B’shahr farmer’s passion for dancing earns him fame
LUCKNOW: Love for dancing has catapulted a young farmer from a rural village in Bulandshahr district to fame.
After recently being featured in a popular dance reality show, Vineet Kumar aka ‘Khomcha (a large basket woven with twigs)’ has turned into a local sensation.
“I like to be happy, have fun and dance. I try to incorporate dance in everything I do,” says Vineet with his trademark broad smile as he sits in his farm which is also his dance studio. With very little training in professional dancing, Vineet incorporates different dance styles in his performances. “I watch dance moves and practice them while working in my fields,” he says.
For a 22-year-old who is the only brother of seven sisters belonging to a family of cultivators in debt, pursuing the passion of dancing is as hard as it can get.
With no support from the
family and only sniggers from villagers, Vineet took a leap of faith into dancing almost five years ago after being rusticated from his school.
“I was rusticated from school after failing in class 11 twice. Everybody around me was angry but I was happy because I could devote my time to farming and practicing dancing,” he says.
Vineet devoted himself to farming to support the family and continued dancing to keep ‘head in the right place.’ “Dancing helped me to get over the difficulties in life and keep a positive outlook about the situation I was in. Dancing takes me to a place where everything is happy and looks in control,” he says.
The dance practice which he does using a pair of small rechargeable speakers helped Vineet get some popularity among the locals but getting a call from a popular dance reality show was his biggest success.
“I went to Delhi and then to
Mumbai where I stayed for over a month and danced in the reality show. It was certainly the happiest period of my life till date,” says Vineet who returned to his village over a month ago.
“I was evicted after a few rounds but I learnt a lot. I will continue working on my dance because it has now become a part of me.”
The dance reality show has certainly changed his life. The teachers at the school from where he was rusticated are now calling him for a felicitation, the villagers who made fun of him now trail him for a selfie.
Firoz Khan, an assitant teacher at a government primary school, has also come forward to support Vineet chase his passion.
Despite this jump in popularity Vineet still considers himself a farmer who cannot leave his village behind and people who laughed at him ashis biggest motivators. “People who mockme are my biggest promotors,” he says.