Children of Light

 A small hand patted my shoulder.  "Aunty, can you please put this on for me?"

  I cautiously looked at the mirrored wall across the room. Just to pacify my ego. I took the little hand in mine, pulled the owner over and made her stand in front of me.

  "I am not aunty okay? You can call me akka, chechi, or paenji. Sorry about the limited choices."

  She nodded her head vigorously, staring at me wide eyed.

  "And I'm not going to eat you, so stop looking at me that way."

  Another vigorous nod with a ghoulified expression.

  Sighing, I fixed the clasp of her chain and called the next one in line. Obediently, she sat down and waited for an instruction. "Finally," I thought. "This one is going to be easier." I thought. Too soon.

  "Look up at the ceiling and don't blink." 

  *Looks up at the ceiling for two seconds, looks back at me, and blinks*

  My blood reaches a boiling point, my hand reaches the already almost black tissue paper. "I told you not to blink sweetheart, or the eyeliner is going to smudge and you're going to be looking like Pumbaa dancing for the Mangalacharan in a pretty little pink outfit."

  "I think you meant Timon, teacher."

  "Oh...Right."

  *Awkward silence while resisting the urge to smack myself for not watching more cartoon when my dad told me to*

  "Okay now, close your eyes and don't open them until I tell you to do so." Not even five seconds pass before she forces her eyelids open against the brush I'm using to line her eyes, causing a horrendous, screamable-at, black gash above her eyelid.

  "I TOLD you, NOT to open your eyes!!"

  A pair of eyes stare back at me. Blur, or 'you-learnt-your-lesson-for-being-mean-to-me', or terror, I still don't know.

  All I know is, that after hours of screaming at little things running around me, I witnessed a very beautiful one and a half hour dance performance of pure joy, love, and divinity.

  Having screamed at the last one, I leaned heavily against the wall behind the black curtains. Somewhat exhausted, I calculated the time I had before needing to restore my energy to start putting scurrying figures back into place. 

  Darkness, music, scuffling.......magic.

  Magic, is what nearly 70 kids brought us through on two nights. Yes, I have seen a numerous number of performances to date, no, this was not the first time I was dealing with kids, yes, I still couldn't adapt to their ways, but nevertheless they had sprinkled their kiddy dust on me yet again. It was the feeling of pure bliss that they showered upon us. All that work and fuss hours before suddenly seemed insignificant beside what they were giving us that night. They were not themselves. I didn't see kids. I saw celestial maidens, the cheeky Krishna, the arrival of spring, the colors of flowers, the beauty of the world. They were part of the music, and the love that swirled amongst them. That innocence and passion to give what they felt...authentic in its simplicity.

  And then I thought to myself, so many were involved in putting this whole thing together (I only did like 0.1% of it which already seemed like a lot of effort). Is this how much everyone did for us as well? It was simply amazing. Simply amazing to see something of such a large magnitude being materialized from scratch. When I saw them blossoming in their own individual ways, I was willing to go through anything for them and with them to see it happen all over again. So...this is how it felt to see something come together. My humble prayers and offerings to my own Gurus who have tirelessly guided me for all these years.

  And yup yup, there were the kids teaching us stuff all over again. They each had their own individual needs and ways, they taught us patience, how to love unconditionally, how to deal with crisis (like "Where are your earrings?"..."Oh, I didn't bring la teacher." *dismay*), how to be tolerant, the adorable smiles, innocent eyes, and true love for the art.

  At the end of the day, as I removed the last clip from a doll-of-a-girl's hair, she turned to me and smiled. In that smile, she reminded me to stop chasing the bigger things in life, stop trying so hard to pry something out of hiding, and instead, relish the trivialities in life that make the journey on earth so worthwhile...Like her smile.

  Here's to a whole new generation of lovely beings, here's to the cast and crew of Teja Putri 2. You have yet again shone like brilliant stars, casting light on dark paths through the valley of the art.