A Time to Dance

Veda has loved dance for as long as she can remember.  Her earliest memory is feeling the rhythm of dance while gazing at an image of the god Shiva in a temple.  She is the best Bharantanatyam dancer in her city in India.  Just when she reaches a high point in her career, winning first place in a classical dance competition, she is involved in a terrible accident.

When she wakes in the hospital, one leg has been amputated below the knee.  This would be a tragedy for anyone, but it is especially painful for a dancer.  She is lucky to meet an American doctor determined to create a prosthesis she can use to dance, and Veda slowly begins to return to herself.

This does not mean her life goes back to normal.  She still has many struggles to overcome and more loss to experience.  When she returns to formal dance training she meets Govinda, a gentle boy with beautiful eyes who helps Veda see the beauty in herself and the sacred nature of the dance she is performing.

Through her new training, Veda learns to feel to connection to God she experienced as a child and to see beyond herself to those who are also struggling.

I really enjoyed Padma Venkatraman's new book about spirituality and strength.  Highly recommended.