Vijayadashami at Kuchipudi Art Academy, Chennai: A Morning I Carry With Me

Every year, as Vijayadashami comes close, my mind goes back to the Kuchipudi Art Academy and to the mornings we spent there in front of our Guru, Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam, our Mastergaru. For the students of the Academy, two days in the year were bigger than any other: Ugadi and Vijayadashami. This is my attempt to put one of those mornings into words.

The night before

The night before Vijayadashami had its own excitement. The whole premises would be lit up and decorated. Garlands hung everywhere, and toranams of fresh mango leaves were tied across the doorways. We practised late into the evening, and the place felt more alive than on any ordinary day.

Before sunrise

We woke up well before the sun, bathed, and got to work. Together we cleaned and washed the whole Academy, the temple, and the sculptures of the gods and goddesses. The sculptures were carved from black stone, and we washed each one with water, rubbed in coconut oil, and then wiped it off again. This protected the stone and left it with a deep, dark shine.

Then we decorated every corner with flowers and lights. After that came the part I loved most: going into the garden to pick flowers and setting them aside for the puja, for Mastergaru to use. Even now, that quiet early hour among the flowers is one of my most cherished memories.

Waiting for Mastergaru

Once everything was ready, we dressed and gathered in the classroom hall. Then we waited. Those were the longest minutes of the day. We sat with nervous hearts, listening for him.

And when he walked in, the hall came to life.

Mastergaru took the class himself. By then he was past 80 and had survived two major heart attacks, yet he sat before us and taught as he always had. For me it was a time to wake up inside, to focus, and to look honestly at myself as a dancer.

Offering dance to God

After a short puja performed by Mastergaru, it was time to offer our dance to God. One by one we presented slokas, steps, jathis and full items, starting with the beginners and moving up to the advanced students. Each piece was danced once. If Mastergaru was not satisfied, it was danced again, and sometimes again after that.

At the end, every one of us received fruits and sweets from his hands as prasadam. More than the prasadam, we received his blessing. When he placed his hand on my head, it felt like a promise: many people may come and go in life, but dance will never leave you, unless you leave it. That touch carried his blessing, his unconditional love, and his care for the one thing every student in that Academy was there to nurture, which was dance.

A breath, and a glimpse of legends

After the offering, we finally had time to breathe. We talked, laughed, and caught up with one another. It was also the day we got to see the Academy's senior and celebrated students, including Vyjayanthimala, Hema Malini and Swapnasundari, and many more, practise and perform in front of Mastergaru. For young students like us, watching them dance before our Guru was something we never forgot.

Carrying it forward

Those mornings are long behind me now, but they have never really ended. Every Vijayadashami, with a heart full of these memories, I try my best to bring my own students together and celebrate the day the way we once did. We clean, we decorate, we offer our dance, and we share prasadam.

I am not Mastergaru, and I never will be. But when I watch my students dance with that same nervous hope we once had, I feel his presence in the room. I understand now that his blessing was never meant to stay with us alone. It was meant to be passed on, from one pair of hands to the next, one student at a time.

So this Vijayadashami, as we gather again, I bow to my Guru with gratitude. Whatever I know, whatever I give, began with him. And as long as there are feet that keep dancing, his blessing will go on.