My name is Ritika Sidhartha. I am a high school senior at New Providence High School. I title myself as an American-born, Indian. It took a long, winding and prickly road of self reflection to help me truly figure out what that meant. I realized from the nuances of society that many of our actions are entirely unconscious. Our facade, our behavior, our actions, our very psyche is programmed to be unconscious. That is why I am thankful for the chance to discover my unconscious desire to understand my culture.

 

Dance and music have always been centerpieces of my life,whether it were ballet and tap in my early years to Kathak and the music program in my school that built a loving community. But it was in Bharatnatyam that my passion found a home. A child learning Bharatnatyam dances from when she is five years old until she is old enough to do an Arangetram, a graduation. I had two years, twelve dances, two hours of practice everyday. A thousand hours of sweat, of foot wraps for my blistered feet, of icing and pulled muscles. I had spent my whole life being influenced by music, I decided that it was time to give back.

 

For my Arangetram, I decided to have a fundraiser for the music program in my school, the program that had broken cellos and little to no recognition. It made me love my life here, but I was eternally grateful for my culture and I wanted to embrace both, I wanted to bind my two worlds together. I decided that my culture is beautiful, and that even if we have differences, it is not a bad thing, our differences should be embraced. That music and art is universal, it binds us together, we do not need to understand everything to enjoy it. And so, I decided that my way of giving back would be a way of sharing my culture, what makes me who I am, with the people who have shaped me as well.