Shaking a leg

I've always liked a good dance. Hey - before you get me wrong. I'm not the formal dancing sort. Have hardly any knowledge of what makes a good move or what comprises grace for a dancer. I'll leave that to the professionals. I've just grown up watching various forms of folk dancing ranging from the crude sort of "ganpati dance" or "dahi-handi tapori dance" to the much elegant dandiya moves at the local gatherings. That has infused in me a desire to shake a leg whenever i hear a good rhythm. And of course whenever I am in the mood.

And once i've belted a few drinks to throw away the initial inhibition, shaking a leg has been a favourite with me and I'd often be amongst the last to leave the floor. But as i said before - please don't equate that with quality of dancing. I don't aspire for that. For me its simple - its should make you feel happy, remain within the limits of decency, it shouldn't compel others to stay meters away from you and its should really help you burn some calories.

Coming to the last aspect, it had really been some time since i shook a leg. The most recent had been in 2007 in China, Hangzhou (SOS) where the psychedelic lighting infused the necessary boost in me. And it was nice dancing with the athletic chinese folks who though poor on our variant of "bollywood'ish" and "tapori" dance moves were still good company. Before that, a year back, I'd also had an enjoyable evening at a local discotheque at Grand Bay, Mauritius where the Africans regaled me with their spirited dancing. You need to learn to enjoy dance from them, enjoying every beat of the music, gyrating with precision to the local Mauritian Sega as well as the Lou Bega variety. I joined in only when they started playing some Himesh numbers (Yeah our guy used to rock the island nation then - and where he sang from - whether nose or mouth was immaterial to the local populace).

So it was by sheer luck that today night that I got another chance (whoa - after a gap of two years). A party thrown in by office folks gave that perfect opportunity to let loose a lot of gathered inhibitions. And it felt so so good. As if two years had just melted by and some semblance of that youthful spirit returned back as I threw all caution to the wind and danced like a monkey (Yes - if those moves were recorded by some unassuming tehelka operative - it would seem more like a monkey swinging to music).

I just hope more of these days come by. Makes you feel youthful and so full of life. Only if I could catch hold of some spirited trekking groups to continue the old saga of trekking.