I used to sit in the older girls' Bharatanatyam classes, since I don't even know when, and knew that dancing was something I wanted to do. With the help of my mom, I started learning Bharatanatyam at Kalapeetham, School of Dance and Music, when I was four years old. Bharatanatyam is a classical South Indian dance form based on the Hindu God Nataraja (the divine cosmic dancer). My favorite dances were and always will be the fast-paced ones with intricate footwork, however, I had the most fun learning and performing folk dances. When I was 13, I decided to take a break from dancing to devote my energy to softball and academics, however, I wish to get back to my learning in the future. I was able to learn a lot about my culture through dancing in addition to numerous life lessons which I am thankful for. In addition to dancing, I was drawn to drawing as a child. I genuinely thought my artwork was great when I was little but looking back, my figures (aka stick people) are quite a sight. They are extremely disproportionate and I couldn't draw hands so it looks like my people don't have fingers. With practice though, my skill improved. I used to draw a lot of Disney characters and recently started attempting more realistic figures and faces. No matter the art form, art has taught me a lot about patience, and my biggest takeaway is that nothing in life is perfect.