So now that I’m done talking about all the items and stuff, there’s a few behind the scenes things I wanna write about so I don’t forget them.

First of all, I’d like to start off by saying everyone makes fun of me for crying but this time I WAS NOT THE ONE TO CRY. We had a quite a few surprises (one of which I knew about) and even then, I did not cry. So to start off with, I was shocked when all our out of town family and friends said they would make it out to Michigan for the event. I mean it’s not like one of us was getting married so I didn’t think anyone would show to be honest and then next thing I know everyone is flying and driving out here to make it just for us. I felt so so loved. The week before the program was all kinds of crazy. While we were busy with rehearsals, we also had to juggle the insane number of people that were coming out. Tuesday night Mrudhula Pinni, Naru Babai, Nikhil and Akhil all came out. Then Wednesday Kalyani Pinni and Latchu Babai drove here. Thursday was our Thathas thadinam (death anniversary) puja, then after that Madhavi Akka and Seb flew in, and Ramya, Anooj, Vennela, Krishna, and Vamsi all drove from the east coast to be here. Also Saraswathi and YLN Uncle came out all the way from Conneticuit just for us it was insane. On Friday, we knew that Prasad Babai and Ammulu Pinni were driving but when I talked to Sreenu Anna on facebook earlier, he said that they wouldn’t be able to make it because they had just gone on a Europe trip and couldn’t take any additional time off work. I was bummed but I knew that they would be there if they could. On Friday afternoon, we had a mini rehearsal at Aunty’s house before going to the venue for the stage rehearsal. When we turned onto Harvard Drive to grab some dinner before heading to the high school, there were like 10 cars parked outside our house and a huge gathering of people on the driveay. Instantly I knew something was up so we all ran outside and were surprised to see not only Ammulu Pinni and Prasad Babai, but also Roopa Vadina, Sreenu Anna, and Akki! They wanted to surprise us and not miss the program so they told me they couldn’t come then spent the whole day Friday driving up so they would be there Saturday for the program and then they would leave first thing Sunday morning so they could be back and get a decent night’s sleep in time for work in the morning. Poor Roopa Vadina worked the whole day in the car so they could be there for us. Honestly, so cool.

That night after the dress rehearsal before we went to Sandhya Aunty’s house to sleep, Madhavi Akka called us over. She had made scrapbooks for us (like not just one with pictuers of all three of us, like 3 individual scrapbooks) filled with pictures from the time we were little kids to adults and they are adorable. I always wished that someone would give me a scrapbook and it was so thoughtful of her to do that for us. While I knew about it (I overheard Amma on the phone whoops) Srivi and Sriya had no idea and Srivi actually cried about it!

The other times someone cried that wasn’t me was during our Ganesha puja prior to the program (we did our gajja puja at the temple that Wednesday so Babai could conduct it for us). Srivi went to go take blessings from Amma and Nanna and she started crying. Weird right? The last and probably biggest surprise was that Aunty had named the program and didn’t tell us. Orignigally, we thought she might give it a theme dedicated to the main 3 Goddesses of the Hindu religion, the ones we are named after. That theme is seen in our Devi Stuthi and our Thillana , which described Mother Goddess. The first time we heard her theme choice was along with everyone else; Trayam. In her explanation, Aunty went on to describe the importance of the number 3 in Hindu culture and how auspicious it is. People always tell our parents that they’re blessed with the TriDevis but I don’t know something about they way Aunty described it and the environment that day made it feel so real. It was during this introduction, literally minutes before we were supposed to ascend the stage that Sriya started crying. Oh well, I’m glad that we were able to have that kind of connection to the program. Speaking of the TriDevi (three Devis = 3 goddesses), and this is not to brag but rather state how humble I am that people think of us in this way, a few people said that got tears in their eyes when they saw us dance. A lot of the community has seen us since we were babies so I thought that was the reason (you know them seeing us grow up before their eyes) but I guess they told our parents that they felt like they were witnessing the 3 goddesses dance before them. Honestly, what bigger compliment is there out there than that?

Another thing that was so cool about our program is that we got to share it with Swapanti and Lahari who are more than family to us if that’s even possible. I remember back in October Amma mentioned how it would be nice if Swapanti and Lahari could be included in the program some way but she didn’t want Aunty to feel pressured into giving them jobs. Literally less than a month later I was driving with Sandhya Aunty to Kalakshetra and she said, “I’m thinking of asking Swapanti to be vocal support for your program and have Lahari speak. I have to talk to Bini Aunty about it too but do you think Amma would be okay with that?” I was so estatic to have both of them play a role in this special event. We already spend so much time together as it is, on top of being together that whole summer for TANA. Being able to share our rangapravesam was just the cherry on top! Going to rehearsals with Swapanti and figuring out the taalams and tunes for the songs was the best. One of my favorite memories with her was actually walking home after the Thursday rehearsal. We were all a little antsy because we knew everyone had officially gotten there from out of town and we hadn’t seen our cousins in 3-5 years. It was hilarious because the four of us are walking home from Sandhya Aunty’s house at 11:30 at night and one of us has the flashlight of our phones on so we can see where we were going. It was a short 5 minute walk (okay maybe longer since the three of us were so sore) but it was so memorable. And then when our Looli spoke (she took it so seriously omg I loved it) she was so professional and mature about everything. She knew how important it was for us and I’m pretty sure it was just as important to her. I remember when Amma and Nanna when they both got our save the date email and then when Amma and Nanna went to their house to give them the invitation. Lahari sent us like 8 voice recordings of her hyperventilating and crying on the phone saying how excited she was for us and for the program. And in the months leading up the program (Swapanti knew the items ahead of time but Lahari had no clue) Lahari would always say how she would start crying from the time we took our first steps onto the stage until the end of the mangalam. I’m pretty sure she actually did haha.

One last thing I wanna write down so I don’t forget was walking into the house after rehearsal that Thursday night and being attacked from all sides by all the family that had come to visit us. We were all sweaty in our saris and as sore as ever but everyone was so genuinely excited and happy to see us. It was aboslutely amazing. Not to mention seeing how many friends (they’re more like family) who came out to help with everything. Friday morning at 7am I woke up to Lalitha Aunty, Amma, Madhavi Akka, Kalyani Pinni, and Latchu Babai cutting vegitables in the garage. I’m pretty sure Lalitha Aunty was in our house from 6:30am until almost 3-4 in the afternoon. Rama Aunty, Subbha Aunty, Lakshmi Aunty, Swapna Aunty, Mrudhula Pinni, and the list goes on and on and on.

This whole experience made me truly so humble and feel so loved by so many people. And alot of that credit goes to our parents. I tell Amma all the time, ” You raised us with certain values that are expected when interacting with others. And while you definitely introduced us to people and we behaved appropriately, I think the reason we are closer to our community is because we make the effort to keep relationships with them. They may be your friends, but we still go and say hi to them, talk to them, see how things are going ect. more than superficially.”I learned so much through this experience, not only about dance, but about life too. First and foremost, no dream is ever unattainable. Things might not pan out exactly as you planned but there’s always a reason and more likely it’s for the better. Good things come to those who wait. I learned what dance meant to me and how I want dance to always be a part of my life. It gave me an outlet to not get anxious from my short comings and other stressors in my life. It allowed me to feel beautiful, talented, and graceful, things I had never associated with myself until that point. It always made me realize that what people say doesn’t really matter. People will always have some crap to say about you or what you’re doing but that shouldn’t affect you. The only opinions that matter should be yours and of those who care about you unconditionally. I learned to not be a control freak and that its okay to not have a plan every step of the way. I also got some patience which I desperately needed. I grew so much as a dancer and as a person through this journey and that I’m a better version of myself because of it. I’m so blessed to say that this experience was as positive as it was and honestly I would not change anyting about it.