It’s said that a single moment is all that’s required to
make any life altering change- a moment of recklessness, a moment of courage to
walk up to the person you love and express it or a moment to quit your job and
take a break!
For me, it was the break from work. Don’t get me wrong, I
loved my work. We were a team of young scientists who were highly motivated by
our super fun seniors. But when opportunity knocks your door, you welcome it; you
embrace it and are grateful for it.
Most times we know what’s best for us, but sometimes our
loved ones know better. For me, this person was my sister. The ace Bollywood choreographer,
Shiamak Davar, who ran a prestigious dance school in Mumbai, had called for a
nationwide audition for their intensive six months program. The thought of
auditioning for it is not something I would have even considered entertaining.
But as always, being the pushy parent that she is managed to convince me to
head to Mumbai for the three day long audition process. I humoured her. After
all, if I don’t make it, I at least get a three day break in the wonderful city
with my long lost friends from various stages of life! And at that point of
time, I really could have used a vacation! It was a win-win situation.
The audition venue was typical of what one would expect from
the auditions of ‘Indian Idol’ or any such reality shows, minus the media
coverage. We went in one by one to perform our piece and rejoiced when a couple
of us got into the program directly after the very first round. It was
exhilarating to realise that even after so many years, I stood a chance to get
selected for this program amongst so many other talented people! But with this
overwhelming joy came the inevitable question of ‘what next?’ This was an intensive
training program spanning six months, to be held in Mumbai; which meant that I
would have to relocate to the city, leaving behind my wonderful job and
perfectly set home in Bangalore. And I had absolutely no clue what to do! Hell,
I did not even think I would get this far! But of course, life has its way of
always pointing you to the right direction. Sometimes you just need to breathe,
trust, let go and see what happens. But sometimes you have to get up, roll up
your sleeves and make things happen. And
since life doesn’t come with instructions, we just need to trust our gut on
what to do when!
Figure 1: As Po from
Kung Fu Panda said- Honestly, I did not think I'd get so far!
The decision was quite simple for me- I wanted to do this.
Not because I ever intended to take up dance as a career, but because I knew
that if I skipped this opportunity, I would regret this for the rest of my
life. As someone who has been trained extensively only in classical dance, this
chance to be trained intensively in over five dance styles by stalwarts on
their own rights was a golden opportunity offered to me on a platter. And I
wasn’t going to let that slip away.
It is at times like this that we realise the strength of the
support system that we have been blessed with. Like any middle class family, my
mom was initially quite apprehensive about me quitting the job that I loved and
tried so hard to land as a fresher right out of college. But as always, she
surprised me. On the day I was to formally put down my papers at work, when she
called me up in the morning I couldn’t resist telling her how scared I was. I
had no clue where I was headed leaving my cushy job and home and plunging into
so much of uncertainty not knowing if it was the right thing to do. Mom told me
not to worry and like everything else in life we would make sure this works for
us and that we are strong enough for it! I was expecting her to tell me to
rethink about resigning and here she was telling me to take a chill pill! Now
how often does that happen! We often think our parents are old fashioned and
‘uncool’, but trust me, we just have to give them a chance!
Figure 3: Farewell from work- my ever
so awesome team
Some people thought I was
plain crazy to leave my job and invest six months of my life in something I did
not intend to make a career out of, others thought I was doing the right thing
and were excited for me.
To say that those six months were a period of tremendous
learning, fun and gruelling work outs would be an understatement. I was staying
with a very loving family friend to whom I was nothing less than a daughter,
with kids half a decade younger than me who saw me as their new cousin. I had
taken over their room and cupboards, but never did I hear even the faintest
mutter of indignation from them. Weekends were always spent at my crazy
friends’ places who ensured I do not miss home or Bangalore or anything familiar.
Figure 4: A great bunch of friends and
family!
Since my classes were from 5-9pm, I had literally half the
day to myself. Being an extremely talkative person I was scared this period
would drive me crazy with no one to talk to and with nothing to do, my tiny
little brain would rot. So, encouraged by friends, I decided to try my hand at
some content writing to keep myself occupied. It was a pleasant surprise to
know that there was something else that I was capable of doing. I would read, sit in cafes and do my own
thing or move around in Mumbai in the local trains to make sense of the city...And
Mumbai did not disappoint me in the least! From random conversations with
strangers in trains to a note on my table from an anonymous admirer at a coffee
shop, to wading through the flooded streets to the railway station and back, to
lying down on the promenade at Marine drive in the late evening with my bestie,
Mumbai truly is an experience in itself. Every Bombay brat I have met would
refuse to acknowledge the greatness of any city other than Mumbai and after living
there for just six months, I completely understand why. Of course, being a
spoiled Bangalorean I threw my share of tantrums about the sweltering heat of
the city’s summers every single day, but the city’s charm won me over and I
left Mumbai extremely heavy-heartedly. That’s the thing about the city; it
slowly takes you on to its lap that you just don’t want to climb down.
Figure
5: Amchi Mumbai- from the dabba
walas, to the impromptu show by some musicians at the bandstand, the infamous
Berry Pulao at Britannia, a random kid and his dog I met in a train, at the
Gateway and my attempt at tackling the Mumbai rains
Figure 6: The note left by an
anonymous admirer! Does this happen only Mumbai or what!?
About the classes, I don’t even know where to begin! We
learnt dance and so much more! We were an extremely small batch of nine highly
excited and enthusiastic dance students who were just overwhelmed by the whole
opportunity we were given. Our backgrounds and age was as diverse as it could
have been, and this very factor taught us so much about each other and how much
of the world exists beyond our comfort zones. At one point each one of us were
going through major challenges on the personal front. During these moments,
comforting hugs with no questions asked, a helping hand and just sticking up
for each other cemented our camaraderie into friendship. We exchanged our
innermost insecurities and profound learning experiences with zero judgement of
the other person. Amidst the intense workouts, gruelling but liberating dance
sessions and learning our bodies better, we lost track of how quickly six
months flew by. We worked and danced in teams, as individuals and many times
learnt by being the spectator. And that according to me is what art does to
you. You learn to accept; you learn to broaden your horizons as a person and
learn to welcome change!
Figure 7: SHP!! (Shiamak’s Half Yearly
Program)
Most people don’t understand why someone in their right mind
would want to do anything like this. But again, who exactly is a completely
sane person? Don’t we all come with our bunch of quirks and craziness? The joy
of taking time out to do what you love is inexplicable; the anxiety of moving
into an alien city, even more so. But there is something extremely liberating
about moving out of your comfort zone and catching the change by its horns. It’s
scary, it fills you with doubt and uncertainty, but when you emerge out of it,
you know that you are ready to take on anything else life has to throw at you. I do not guarantee you to achieve nirvana and
the likes, but you do learn to care less about other’s opinions and learn to
live your life!
