A Chance To Dance by Habiba Begum (android e book reader TXT) 📖

Mumbai which was previously known as Bombay is a major city in India. It is also known as the business capital of India it being the country’s principle financial and communications centre. Many people call this city, the city of dreams. People come to the city and expect their dreams to be fulfilled however if everyone has the same dream then only one can win and others dream are lost. The biggest show in Mumbai is ‘Mumbai’s Number One Superstar’. This show is known to everyone and extremely popular to watch and many people have the dream to win it, especially one special little girl, Parvaani.

Parvaani is a 16 year old teenaged girl that cares about only one thing, to become a dancer. When she was a little girl she used to watch many films with her friends. She didn’t care about the story but most of all she cared about the dancing. She loved it most and practiced the moves of every dance she saw on that big screen. Her wide pretty eyes watched the screen and followed every hand that flowed, every head that bowed and the feet that tiptoed and jumped and stretched. She loved it. Everyday after school had ended she would run to the pavilion across the lake. To get there you would need to jump through wired fence and of course she had already ripped it apart. The reason there is a fence is because it is very dirty and no one really cared about the area, so everyone forgot about it and no one went even near it. I bet if you asked someone on the streets they won’t have a clue to what you are saying. Parvaani cleaned the area and mowed the grass herself using her neighbor’s lawn mower. She was a very hard worker and knew that nothing could stop her from living her dream. If there was a play at her school then you would find Parvaani as the star of the show. She loved everything about acting and dancing. She loved the colors of the saris and costumes, the makeup and anklets around her ankles. She would design the stage herself and imagine it to be the show ‘Mumbai’s Number One Superstar’. She would mimic Bollywood actresses and dance like she was a professional. She knew every dance, traditional, hip hop, classic, folk and whatever else there was, Parvaani could do it.

The school was very proud of there student. She received many medals, certificates and her hands were shaken many times by the principle. Other schools pride would be sports however in Parvaani’s school Ranbir Education Academy their pride was Parvaani. The school loved her and her dancing and became very well known. Her parents however, did not like her dancing one bit. They hated their adopted daughter Parvaani. They were all dark skinned whereas she was fair. She could dance while the rest of the family couldn’t even jump without falling over. They were all doctors, nurses and surgeons and Parvaani’s parents wanted nothing to do with her. The women in their neighborhood always made fun of Parvaani and said that her dream was stupid and that she would never be able to fulfill it. All the girls in the neighborhood were doctors, nurses or studied law and business. Parvaani was the only girl that wanted to become a dancer. Her parents reminded her everyday that she didn’t belong in that family. Anytime something wrong would happen in the house, they would blame it on Parvaani. If something was stolen, usually the eldest son, it would also be blamed on Parvaani. Parvaani knew of course she was never at fault but believed in order to keep her family happy and because she loved them, she took the blame and so she would be punished for crimes she did not commit. Sometimes she would not be given dinner and sometimes she would be locked in her room for a few hours. It was dinner time and everyone was called in to the dining room. Her mother (not actual mother) was placing plates onto the table. Parvaani washed her hands quietly and sat down onto the table. She waited for the others and watched them sit down. Her older brother Ahad just sat there playing on his mini video game. Her father reading the newspaper and her sister was reading a law magazine about politics and what not. The food was spread across the table but no one was touching it for some reason. What is wrong with everyone, Parvaani thought to herself. So she shrugged and picked up the garlic bread and gently dropped it on her plate. Then she took both spoons and placed salad on the sides of her plate. She was about to get the rice when her mother started to shout angrily, “What are you doing you shameless girl? You don’t thing about anyone else. How dare you eat food before we do? You stupid dancing girl, all you think about is that bloody show and your dumb dream about becoming a dancer. Do you think you are more important than we are that you will pick up the food first? My god, I wish we hadn’t adopted you, it was better that we adopted a dog instead of you at least it will be faithful to us and do as we say unlike you. You’re worth nothing.”
Parvaani sat quietly in her chair and stared at her plate. He plaits over her shoulders and pretended to look as if she ignored it and didn’t hear anything but she did. Any girl would cry but not Parvaani, she was used to this by now as she heard this from a young age and dancing was the only thing that kept her strong until now.
Her mother always made something tiny into something big. Parvaani thought to herself, why would you waste your time yelling about rubbish, when you could be filling up your stomach with delicious food. Every time it was time to eat, there would be an argument. If the mother and Parvaani were to be in the same room there would be a fight and Parvaani would sit there and say nothing, poor girl.
“Are you seeing this? She is ignoring me. Look at my son. He is an engineer and look at my daughter; she is studying law and is a part time nurse and look at this filthy girl. All she does is dance like a lunatic. What she needs is a tight pull on her stupid bun on her head. That way she might even get some sense into her thick skull. She will have no dinner and she can be sent to her room, go on get lost before you get a slap as well”
Parvaani stared at her mother who just blanked her. Then she looked over to her father but he just carried on reading his newspaper. The others also ignored her. No one even cared that she was hungry and hadn’t even had lunch yet let alone dinner. Parvaani got up from her seat and took a quick glance at her stupid family and cunningly grabbed the garlic bread and shoved the salad in her mouth and ran up to her room. She slammed her bedroom door and stared at the window. She slowly walked over to the window where there would be a billboard of a huge poster of her favorite program ‘Mumbai’s Number One Chapter One

Superstar’. She filled her head with fantasies of her dancing on stage with the judges applauding her and the audience also applauding giving her a standing ovation. She heard her door lock and the rattle of keys behind the door. Her mother muttered to herself saying that she wished Parvaani would just die. Parvaani’s fantasy had ended and she was alone in the room. She stared at the posters of dancers on her walls. She knew that she wanted to be a dancer and she just had to get away from the living hell that she is living in now. Her family didn’t care about her and she began to wonder if she could run away from them, but then she knew that she would have no money and no plan to achieve her goal. How would she become famous? How will she survive out there in the real world on her own? She thought maybe she could live with her friends but their parents were either ill or could not afford to have a guest living with them. She could pay for rent as she did not have a job. She slowly gave up and wondered that maybe she may never be able to achieve her goal of becoming a dancer. Her big eyes looked at one of the posters and it read ‘never give up on your dream’. She smiled and realized that nothing can stop her from living her dream and that now more than ever she wanted to dance but she cant dance locked up in a room can she? Parvaani stood up and turned around to the window.
“I will never give up on my dream. No matter what happens I will achieve my goal”, and with that she opened the window, jumped out with a thud on the ground and climbed onto the terrace. She looked over to the streets where many rickshaws rode passed and people walking on the streets. She forgot about her sadness and decided that the only thing she wanted to do right now is not bother about her mindless father, her stealing brother, her ignoring sister and her dumb mother. The only thing she wanted to do right now is dance and the place to do that is in the pavilion. The best place to think about nothing but letting go. Time stops and all you feel is like you are a free bird.

Publication Date: 06-12-2012

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