Nirvana means attaining perfect bliss. Is that ever possible in these times of stress and depression you would wonder? Yes, I discovered that when I met Ms. Rani Naidu a school teacher by profession who later moved to the corporate world, she says that she attained nirvana through …… DANCE.
We have dance gathering each month where all dance lovers come to practice their moves, observe and learn from other their experienced counterparts. At the dance gathering, I met Rani Naidu as she came up and asked me to perform. It is rare that a student comes to me and ask me to dance, so when the gorgeous Rani walked up to me, I could not refuse. After a few dance sessions we sat down with our drinks and started talking and the story and outlook to life that she shared with me inspired me to write this piece.
Rani who leads a very busy life like most of us today was looking for some form of relaxation for the mind and exercise for the body, well something for the not so young. Friends suggested her to join a Gym, Meditation, Yoga, Tai-chi and many more such activities. She tried all one by one and finally desired something that could put these magnificent stress busters into one.
One day life changed when Rani hit the dance floor. She was little apprehensive in the beginning as she was missing from the dance floor since decades. It felt like as if she was dancing for the first time on stage. She though it was nevertheless, no harm moving to music. After her dance session and watching people dance in the class she was left stupefied. The dance steps seemed simple, graceful, the music was just great…Yes, this is just what she had dreamt of.
Once, she started to learn, the dance steps did not seem simple at all. There is something called “beats” that she rediscovered. One has to co-ordinate one’s steps along with the rhythm of the music, something she thought would be simple as she danced in her school and college days but now with five years in dancing she says its ‘history’. People are addicted to tea, coffee, cigarettes, chocolates but Rani said she is addicted to DANCE… and it’s a good addiction indeed!
A Good Addiction… that’s a new term… we all have heard of bad addictions. Why it is so you may wonder. Well Rani got all that she was looking for and much more. Her body got its necessary exercise as in a gym. The soothing music and the concentration on the steps was almost like meditation and some of the postures were like Yoga asanas.
Its said ‘never ask a man his wage and a women her age’ so looking at her I guessed that at her age spins and turns helped her balance her body as in an older person sense of balance slowly reduces. But for this young at heart Rani dance helped her to maintain balance. Also bones tend to get brittle with age but she is confident that the dance moves have helped her retain the flexibility and joint movements. It in turn has helped her body to remain light. This gave her such a superior feeling that she now avoids being fat or obese. ‘I don’t need a doctor to tell me to go on a diet’ says Rani with her mesmerizing dimpled smile.
The overall feel-good factor that she has experienced with dance is just amazing. It has taught her to be poised and elegant which she feels has indirectly helped her mind to maintain good balance and to be calm. In the world filled with corporate men, dance has helped Rani exhibit their feminine side by being gentle, graceful, assertive and totally in-control of herself.
Expression means saying a lot without using words. Well, that’s what she can do now, she can express happiness, love, hate and many more feelings. “These expressions being universal can be understood by anyone without any barrier. So, if you are hurt or feel down and out …. Just dance away your blues’ said Rani.
Rani is an ideal example for people who derive lot of advantages when they start dancing. If she can so can you. The benefits of dance for Rani today are ……good health, confidence in herself, relaxation of mind and most of all in touch with her inner self and beauty. This works as a stress buster and anti-depressant. If this is not NIRVANA……. what is ?
(Sandip Soparrkar is a well known Ballroom dancer, a World Book of Records holder and a Bollywood choreographer who has been honoured with National Achievement Award and National Excellence Award by the Govt of India. He can be contacted on sandipsoparrkar06@gmail.com.)
Sandip Soparrkar
Artscape
