Mahesh Mahbubani

Dance with me The fluidity of movement is unmistakable. In his speech, expressions and body language. Choreographer Mahesh Mahbubani shares the lilt that courses through the cells of his bone marrow. By Shilpi Madan He's changed 26 houses in 41 years, across the globe. Has cleaned a priest's house for ten pounds an hour to make ends meet. And is the the sole soul in India who's trained in and is knitted deeply to classical ballet. Yet free spirit Mahesh Mahbubani disarms with his simplicity. “As a child I used to have a problem communicating with people, so I would dance. And when I’d dance, I’d forget everything else," says Mahesh, his eyes mirroring his passion. "Dance has always been a point of reference for me. My medium of expression.” Here is the eldest of four siblings, a self-admitted loner in a house full of people who has always been fond of taking to centrestage. He would script a movie and transform into an actor, in an empty room. And would write on the walls, instruct imaginary students and mark attendance, the next moment. Drama was life. Then when he was 15, his father went through a financial crisis. "I begun taking dance classes to earn money, using my gift to contribute my bit," reveals Mahesh. "The freedom of earning and spending my own money set in. And I decided then that I wanted an unfettered life. And that I wanted to be on my own." Of course, the freedom brought with itself the responsibility for his own choices and actions. He took to training under fitness icon Ramma Bans in the early 1980s and held dance and exercise classes at Sea Rock Hotel in Banstand, Bandra, earning Rs 1200 for 8 hours a month those days. The taste of success was heady. But before he could develop the frog-in-the-well attitude, Mahesh moved to Delhi. "Simply to find out whether I could survive in a new city." Reality byte 2. "Here I begun to integrate dance with fashion, hair and make up, to exploit my creative facets. And learnt that games and lies run rampant in the field, and that 99% of people are fake," says Mahesh. So he devised his own method of sustaining sanity. By focussing exclusively on the creative aspects of projects, getting paid and getting out. The boy who never talked, learnt how to say no, and realised that it was fine to say no. Then London beckoned. "I thrive on change. Not knowing what lies ahead is incentive enough for me to move. I’ll create a crisis just to move to another level," enthuses Mahesh, explaining his move to UK. Self willed, packed with restless energy, he got his first formal dance training in Spain. "At 24, I tasted classical ballet, and it hit me how little I knew about dance. I was the cat’s whiskers in India and a novice abroad." Education weighed on his finances. Too proud to ask his parents for money, Mahesh slogged it out in Gibraltar, working 10 to 8 to save up money for his tution fee. "I was working for a Jew, who happened to be very unkind to me, for some reason. He was dissatisfied with his lot in life. Being at the receiving end of his bitterness, I was distraught. Alone in a foreign land. And then one day while walking down the street, I remembered how horrible I had been to my domestic help during my childhood days. So what goes around, comes around I realised. It was payback time. With this realisation, I understood and accepted what I was going through and why. And all my pain and anger disappeared.I took leave of my employer, politely. It was my humility and softness that killed him inside." Passion finds a way to thrive. And Mahesh did everything it took -- from selling perfumes at Harrods, taking up house cleaning jobs and weekend marketing stints for Gucci to pay for his bus fare and education cost. He survived. And mustered enough to realise his dream. A three year course in Anatomy. "I discovered I suffered from partial scholiosis (poor posture) and was able to rectify that through the Alexander technique, based on physiology linked with psychology, that I picked up. I soaked in dance techniques, history, culture and community, like a sponge. I begun to understand gestures and nuances, I learnt to articulate through my body language. What followed was a sense of sheer happiness and fulfilment. Dance freed me of self-created problems. My self-image changed completely." And powered by a sense of sharing his talent, Mahesh begun participating whole heartedly in community functions and get togethers. Choreographing dance sequences for kids and elders as part of Bollywood Dhamaka and Diwali celebrations. "During one such event, I was allocating positions to children on stage, and a group of grumpy Sindhi mothers were sitting near by, accusing me of favouritism and being biased," he recalls with a laugh. "And speaking in Sindhi, unaware that I am a Sindhi and could understand exactly what they were saying. At the end, I just turned around with a beatific smile and told them in Sindhi that I was impartial. Their eyebrows nearly shot through the roof, you can imagine the look of horror and embarassment writ on their faces!" Mahesh's creativity has found expression in dance sequences for the silver screen in Taal, Thakshak, Road, Boom... In commercials on air for Close Up, Coca Cola...In spearheading the Kalaghoda Dance Festival 2005. In using dance as a recreational tool, by creating entertainment with value, through team work and workshops and running classes for professional dancers. But why not more films? "I love Bollywood. But I want to work on my own terms without compromising on my sense of self-worth, and I am willing to wait. Remember, I am a Sindhi trained by a Jew!" Agreed, talent and ound marketing go hand in hand. "I have learnt how to negotiate, after observing the market, and am my best own agent because I understand my own work and worth." Life, with its trials and tribulations, has gifted him valuable lessons. Today Mahesh he is a content man. With zero emotional baggage ("I have learnt to forgive"). And believes that all matter has a function. "Death is merely a transition from one plane to another, I understood that when I lost my younger brother in a tragic accident. yet I feel his presence in my life every moment." In the present, Mahesh continues to work with the old. "For senior citizens and children, what's vital is the feeling of being wanted. I also want to get involved in this respect with my Sindhi community. I believe that theory is born out of practice. It gives me great joy to know that I am making a difference. Doesn't life get a new meaning when you feel useful?" Here's a man for whom simply, dance is life.