Taal and Laya (Beat and Rhythm) STUTI KATHURIA

“Alright, let’s go again. No sleep till it’s perfect.” A collective groan filled the room when our music Guru asked us to practice the beats for the tenth time in the past two hours. We were exhausted from continuous practice and little sleep; every member of our dance group was itching to go back to bed. Yet we carried on, with another round of clapping our hands together to get the beat and the rhythm perfectly.

As we looked at each other we realized that every one of us was on the verge of breaking down and giving up. Individually we all suffered, but collectively we became each other’s support and decided not to give up so easily after all that we have been through. By this time most of us were ready to leave it all behind and run away to the comfort of our homes rather than face the harsh conditions we currently faced. More than the physical pain from continuous practice it was the daily struggles, like sleeping on the cold and hard floor, and mental exhaustion that affected us.

It was my fifth day in Hyderabad since I arrived in the city with four of my dance-class colleagues to secure our classical dance certificates in Kuchipudi. On our journey to get our certifications, we had crossed the halfway mark by completing...