Anxious, Happy Feet – a poem

By Shivona Bhojwani
02/28/2020

Anxious, happy feet

I love to tap my feet
gleefully and blissfully,
with an erratic energy
that no one can see.
I love how my hair sways,
on a mid-air leap,
where it’s free to be messy,
and there’s no one to peep.
My heart loves to thud,
on a fast-paced beat,
where the dhalanguthoms
are exceedingly hard to reach.
My ears follow the ragas,
melodious and sweet,
carrying me forward
and putting me at ease.
It’s the mind that dreams
and the soul that sings,
when I begin to dance
with my Anxious, Happy Feet.

Shivona Bhojwani, an avid, committed Bharatanatyam student, completed her Arangetram under the expert guidance of Kalakshetra graduate and senior Bharatanatyam teacher Smt. Mythili Raghavan of Pune, India. She continues her Bharatanatyam training at Kala Vandanam with Suchitra Sairam. Shivona is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Minnesota in the Conservation Sciences program. She is passionate about habitats, ecosystems, land use, preservation, and educating youth about wildlife encounters. Shivona aspires to a career in wildlife management or conservation biology.