Whether we in India appreciate our age-old traditions and culture or not, those Indians who have settled in the U.S. have certainly adapted all of it to modern needs. In fact, I have personally come across fitness classes that seamlessly blend aerobics with Indian folk dance. Not to speak of the various Bollywood dancing classes that have caught the attention of even die-hard Americans.

New York, for example, boasts of an aerobics instructor of Indian origin who goes to the extent of telling her students to pretend that they are dancing at her wedding! The whole class sways, fascinated foreigners and all, clapping and stepping to the catchy and pulsating beats of Indian film music while she claps her hands and asks them to “Celebrate! Come on! Celebrate!" Well, this one is certainly not getting married, nor are any of her students in wedding finery. They are all in sweaty T shirts and tracks or shorts and she is teaching them the moves that Indian choreographers from Saroj Khan to Farah Khan have composed for Bollywood hit movies. And what goes on is exactly what we get to see these days in Indian films and weddings " in short, nothing to do with New York gyms by any stretch of imagination. This is known locally as the “Masala Bhangra Workout" and is simply a blend of aerobics with the Bhangra folk music of Punjab. What has resulted is a perfect morphing into the latest, modern pop dance sensation in the U.S.

What is it that makes this very desi music and dance click? It is the pure raw vigour and the vitality that makes one move automatically according to the Indian instructor, Sarita Jain, also known as the 'Indian Jane Fonda'. So now, Bhangra has become a dance-based fitness routine along with such diverse genres as African dance, hip-hop, belly dancing, salsa or even ballet. Incorporating popular music and adapting it to fitness moves, makes people more interested in working out and also makes them stick to their workouts. Bhangra is vigorous and at the same time is more like a celebration " it does not feel like a workout which is why people don't tire of it. Music certainly “helps people to feel more comfortable moving their bodies" according to an expert in Diet & Nutrition. Good music is a huge motivating factor for people enjoying a class she says.

Well, what can we add but....."BALLE BALLE!!"

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