Tumhara phir se laut ke aana, Mujh me ek nayi umeed laayi hai, Ek naya khwaab sa jagayi hai, Meri berang zindagi mei raango ki baahar laayi hai, Phir ek baar naya ehsaas jagayi hai, Mujhe phir se jeene ki wajah dilayi hai,
Par phir har roz ki tarah mera yeh sunhera sapna tootta hai, Meri aankh khulti hai, Aur tu sirf meri khwaabo mei banke reh jaati hai
Par phir har roz issi ummed mei sota hu, Ki tumhe sapno mei toh dekh saku, Haqiqat mei naa saahi sapno mei hii tujhe haasil kar saku
Par taqdeer toh dekhiye meri, Naa toh haqiqat mei aur naa hii sapno mei, Tujhe haasil kar paya, Tu mera sirf ek sunhera khwaab ban kar meri yaado mei reh gaayi
I started dancing in kindergarten- my mom enrolled me in my first dance academy in first grade. I’ve done numerous stage shows- Bollywood, hip-hop, contemporary. I was tiny! Even auditioned for Ganesh Acharya’s music video, I think I was the youngest dancer there. I did not get selected, but it was a different world that I saw. In ninth grade I learnt salsa and contemporary dance, but could not give them much time. But whenever I saw a new dance style or the latest hook step, I would sneak into my room; switch on the music and practice. When I was introduced to Korean pop music, I found their songs and choreography breath-taking. It inspires your passion, no matter what it is. I have friends who started writing and sketching!
I started a Dance account on Instagram last July and post covers. When I get comments and feedback- it makes me so happy! And when somebody tells me they really want to see me dance on a specific choreography- ah!
When I dance- I don’t know- but my face starts glowing. I can’t help smiling- it makes me giddy to imagine that an audience finds as much happiness in seeing me dance as me! Dancing stimulates my happy hormones! When I see complex pieces of music with equally intricate choreography- it floors me. I just want to recreate the awe I feel when I experience this beautiful art form.
I really look forward to being recognised by people I look up to- apart from a future with a professional commitments, it is my dream to join a crew that dances for the love of dance. I think that every time you choreograph a piece, you evolve. All of the input from various dance styles and artists that you can get inspired from, when mixed up to produce something that perfectly fits the music- something that you can see once and go- Wow! This is God’s work! When you can look back at your work and you are sincerely happy with what you see, with what you’ve done, I think that is what success means to me. Recognition is important, but is also everywhere. But for me, if you can see it once and go- Wow! I have done this! It inspires you so much- let’s do this all over again!
Before I posted my first cover, I thought it wouldn’t last 2 months. But the influx of affection on my dance and expressions- some people asked if I could teach them- a girl messaged to say she was learning from this video- I can’t stop now! Apart from making me happy, it’s making others too!
“What do I do of this then?” My Goan grandmother asked, wrinkling her nose while looking at the rusty remnants of a snare drum. I looked at it, wondering about how many weddings, birthday parties, gatherings, band rehearsals had this piece of beauty seen in its glory days? It had a tiny engraving on the side that read Raymond, the lead drummer’s name; my grandfather.
It had been 10 years since he passed away, but I remember the stories he’d told me crystal clear. Stories about an Elvis-esque styled drummer with a tatted right arm (yep I’ll admit, my grandfather was pretty cool) bringing the rock and roll to the party with his band. “I’ll play it” I said in a split second. Eyebrows raised, “You? Why would a girl play an instrument like that?” my mother retorted. A little over a month, she was forwarding videos of my first song played on the drums to her friends on Whatsapp. Back in Mumbai, since I couldn’t get the whole set here I decided to enroll for classes. I was a little skeptical at first. “Is this actually a good idea?” “What if I don’t enjoy it?” I kept thinking on my way to getting myself enrolled all alone (Thanks mom!) But the instant I heard the sound of this beautiful instrument played live, I knew there was no turning back. “How hard can it be? It’s just banging around with a pair of sticks!” Oh boy, was I wrong. There’s a correct length at which you grip the stick (Did I mention different grips too?), sticks’ had different girths: 5B, 7A that procured different sounds. Pedals? Right foot on the bass drum, left foot on the hi hat cymbal. Wait what? Each limb has to play a different beat independent of the other? I wasn’t even sure the human body was capable of that kind of coordination. Rhythms, beats, fills, syncopation, keeping time, phew; drumming is so much more technical than one perceives it to be. All of my doubts washed away the day I mastered my first beat, then another, a song, songs of different genres, Wow. The more I fell in love with drumming, the more I fell in love with music. I looked forward to saturdays after college, to venting it all out on the weekends, to the patient practice sessions that required me to clear my head and focus only on what each of my limbs were doing to play complicated beats and then mastering it as I picked up the tempo. It was absolutely priceless, the satisfaction of once thinking it was impossible to gain that kind of accuracy and coordination, to playing to songs that went up to 140 bpm. From Hoobstank’s The Reason to Green Day’s American Idiot, I learnt it isn’t that difficult to master anything you thought you couldn’t do, with consistent practice and patience. As for my grandmother, who had been ecstatic from the start about me playing the drums, you can already guess who has her own shiny new acoustic drum kit in a particular house in Goa right now, Me! Ba dum Tssss
Glint 2020 