Perspectives
Swati Argade, graduate of UNC-CH and classical Indian dancer Next | Back | Section | Home | Index

( Wav) I really think about my love for Krishna when I'm doing a dance -- when I'm, like, taking on Krishna's form. I don't necessarily start to believe that I'm Krishna, but I really think about him. Because I do have a love for God. When I do these types of things, I try to put myself into the state of a devotee. That's really what the dance was meant for. It's a form of worship, so you are a devotee when you are performing, to some extent. In terms of doing it for an audience, you try to keep that humility in mind as well. That this is, perhaps, a way of an audience getting in touch with God as well.

One of the things I've learned from just doing Bharatnatyam and certain dances is that anyone can relate to Krishna, whether it's a child for all of this playfulness -- or if it's a lover who is just enthralled by Krishna's beauty and his talents for playing music and his talents with love-making. Or if it's a mother who is in love with his beauty as a baby. Anyone can relate to Krishna.

( Wav) A lot of rituals took place in our home growing up, and our father kept the tradition going when he came to America. We always had a room which was designated for these rituals. We called it our puja room, or dev ghar, which is actually translated from Marathi into English as "God's room", or "God's home." A lot of meditation took place in the home.

When we were children, my parents wouldn't read bedtime stories for us like Snow White or the Three Bears, or the Three Little Pigs. They'd tell us Hindu myths, so we would have some idea of the stories that had taken place amongst the gods. I always thought that was really exciting.

( Wav) Krishna has been very personal to me, because of his prominence. When we were children, you could find him in all sorts of media -- whether it was comic books or coloring books or cartoons or even movies that depicted different deeds or different narratives or different activities that had taken place in his life. He's had a very prominent role in my upbringing.

In the Hindu religion, God is thought of as being Love. That Love is equal to God. And because his role is often in relationship to another person -- whether it's his love for his mother, his mother's love for him or the love that takes place between Krishna and a lover or the love that takes place between friends. When you think about God and you think about Love, Krishna is often the first image that comes to mind.