Hyderabad

It's been a long time since I last posted and my arrival in Hyderabad now feels like ages ago. My brother, my father and my grandparents joined me and my mother in Hyderabad. We visited family, saw some tourist spots and finished furnishing our new flat. Mid September my mother, father and brother went back to the states. My grandparents remained with me and have been taking care of me since.

During the last few months I have had such a wide range of experiences. I celebrated my birthday in India for the first time since I turned 7. For the first time I witnessed a wedding and for the first time I witnessed a funeral. I saw many festivals celebrated in the most colorful and splendid fashion imaginable. In addition, my research has gone through many ups and downs and now I am wishing that I bothered to record it all.

The fact is I am really bad at consistently blogging. And being bogged down with emotional up and downs that accompanied by academic obstacles did not help. Also, I began a C++ class at NIIT and that has been taking up time as well. The festive season is over now, and my research in falling into place, so I think I have a little more time and motivation to think about blogging. I did document all events through video and photos so I will most definitely upload them asap.

Having family in Hyderabad is both a blessing and a curse. I feel that without them I would be lonely and miserable. But knowing people here and already being part of the "culture" makes me feel that I am not getting the complete Fulbright experience. I'm not really sure what the "Fulbright experience" is but I don't think this is it.

For now, I am more focused on my research. I'm trying to work more and experience less, because the last 3 months of events has taken its toll on me both physically and emotionally. A huge obstacle I encountered in my research was that my dance teacher Uma Aunty was hospitalized for nearly 2 weeks. She now requires 1 month to recover. During this time I am still taking classes from Revathi aunty. In addition I have a lot "book" work including reading, looking through archives and conducting interviews.

I feel like this was a very to-the-point post, but I suppose that is how it would be after I have not blogged in so long. Anyway wish me luck! Because now I am about get my hands dirty with the work that has been piling up.

I have arrived!

I arrived in India on August 15th, which would have been exciting as it is Independence day but I arrived at night so I missed all the excitement. All the Fulbrighters that could make it were housed at the Park hotel in Delhi. We were then put through a very long (2-day) orientation session, which I found to be a little helpful. The best part was meeting the other Fulbrighters and getting to know them. Since I am going to be in Hyderabad there wont be many of them around =( .

I feel honored to be part of this group. I've met engineers, scientists, economists, painters, sculptors, writers, anthropologists, etc. You can tell when people are really into their research or are already experts in their field. It is great to see! Most importantly I need to note that the best part of my day is when I'm eating. I forgot how YUMMY food in India is, especially butterscotch icecream. Here is the recap of my time in Delhi:


On Monday (Aug 16th) night there was a dinner reception at the Fulbright house. Here is a picture of me with Adam Grotsky, the head of the USIEF.

On Tuesday (Aug 17th) we got some free time so some of us traveled around Delhi. We took an auto and went to India Gate (Thanks to Karthik and Debalina we chad Hindi speakers). From India Gate we proceeded to Humayun's tomb, which was spectacular!

You may have noticed that it looks like the Taj Mahal in red. It was built before the Taj Mahal and the Taj was modeled after it. After the tomb we went to Lodi Gardens, which were nothing special.

On Wednesday (Aug 18th) I met up with my mom, my mom's cousin and my aunt's daughter. We went to Qutub Minar which is a really tall tower / ruins built during the Muslim rule.


Thursday (Aug 19th) morning I left for Hyderabad. My parents recently bought a flat here so now my mom and I are running around trying to furnish it. Hyderabad is long story so I'll save that for another entry!

It's really happening!

In April I received the best news ever! I have been granted the Fulbright Award to study and research dance in India. I will be leaving on August 15th, 2010 and returning to the US around May 15th, 2011.

I am ecstatic to spend the coming 9 months of my life in India. Through this journey, I hope to unearth an ocean of knowledge about dance but more importantly I hope to find myself, fuel my passion and fall in love with my culture.

I will spend a majority of my time in the city I was born in, Hyderabad. It is located in central India but culturally considered a part of Southern India. Hyderabad is the capital of the state Andhra Pradesh. The languages spoken in the city are predominantly Telugu and Urdu. Though I am familiar with Telugu, I have very limited experience with Urdu, a sister language of Hindi.

A portion of my time will be spent in Delhi, the country’s capital. Hindi is widely spoken throughout India, especially in Delhi. The fact that I am not familiar with Hindi at all is nerve racking. I will try to learn Hindi during my time there.

I am blessed to have two mentors that are at the top of the dance field. They are widely known all over India for their contributions to Indian Classical Dance, especially Kuchipudi dance.

Uma Rama Rao will be my mentor in Hyderbad. Though she is nearly 72, she is still one of the most lively dance teachers I have ever met. I had the chance to learn dance from her in the Bay Area and in India a couple years ago. Uma aunty is unbelievably witty and smart. If there was one person who could epitomize the saying "young at heart" it would be her. She has opinions on everything and she is never afraid to say it.

Earlier this year Uma aunty had to go through a bypass surgery. We were afraid that she would not continue teaching me if she was not in good health. Her own son supposedly wanted her to move to the US and stay with him but she refused. Uma aunty's dedication to Kuchipudi dance, especially research in Kuchipudi has kept her in India. She is truly an inspiration. Even while speaking with her on the phone, I can tell that she is thrilled that I am coming to study under her.

My second mentor is the one and only Yamini Krishnamurthi. Yamini aunty was a pioneer in Indian Classical Dance in the 1960s. Even back then, when Indian dance was not as popular or well known, she traveled around the world performing. She is well versed in Kuchipudi, Bharatanatyam and Odissi.

My family had the chance to host Yamini Aunty in our home two summers ago, when she came to California. If you have ever seen her dance you will understand what I mean when I say shes truly mesmerizing. I have watched many many dancers in my life but when I watch Yamini aunty dance I just cannot peel my eyes away. I have never seen anyone have as much fun with dance as she has. This is evident in her rendition of Mandooka Sabdam, a dance piece that I will learn from her during my time in India.

I was so thrilled when I found out that she said she was willing to teach me dance. This is an opportunity that any Indian classical dancer would die for.

I hope through this blog I can share with everyone my experiences in India and ideally provide some insight about Kuchipudi dance.