I chose this place because Payyanur was where I was born and now I have gone back to it.

The first phase of the project is complete and we have started classes for the children who live in this area.

It gives me and Shantha great joy to see these children sing and dance. They have given up seeing television.

Last summer we had a refresher camp for senior students.

We need more money to build the rest of this campus. But money is hard to come by. When it comes to donations, few people are willing to open their purses.

But we know we will complete Bhaaskara.

Yes, I have also been thinking about the future of this institution.

And the example of Kalakshetra, a pioneering campus started by the late Rukmini Devi Arundale, comes to mind. After all, Shantha and I studied there and we had to come out over our differences with Rukmini.

And I do reflect on what Kalakshetra has come to today which is not a very positive pass at all.

Rukmini herself did not give much attention to how the institution would be managed and who would do it after her. She often used to say, "You are all there and I know you can take care of it," but she did not make it a point to take the issue seriously.

And so, people who were close to her nodded their heads and did not want to discuss this issue.

In private she also told me that I would be the person to take charge after her but then, it would have been different if she had said that publicly.

Kalakshetra then went through many problems because it did not have the kind of head who could lead it.

I too have considered the future of Bhaaskara.

I have been telling my senior disciples that Bhaaskara is their project and it is they who need to nurture it.

It is not easy to be convinced and I can see why.

Many people think twice when they are offered the opportunity to work in a rural place. They think that if they move away from the city, people will forget them and they will lose all the opportunities.

I don't think this is the case for talented people, they will be respected where ever they are. For many, music and dance classes serve as a means to be a part of our culture, but then one has to be lucky to be in the right hands.

The children face the problem of being accepted by the Indian and the American society. To confront this, they attend music and dance classes to please their parents at home, besides learning to play the piano, violin and choir singing, to secure additional grades that will make admission to higher education easier "a tremendous pressure on them indeed"

Having lived with them for over a month I realize that the NRIs are not spending easy money in teaching Indian arts to their children. There is a lot of sweat, toil and endless hours of hard work on part of the children and their parents. But I hope that all the time, money and effort does not end with an arangetram. For many an arangetram seems to mark the culmination of a learning process, and for others it is just the beginning of a learning process' what one needs to understand is that this great art is a way of life...