ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 6, 1996 TAG: 9606060011
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: N-13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALESSANDRA SOLER STAFF WRITER
While most of his classmates wrote research papers for their senior class projects, Moulin Desai decided to put on a little dance. He got together with four friends, taught them how to move, and put on his own recital in front of 200 parents, teachers and students in the school auditorium.
These teens weren't dancing to hip hop, techno or disco. Instead, they performed three different kinds of East Indian folk dances, a hobby that 17-year-old Desai said he hopes to continue even while he's away at college.
"It's something that's very important to me, and so I enjoy it a lot," he said.
Desai, a senior at North Cross School, will attend Duke University in the fall to pursue his lifelong goal of becoming an orthopedic surgeon.
"This is just an extraordinary young man," said Patrick France, director of the upper school at North Cross. "It was absolutely fantastic. He got his peers to orchestrate this wonderful dance, and they all did very well."
Desai's 3.95 GPA earned him a third-place rank among the 29 seniors who will graduate Monday at Carter Athletic Center at 11 a.m. The class valedictorian is Emily Manetta.
Desai said he takes his dancing and his heritage very seriously. "There is only one rule in my inner world," wrote Desai in an essay he recently submitted as part of his college application. "You must follow the beat ... . The boom-boom pounding of the drums, the snake-charming melodic piano and the sweet echo of my mother's voice are in perfect harmony with your motions."
He said he plans to join the Indian student organization at Duke and participate in any of the festivals or dances the group may sponsor.
Desai has been dancing since he was 5, although he admits his mother claimed he was clumsy until the age of 13. "That's when it started meaning more to me," said Desai. Quite often, his mother, who works as a pediatrician at the Community Hospital of Roanoke Valley, would get a group of his friends together and organize informal dance parties at home or schools in the area.
"Whenever I had the chance to dance, I would dance," he said. "I think it's a lot easier for me because it's so close to me. It's really important to my parents and they're really talented."
Desai said his trip to Baroda, Gujurat (his parents' birthplace), in central India last summer motivated him to use the folk dances as part of his class project. He kept a journal, also part of a graduation requirement, which he read aloud at the presentation in March.
Aside from dancing, Desai also keeps himself in shape and busy by playing varsity baseball and running cross country. He's been on the baseball team since the 10th grade, and has lettered in the sport for the past three years.
"He's a kid that does it all," said France. "He's a great athlete, he has super grades and his passion is Indian folk dancing. He's just the neatest young man."
Born in Paterson, N.J., Desai came to Roanoke as an infant after his father, also a doctor, was offered a job at a local psychiatric center. He's been a student at North Cross for 12 years, and has been actively involved in student activities for most of his time there. At the beginning of the school year, Desai's classmates elected him vice president of the student government. He's also on the school's honor council and is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Interact Rotary Club.
Although he'll be moving to North Carolina in the fall, Desai said he hopes to complete his residency in Virginia, and eventually move out West - maybe to Colorado - to start his career.
"One of my more important goals in life would also be to maintain my Indian culture and to not only pass down these traditions to my children, but to other generations as well," said Desai.
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Desai (headshot)by CNB