In 2001, I met a large project. My dance teacher, Gretchen Hayden, had wanted for years to expand her reach beyond that of a teacher with students, to that of a non-profit organization with greater traction in the arts world, and the eligibility for funding. She had ambitious and exciting ideas for what a non-profit could do with kathak dance. She inspired me, and others. Fortunately, I had just finished a freelance writing project, and a friend and fellow dance student had just been laid off from a technology company. Together, and with the help of a handful of other dedicated people, we resolved to make Gretchenji’s vision come true. We interviewed her, probed the depths of her dreams, discussed values and mission statements, sat through “branding sessions,” drew a diagram of what we wanted the future to look like, designed a Web site, created a marketing plan, developed a strategic plan, formed a Board of Directors, worked with the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts to draw up by-laws and articles of incorporation, purchased insurance, and, in November 2002, the Chhandam Institute of Kathak Dance, or Chhandika, was born.
It has been an exhilarating, challenging, at times frustrating, very often gratifying experience for me to be Chhandika’s volunteer Executive Director. It has enabled me to work alongside phenomenal people, has added an entirely new dimension to my life, and has awakened my creativity. It has made me call upon my background in planning and writing, discover skills I did not know I had, and work to develop ones I was lacking. And it has given me the inspiration for my series of novels.
