I don’t have a Plan B.
Either I find a way to pay for my final semester at CalArts and complete my dance major, or I watch the future I’ve fought for slip away.
I’m Achintya Bose, a dancer-actor from Mumbai. Some of you might know me from Netflix’s Yeh Ballet, where I played a ballet student pushing through impossible odds. Since then, I’ve worked as a dance influencer, model, and Youth Ambassador for the ARDEA Foundation.
But none of this came easily. After my father walked out, my mom raised me alone. She rebuilt our life from nothing and made sure I finished school and pursued my passion. Books found their way into the house. Music lessons got paid for. Sometimes she went hungry so I didn’t have to.
While training at Danceworx, I worked in admissions, assisted classes, and became a trainer so I could afford every workshop. Yeh Ballet changed everything. I got access to world-class training I couldn’t have paid for on my own. Prima Ballerina Cindy Jourdain trained me, and Sooni Taraporevala guided me.
Getting into CalArts - one of the top dance schools in the world- felt like the first big step. I gave it everything. I’ve completed two years, got fast-tracked into a three-year BFA instead of four, and kept a 4.0 GPA in my last 2 semesters (cumulative 3.9). Between minimum-wage campus jobs, rehearsals, and sleepless nights, I never stopped showing up.
Outside regular academics, I was invited to two elite dance programs - one in Amsterdam and the Summer Immersion Program at Boston Dance Theater. Thanks to a generous donor, all flight tickets were covered.
Here’s the thing: to finish my last semester and to cover my living expenses from November to June, we need to raise 12,000 USD for tuition and 3,000 USD per month for housing, food, and basic costs. That’s 37,000 USD (approx 3285178.20INR). With remittance charges and fluctuating exchange rates, we’re estimating it at about 33 lakhs INR.
I already work campus hours at Tatum’s to cover groceries, fuel, and the small stuff. But the F1 visa limits how much I can work, and it’s nowhere close to what tuition and rent cost in the US.
If we can’t raise this amount in time, I lose my seat, my visa, and the career I’ve built step by step.
Donate. Share. Help me cross the finish line.
