The Artiste and the Wishing Tree

"Ini enna pechu irukkidhu po po, ellorukkum nagai paichudu"  What more is there to say- please go. I am the laughing stock of the entire town A woman spurned by her lover and embarrassed by the town gossiping about her being stood up. She is rather upset. "Yaarukkagilum Bhayamaa? Summa sollatum. Idil enna ragasiyamaa - summa sollatum"  Am I to be afraid of anyone? Let them talk. I have no secret to hide - let them talk. A woman out to meet her lover; cares a damn about what the town folk are gossiping.  Two women, rather different from each other. Two songs that are commonly placed in the Bharatanatyam repertoire.  As students of an art form such as Bharatanatyam, we spend several years learning and executing learnt movement and grammar. Exactitude is a virtue only to a certain extent though. A performer comes of age and is accepted as an exponent only when he/she/they can graduate from mere execution of movement and mimicking of character to a space of embodiment. ...