#15: Dance Practice

Boombox? Check.
Dhoti? Tied.
Student ID? Boom.
Rumals? Got em.
Gatorade? 12-pack.

Got my gear and I'm off. Nevermind that its 10pm on Saturday and I have three exams coming up - the India Cultural Show is next weekend and our Fusion dance has got to be on point. We'll blow them away with our 10-minute Garba / Raas / Hip-Hop / Bhangra / Stomp / Salsa / Riverdance fuckin' extravaganza. I just got a cut of the music from my best friend Parag (you might know him as DJ Masala on Tuesday afternoons at Envy) and my gods! The broken glass explosion transition between Crank That and Dil Laagi is out of control. I bet they'll scream out "Yeah Suketu!" or "Go Sukizzle!" or "I want to have your baby!" as I get into formation. The best part: Priya's gonna shakexplode when she sees me on top of the Monster waving my hands like I'm makin it rain all over the stage.

Made it to the basement of the student union to meet my 36-person dance group. I'm greeted by my best friend Rakesh, my best friend Amit, and my best friend Pratik. Oh damn, that beaatch Radha's about to yell at me for being 15 minutes late to practice...gotta be cool and take this in stride.

"We talkin' about practice? Practice. Not the show. Not the show that I go out there and die for. But we're talkin about practice. How silly is that? I mean we're talkin about practice..." Yes! I got a few laughs. I'm good. Let's get started.

As I hear Radha bellowing out orders in the background, I realize that she's got the right attitude - this isn't supposed to be fun. Next Saturday is the most important night of my life. We have to own that stage. Only then can we own the afterparty. And then, the whole South Asia Society.