The following morning Uma Rele had contacted maesto Shri Narayan Mani and sounded the idea to him and he was charged so the following morning, on Dhanteras the three of us assembled at Nalanda, Juhu to take the idea further. That morning Narayan Sir walked into the room in a sunshine kurta carrying mithais for all of us, we knew we were at the cusp of something auspicious.
Without further ado all of us divided our roles and responsibilities. I had to write the script, Uma Rele would conceptualize the ballet, Narayan sir would choreograph the music and Vaidehi would short list the dancers and the dance forms. The task looked easy but it was complicated beyond imagination. It called for departmental coordination and also collective coordination, especially since all of us were keen to include as many dance forms into the ballet as possible.
Vaidehi, the youngest amongst scheduled deadlines for all of us including herself. The trio informed me that no work can begin unless we have the script ready. I had never written a ballet in my life and had no idea how I was going to do it. What shall we call the ballet? I asked all of them. What is the Hindi word for ‘self-expression?’ I asked and after a quick google came the answer, ‘Sva-Abhivyakti’.
To be concluded