Of Methil Devika

I'm the laziest blogger on this planet, but I saw this today and had to yap about it.

*drumroll*

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce to you Methil Devika?

*applause* Thank you ! It's an honor to introduce her.

For all those who've never heard this name, I assume you are alien to the field of South Indian dance. To read all about her career and other blah-blah, please go here.

Why do I care to write about her ?! Because I knew the lass from high school. She was the kalatilakam at school and district and revenue district (what the hell is a revenue district anyway?) level competitions, all because of her dance performances. There was nothing she couldn't perform - bharatanatyam, kuchipudi, mohiniyattom, folk dance, the works. She was invincible. I remember waiting eagerly for her performance during school competitions.

Needless to say, she was the heart-throb of all the just-turning-adolescent guys in school.

She was the arts champ in high school for three consecutive years - and I repeated the feat in upper primary (with zero dancing, thank you very much!). We were both selected as outstanding junior citizens of Palakkad - but the similarity ends right there. This one was destined for something great, and I....

But, I digress. We went to the same college and the trend continued on a much grander scale. She danced, they salivated.

By this time, she was a little who's who in the dance scene. She was busy dancing and I moved away from home, so our meetings were rare. The next thing I knew - she had signed a deal with a producer in Hollywood.

Wait, there's more. One would think dancing was a full-time job. Not for her.

This one went on to do her MBA with gold medal and even to Santhi Niketan.

(Note to God : What did you make her brains with ? Could I borrow the leftovers?)

Why this rant today? I caught a glimpse of her while channel-surfing idly (THAT's what my life amounted to). Upon further investigation, I realized that this woman was a judge on the Star Wars show on Kairali TV. I almost freaked out. A judge ?! a JUDGE ?!

Upon sane thinking, I realized that she was the right person for stuff like judging dance performances. Heck, she had devoted her whole life to it !

I watched the whole show in the evening (for anyone interested, the show goes on air daily at 7:30 PM IST). Among a slew of extremely ugly and un-talented - I just made that word up - and most probably stinking- people, she emerged; in all her glory and grace. The same old girl - with maturity thrown in for good measure. Still beautiful, still level-headed. A lot more knowledgeable. Said something about 'mukhanga abhinaya' which I chose to ignore. I was too busy ogling at her and worrying about my dismally mediocre life.

My mother was nostalgia personified. After preliminaries (such as appreciating her looks and progress), she got down to work - driving home the point that she had lived her life and that I had merely existed.

She was right.

D chechi - if you ever read this teeny-weeny internet tribute, I'm honored to know you. I'm your fan for life.