"Dancing Off the Stress: A Vinayaka Chavithi Surprise"

Forget about crashing a party—I danced at this random Vinayaka Chavithi uragempu (procession). I just parked my bike to watch. I was alone and didn’t know anyone there, but the beats were irresistible. My feet started tapping, and I was on the fence—should I dance or not? Sure, I used to practice, but it’s been a while. I’d had a long, stressful day, and part of me thought, "Next year, I’ll dance."

Then it hit me—why not now? Why wait? Nobody will judge me, and if they like my dance, they’ll cheer, right? So, I took a deep breath, joined the crowd, and danced. The moment I stepped in, everything else faded away—the stress, the worries, the long day. It was just me, the music, and the rhythm. I felt this incredible sense of release like every step and movement was shaking off the weight I’d been carrying. My body felt alive like it had been waiting for this—like it remembered every move even though my mind had forgotten.

There was this sense of freedom, a wild joy bubbling up inside me. My body just moved, blending into the rhythm like I was part of the music itself. The world around me blurred, and all that mattered was the beat and the sheer happiness of dancing, as I’d reconnected with a part of myself I didn’t even realize I missed so much. I wasn’t just dancing—I was breathing, living through every movement.

As I was about to start my bike and head home, a man holding his kid came up to me and said he liked my dance. That moment hit differently. When was the last time I got a genuine compliment like that? It felt... good. Really good.