Dancing Through Stereotypes

Sonal Choudhary Proud Dancer

Dance is the hidden language of the soul.

The art of dancing and dancers have always been portrayed as picture perfect figures - thanks to our Big Bang Bollywood sagas.

Behind those bold, fierce full and beautiful dancers, there are people called choreographers. Yes, these masters have come in all shapes and sizes.

Across the world, women more than men have been stereotyped into different roles and responsibilities. Not just experience, but even statistics say the same. Take a look at some of the startling figures that the Nihar Naturals #IAmCapable survey conducted by Nielsen India reveals: 

a. 69% of men agree that their judgement of women is based on their looks.

b. 64% of women agree that the judgements passed on them have affected their ability to reach their true potential.

c. 70%of women agree that majority of judgements on women are from family members or friends rather than strangers.

d. 72% of women agree that working women face more judgements on their looks or their clothes than housewives.

Whenever this topic of stereotyping based on looks is brought up, there is one person, dancer (guess she likes to call herself by it) whose face comes to my mind instantly. Sonal Choudhary - she stands 4 feet 10 inches with 72kg on her tiny toes.

 

Performing at her brothers 1st birthday! (A performer since childhood!)

I have known her since day one of my college. She was the first person from my batch I got friendly with. I had many friends and we did not get though the path of buddies, but have remained good acquaintances since then. She is going to kill me reading it - I know she always rated me in her good friends.

Performing at the song 'Mujhe Rangde' from the movie 'Thakshak' - Oh, I remember watching this one!

 To be honest, I was taken aback too when I learned that Sonal dances. What more? She has a degree in dance! I heard of a degree in that stream first time in my life. 

Performing @ NIIT's 25th Annual Function

The little princess has taken her passion for dancing to next level and never ever let her short height and body weight come her way. Dance classes, standalone practices, school functions, college fests, corporate events, competitions - there would be hardly any opportunity she would have let skip her feet. 

Any dancer would die for this frame!

She has following major achievements to her credit:

• Best student in dance for academic year 2001-2002 in school
• Second place in solo dance competition at inter-college fest at Lingya's Second place in dance at Accenture talent quest in 2008
• Several certificates for various dance forms from reputed dance academies like Danceworx and Shiamak Davar Institutes India Pvt Ltd Learnt Kathak
• Certification/degree of six years called Sangit Prabhakar with first division from Prayag Sangit Samiti, Allahabad

I must confess that I was a part of the group from our college batch which was most famous for its tantrums, pranks and everything naughty once could think of. I never stopped my friends from making fun of anyone, but sometimes, used them to remain in limits which we crossed many times! May be because of this, I was teased as the best friend of Sonal by the gang. Despite being a subject of jokes while in college, I have never seen a blink of hesitance in her eyes or attitude she carries. Kudos to you girl.

The desi gal truly breaks all set roles for a woman and has the courage to follow her heart. She undoubtedly defines the true meaning of #IAmCapable. I wish all the good luck and thumbs up to Sonal for believing in herself and breaking the so called stereotypes made for women in various categories.

I’m breaking stereotypes based on appearance by sharing my experience for the #IAmCapable activity at BlogAdda in association with Nihar Naturals.

Letter From A Father To Her Daughter

"More than kisses, letters mingle souls." ~John Donne

Time and again I have mentioned how much I adore letters. A letter with words straight from heart would be a best gift my loved ones could ever gift me. There is no chance my blog would miss a letter which made the masses cry.

Yes, I am talking about the letter from Mr. Prakash Padukone to his daughter Deepika Padukone. The letter has some lines which are no less than a precious gem.

Here it goes:

Dear Deepika & Anisha,

As you stand on the threshold of life’s journey, I want to share with you some lessons that life has taught me. Decades ago, as a little boy growing up in Bangalore, I started my tryst with badminton. In those days, there were no stadiums and courts where sports people could train. Our badminton court was the wedding hall of the Canara Union Bank near our house, and it was there that I learned everything about the game. Every day, we would wait to see if there was a function in the hall, and if there was none, we would rush there after school to play to our hearts’ content. Looking back, I realise that the most important thing about my childhood and adolescent years was my refusal to complain about a lot in life. I was thankful for the few hours a week we had the opportunity to hit the shuttle back and forth. In fact, the foundation on which I based my career and my life was the refusal to whinge or whine about anything. And that is what I want to tell you my children, that there is no substitute for perseverance, hard-work, determination and passion for what you choose to do. If you love what you do, nothing else matters — neither awards nor compensation, not even the gratification of seeing your face in newspapers or television.

When I won the All England Championship, the prize money in badminton became significant — £3,000 — a huge amount in those days. But that did not distract me from the sheer joy of having been instrumental in putting India on the global map of this game. Deepika, at eighteen, when you told us that you wanted to shift to Mumbai for a career in modelling, we felt you were too young and too inexperienced to be alone in a big city and in an industry we knew nothing about. In the end, we decided to let you follow your heart and thought it would be cruel to not give our child the opportunity to go after a dream that she lived and breathed for. If you succeeded, it would make us proud, but even if you didn’t, you would not have any regrets that you did not try. Deepika, I have learned that you can’t always win in life, that everything you want might not come your way. That events don’t always turn out as you want them to. To win some, you have to lose some. You have to learn to take life’s ups and downs in your stride. The amount of effort that I put in my game never varied from the first day till my retirement. Even during my toughest times, I focused on what I had, instead of dwelling on what I did not. I had the ability to make the best of the worst circumstances and remain steadfast to my goal. Remember how I constantly tell you both about the importance of making your way up in the world without waiting for your parents to pull strings? I believe it is best for children to work hard to make their dreams come true and to not have things handed to them on a platter. When you are home visiting us, Deepika, you make your own bed, clear the table after meals, and sleep on the floor if there are guests at home. If you occasionally wonder why we refuse to treat you like a star, it is because you are our daughter first and a film star later. The cameras that follow you everywhere and the arc lights will eventually fade and what will remain is the real world. Strive to generate positivity around you even though you are too new and too small a player to effect a big change.

You are in an industry where there’s always going to be big money, but I believe that it is important to try to be the best in whatever you do regardless of the money. The things that really matter in life are relationships, honesty, respect for your parents and elders. Material success is important, not fundamental to happiness and peace of mind. I can’t tell you enough about the rejuvenating power of prayers and a little faith. Spare a few minutes of your day to close your eyes and meditate, to think about God and you will see how much faith in His power will strengthen you. In the end, when your career is behind you, what remains is family, the friends that you have made. Live a life that is healthy and one that will allow you to live with your own conscience. Everything else is transient. And remember, no matter what, we are always going to be there for you.

Lovingly,Pappa

I absolutely loved the way Deepika ended her long but awesome thank you speech -
"On behalf of every child I want to thank put parents for being the people that they are. I promise you that all of us, I am going to try and be the best that we can be and most importantly thank you for being you and THANK YOU for allowing me to be me and to pursue my dreams."

I so want to write a letter to my Papa for everything he has done for us. The fact is that I am too afraid to share my emotional side with him. I am definitely going to put my fear aside this year on his birthday and gift him the best gift I can ever imagine for myself.

Also, I have read a great book called - Letters From a Father to His Daughter by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (Click on the link to read the review)

Have you ever got a letter from your father or written one to him? Try and share it with the world (if not too personal...).

When I Met Myself

Disclaimer: All the incidents except my and my BFF's name are purely fictional.

"Baby ka hai b'day bash..."

The song was on its high when I went for a small break from my own birthday party to use the wash-room. As I came out and washed my hands, I had a look at my face and was satisfied with my orange neon lipstick and sleek straight hair falling on my waist line. I smiled at myself and turned back to join the gang. I had barely touch the door handle when I realised that my hair were not straightened - I had not even combed them to keep the natural long curls in shape! I looked back in the mirror and there I was - still standing with those straight hair and neon orange lips.

"What the hell?"

"What happened to my hair?"

"And my lips! Did I had any orange drink?"

"Well, may be...".

I moved my hands to touch my face but could not see them moving in the mirror.  Before I was frightened more, my own voice echoed from behind and greeted me.

"Hey there! Surprised?"

I turned back and saw my own self looking straight into my eyes with a broad smile.

"Oh no! I drank more than enough. Monu Daaarrrllling! Yaar, please tu mat le ab aur, and ghar pe sambhal lio" (Dear, please do not drink any more and take care of the scene at home)", I shouted at the top of my voice.

My soul or mirror image or whatever it was, did not move a bit and was constantly smiling. This made me freak more and I tried to flee from the wash-room. Alas, I stopped myself again with the hands that were not mine. It was too much to digest. I had to take this up. I finally asked myself.

"Excuse me! Do I know you? I mean, You look exactly like me! Are you real? Am I really that drunk? Am I in sleep? And your voice, It sounds like my own. How did you do that? Great talent boss. Have you seen my cousin? Could you please help me find her? Well, she also looks like me. But not as you look like me...".

I could not stop speaking when I hugged myself tight and kissed my own forehead.

"I am your own sister. Yes, we are twins! I have no idea why our family never told you about us and why was I not brought up with you. But the truth is that we are true soul sisters - The Twins.".

I was talking to myself my best friend opened the door and screamed - "Gudiya! Behen, we must stop the party now!"

We went back home and still wonder if we were really that happy or we met "Me"!

Disclaimer: All the incidents except my and my BFF's name are purely fictional.