I embraced all the changes and made myself a priority by shutting the door of "log kya kahenge" and decided to follow my heart. I didn't want to turn 40 and regret not giving my dreams one last chance.
1. Tell us more about your background and journey.
I was never an ambitious person. I was conscious of my height, colour, hair and because my English wasn't fluent, I lacked confidence and self-esteem too. The only thing I wanted was to get married, have kids and have my small family.
In my culture and community, elders always taught us to think about what others would think about us this is so deeply instilled that you grow up believing it and live accordingly.
We are taught:
(fair is beautiful, dark is ugly, straight hair is nice. Being tall means having personality, success equals money, fluent English means educated.) Ek accha salary wala ladka pakdo and life is set.
I was 19 when I fell in love with a 30-year-old man and got married. I thought my life is "Settled" as told by society. At 25 I decided to divorce my alcoholic ex-husband. I battled depression for years and by 30 (I developed thick skin).
I embraced all the changes and made myself a priority by shutting the door of "log kya kahenge" and decided to follow my heart. I dint wanted to turn 40 and regret not giving my dreams one last chance.
2. When did you first decide you wanted to pursue dancing and how did you start?
At 30 one morning I was sitting by my window, reflecting upon my decision I realised I have hardly achieved anything in life, all I did was trying to please people and be in their good book. I was done being a people pleaser.
Looking back, at my childhood days only two things that made me happy inside out is Dance and Sports. I decided to give dance one last chance. I fell in love with Bachata music and joined a regular dance class, made new friends and one of them asked me to take part in the Maharashtra championship we ended up winning a silver medal with two days of training which also made me realise that it's not too late. I still stand a chance to make a career out of it.
3. Who is your favourite dancer and why?
Larissa and Kadu ( zouk lambada dancers)
Her moves are very mesmerizing the flow and the smoothness, the technique. I wish to move and flow like her one day.
4. Can you throw some light on opportunities one gets as a dancer?
Well, I have been fortunate enough to work as a choreographer and have done, music videos to TVC ads, performed with nucleya for the nh7 event. Featured in a music video and I was a salsa and Dancehall Teacher at Terence Lewis academy, have choreographed for event's and weddings and ran my own dance and fitness classes at various locations in Mumbai.
I have travelled across India conducting workshops. To name a few cities Ratlam, Raipur, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Himachal, Nagpur, etc.
I have trained celebrities, have been and I still get reality show offers, but what I enjoy the most and is soul satisfaction is Teaching.
As a dancer, you need to experiment and experience all the categories to know what exactly is more satisfying and financially beneficial.
Some of the opportunities are:
- Movie choreographer,
- Dance teacher,
- Professional dancer, (shows, events)
- Artists, ( travel and take workshops)
- wedding event choreographer,
- model, actor ( for the Music video, TV ) its a plus point if you're a professional dancer too or a content creator on social media.
5. Is format training required or can one train themselves purely on the basis of talent?
If you want to be a dancer in the industry or take part in reality shows. NO
But if you want to be a teacher. Yes
Do professional dance training, your dance vocabulary and technical knowledge will make you stand out.
6. What piece of advice would you like to give to future and aspiring artists?
For the one who is starting late, clearly, the dance world is dominated mostly by those who started young, but it’s possible to bloom as a dancer even if you start a little later than usual.
One piece of advice is that do not get distracted or demotivated by other dancers’ success or progress. Stay motivated and focused. Have a realistic attitude. Do not compare your journey. I had to work harder in a lot of categories, not just dance and flexibility.
I am an introvert and a socially inactive person. I really had to work on my social skills and communication to survive in this industry. Since I became a teacher, I had to work on my fear of speaking. To improve my English, I remember taking a newspaper to the toilet and reading. I would stand in front of the mirror pretending to stand in class and introducing and teaching loud to get rid of the stammering because of fear.
7. Which is your favourite book and why?
In my 20's like I said I was never an ambitious person, I was all about Romantic novel's Mills and boon.
On my 30th birthday, one of my friends gifted me The Secret. It is based on the belief in the law of attraction which was the game changer for me.
Interviewed by - Vanshika Jain
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