PART-5

Ridha’s first class with the young celebrity dancer had begun on an extremely adventurous note. She silently prayed to god for the next one hour to pass off without an episode.

Shielded behind rows of students, she could finally let go of the anxiety, and focus on the music. She was copying the steps that the other students knew by heart. With each passing move she felt at peace with the world, in love with the rhythm, and rested in her mind. It was the only refuge that she had known as a child.

Moving to the music, Ridha wasn’t aware that her eyes were shut, and she had been doing steps that were totally different from the rest of the class.

“Is Guruji’s choreography not good enough for you?” , “Or it is too tough?”, “You thought this would be easy?”

“No.. I don’t even..”

“Let it be, all of you. She can do what she likes.”

Confusion would be an understatement. Ridha just can’t understand her enigmatic Guru or what goes on in his mind. Just when she felt he thinks nothing of her, he intervened on her behalf.

But, did he? Maybe after all, he thought nothing of her. He didn’t care if she could learn what others were doing. Maybe he saw no potential in her at all. Yes, that is the cause of this indifference, the tiny voice inside her, said.

She is not any other student. She is a performer. I can’t restrain her in mechanical steps and moves, he thought.