Admiring the Nataraja statue in your dance class while doing your bhoomi pranam.
Taking your own sweet time to tie your ghungroos/salangai even when your teacher told you to tie them quickly
Counting the bells in your ghungroo every now and then and randomly jingling it.
Tattadavu for Bharatnatyam dancers and Chauka for Odissi dancers is basically leg-day for you all. They tone your legs.
Cringing when you see that neck movement in films
You don't know how to react when you hear some people say "Oh you learn classical dance. It is this right? Ta thai tom" *tight smile on the face*
Touching the dancing sculptures of ancient temples and dreaming about them.
You love to pose like those dancing sculptures and secretly wishing to have someone who would take your photographs in a dance pose
Reading the Natyashastra and Abhinaya darpana. You have a hard time pronouncing the long Sanskrit names for the types of nayikas but slowly getting them right.
Spinning randomly in your class, school/college corridor. You gotta practice those chakkars/bhramari
Making choreographies inside your head while doing household work.
Dreaming about forgetting steps during a dance performance. Every dancer's nightmare!
Standing up to people including your own friends when they make fun of male classical dancers by calling them 'womanly' and 'boys don't dance like that'
If you were enrolled into a dance school as a child, you loved to imitate your Akkas/didis and the senior dancers and wanted to dance like them.
Feeling a little emotional after your Arangetram.
Your first solo performance has a special place in your heart.
Dance mates >>>>>>> school mates
Balancing dance and academics together or you will have your school teachers complaining about a slight dip in your report card. Eventually, you learn to multitask.
From making excuses to not go to the dance class to impatiently waiting for your dance, you grew up.
Rehearsals turning you exhausted the entire day but you always look forward to it.
Doing your homework during dance breaks. Exam time rehearsals? Carry books to the class and get things done.
You may skip school for a day but hate to skip your dance class
Reading biographies about your favourite dancers at night and secretly wishing if you could grow up to be a dancer like them.
Hearing parents say "Yes, you can choose to be a dancer" and shedding happy tears.
Realising that the final dance performance ends faster than the stage rehearsal even though they are of the same duration. Does time move fast on stage?
Sitting like a statue when make-up dada applies makeup. You look at the mirror and for a second don't recognise yourself.
Holding hands with your dance friends and whispering all the best minutes before your group is called.
Getting dressed up in the costume with your hair pinned with pins and ornaments is tiring but the final look makes you swoon over yourself.
The way your heart beat accelerates seconds before the music starts on the stage.
Hugging your dance teacher after you return backstage and touching their feet for teaching to such a beautiful art form and finding you worthy to present a dance to the audience.
Your dance teacher is your best friend.
So what if you did not become a professional dancer as you once wished. Once a dancer, always a dancer!
(Feel free to add more to this )