Nritya Pravah Dance Studio - Two weeks later, Wednesday November 13th, 5:40 pm
"All right girls, once again from the top! Follow me! Five, six, seven, eight..."
The dance instructor took her position in front of the class as her students mimicked her plié and graceful hand poses along with it.
"Let your body flow freely and naturally. Grace and elegance is key..." she instructed.
It was a beginners level ballet class, with girls of all ages. Ruhi danced in the second row, standing on her tip-toes and bending her knees in her attempt of a plié. There were other dancers in the room with better form and technique, but what distinguished her from the rest was the huge smile plastered on her face that brightened her entire being. Dressed in a pink leotard, white tights, and ballet shoes with Tchaikovsky's music playing in her ears, she felt like a real life barbie. It was a dream come true.
"And... we're done for today. Great job, girls! I'll see you next week! Good work everyone!" The 45-minute long session came to an end.
Ruhi galloped outside to meet her mother, making no effort to contain her excitement. Outside the dance studio, she found Ishita standing at the entrance of the building, glancing at her watch.
"Ishimaa!" Ruhi waved to her mother, jumping up and down.
Ishita looked up to see her precious girl running towards her.
"Hi baccha!" she exclaimed, taking her daughter into her arms. "Kaisi rahi ballet class?" [How was your ballet class?]
"It was amazing, mumma! Bahot maza aaya! Look!" [I had so much fun!]
Ruhi spun around and bent her knees in a plié.
"Main bilkul barbie lag rahi hoon na?!" [I'm looking just like a barbie, right?]
"Barbie se bhi pyaari lag rahi ho," Ishita admitted. "Abhi ghar chale?" [You're looking even prettier than a barbie. Now can we go home?]
"Yes, let's go! Mujhe papa ko bhi dikhana hai. Woh office se aa gaye honge na?" [I want to show my moves to papa. Will he have returned from office?]
"Bas raaste mein hi honge. Humse pehle ghar pahoch jaayenge." [He'll be on his way. He should reach home before we get there.]
Ishita took hold of her daughter's hand and led her to her car. After buckling Ruhi's seatbelt, she got into the driver's seat and started the car. As she shifted the gear and began driving home, her daughter's chatter continued all along.
"...and then the teacher turned on the same music from the Barbie Swan Lake movie, you know the one where Odette dances with the prince? And we all danced to that music like princesses! And then..."
"Shaant, shaant baby, calm down," Ishita interrupted. "Lagta hai aapko toh bahut mazaa aaya ballet class mein." [Calm down baby. It looks like you had lots of fun in ballet class.]
"Yes!"
"Accha to phir yeh batao, aaj ke ballet class aur kal ke bharatanatyam class mein se aapko kaun sa zyada accha-" [Then tell me, did you like today's ballet close more or yesterday's bharatanatyam class-]
"Ballet!" Ruhi blurted out her answer before Ishita even finished her question.
"Par aap bharatanatyam continue toh karoge, na? Aap ko seekhna chahiye. It's part of our heritage." [But you'll still continue bharatanatyam, right? You should learn it.]
"Okay mumma, I'll continue with both. But my favorite is ballet!"
"Okay baby. Duly noted," Ishita chuckled.
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