My introduction to breaking

What made me discover breaking was when I was watching TV at home in Tanzania in 2002. I was watching music videos and came across :Its Like That- Run DMC. I was fascinated with the power moves, and footwork that the dancers were doing on the floor. Of course at that time I didn't know what the dance was called. We didn't have internet either so I couldn't look it up. The combination of the breaking and the music was what got me hooked. 

The same year I moved to India, to my hometown Dehradun where I "got down" or was "put down to breaking". I had a friend who liked Hip Hop music whose name was Anand Chopra. He had a big collection of MP3s on his computer and I had a CD case . We would exchange and share music and spend time at his house (he had a much bigger collection at that time). Occasionally we would hang out at the only cafe in town, Barrista which is near Ashley Hall . We would have coffee and since we knew the guys who worked there they would let us play our CDs on their system . I remember they used to play this one CD of assorted music over and over the whole day and the song- Paint My Love - MLTR would be playing again and again. One day when we came into the cafe and I was handing over my CDs to the guys, this other guy was ordering something. He saw me and asked me what music I had (in an American accent). When I told him it was Hip Hop, he asked if he could come sit with us. This guy's name is Heera (Netarpal Singh Bandesha). So we sat down and started chatting and as we were introducing ourselves, I asked Heera what he did, and he gave me a very vague answer saying, "I work out , and before I work out I come to Barrista for coffee". I got more curious and asked him where he worked out, he said, " at home", very abruptly. I figured he did weights or something as he was muscular , so I asked him if he had a gym at home. He said " No, I break", playing it cool still. I got really excited and told him that I told him that I wanted to learn and asked him if he could spin on his head, a very common question most people will ask you if you tell them you break. I took his phone number and the following week I called him and eventually we organized a session at his aunt's house in Majra where he was staying. He showed me how to do a baby freeze, a six step and some top rock , which I picked up in a few attempts, and also showed a bunch of videos on his computer and gave me a video cassette of Kujo, the Flying Water Buffalo. That was a coincidence because he was the first Bboy I saw in the Run DMC Music video. The video cassette and I then eventually met Kujo himself in India in 2009 while he was in Mumbai, on a shoot for an advertisement for washing powder.

I was on vacation at that time from boarding school and when the semester started in February I was in my final year and was also the school gymnastics captain. I guess being a gymnast helped in the athletic aspect of the dance. I used my spare time practicing in school on the gymnastics mats, grass and in our hostel common room where I would play my music. Heera introduced me to a lot of underground artists as my exposure to hip hop was only a few artists like Dr. Dre. Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Jay-z ... more on the commercial side. He too had a CD case at that time and I would borrow individual CD's and copy them onto my computer. We were allowed to make trips into town on Sundays, so sometimes we would link up and practise. I've known Heera for 11 years now and I think he was in his peak of fitness in 2003. He had really light top rock and footwork and good power. His windmills were really good and he almost had multiple elbow air flares. He would do a windmill-elbow air flare occasionally. He got into breaking in the mid nineties in New York where he lived with his family. He used to practise at a centre in Forest Hills, where Supreme Beings and Breaks Kru would also session. Initially the our relationship was that of a teacher- student. But After I graduated from school I moved to Mumbai for College in 2004 we kept in touch. Heera had shifted to Chandigarh and was working for Greenpeace. In my vacations I would visit him in Chandigarh as it was close to Dehradun. 

The Journey

During my second semester of the first year in college in Mumbai preparations were on for the cultural festival, "Malhar". It was known to have been the biggest and most popular college festival on the circuit. Various dance teams were auditioning people for the competition that year. I found out that a guy in my class, Puneet, was on the dance team and was on it for the last two years as he was in junior college. So I asked him when and where the auditions were. At the auditions I met a guy Mario, who was also messing around with breaking and could freeze and do a worm!! Both of us auditioned and we got selected. That year I think we won second or third place . I can’t remember , but we became really popular among the ladies!!! We also became popular among other colleges . One of our competitors was Jai Hind college. One of the guys, Gautam Jeevan, approached me to say, "wassup!" as he was a popper and could do glides. I remember him doing foot glides and playing with nunchucks for their performance!!! Our college was unique in a sense that we had Bboys in our performance. Today if you go to Malhar or any college festival there is a Bboying event! Who knew?!

So that was definitely a talent to attract chicks. I began breaking more as I was motivated by the popularity and the female attention, especially coming from an all boys school. I was one of the few guys who had friends who were seniors and juniors as well. Eventually Mario and I became friends and we would practice in the common room or on empty corridors and try out new moves. I taught him whatever I knew at that time and he picked up really fast. At that time neither did we have an idea what direction this was going in, nor did we know that there would be a breaking scene in India like there is today! At that time the only other Bboy I knew was Mario. I didn’t hear of anyone else breaking until I was contacted by a guy Karan Gaonkar(Bboy Bunny) on Orkut. We linked up and Bunny came to practice with me in my college common room. Bunny was pretty dope at at that time and could do quite a few freezes. We stayed in touch online from time to time after that.

The Kundu Dance Company 

In my final year of college we were auditioning kids again and I was on the other side of the table this time; we had to select new member to fill the team. Also one of the event organizers who was a fellow student told us that she had found out about an American dancer whom she had arranged to choreograph part of our dance routine. This guy was Prosenjit Guy Kundu who was also known as Tony at that time. I met Kundu one evening and he was surprised to see that kids were breaking and he asked me where I learnt it. He taught us a lot of basic top rock and footwork , and choreographed a routine for Mario and me.So Malhar went off fine and we won second place in Streetdance, and received a gift hamper each from Lux containing loofa, body wash, shampoo, and gift voucher from Gap!! Mario was really excited, I think the most out of us! After Malhar I was invited by Kundu to session at his center where I met the rest of his crew: Vernon, Himanshu and Paddy. They were all Bollywood dancers. Paddy had been breaking for about a year and he had good flares, 90’s and hollow backs and he could flip as well. Yes! for all u guys who think that you were the first, there were guys breaking in 2003 and even before that. I was asked to do one show with the Kundu dance company- a tour for VHI with Mobb Deep. We had to do promotions and club performances with them and Whoo Kidd opened the tour. We performed at the JW Mariott in Mumbai and at this club called elevate in Noida.

One day when we were practicing at the centre a guy Venky showed up with his dad. His dad had brought him to Kundu as he wanted learn breaking. I remember that day Kundu told me to teach him a handstand. Venky’s dad arranged for private classes for him at his house, so Kundu and his girlfriend who is also a great dancer, Priya, used to travel there to teach him. Venky was into acting as well. His parents were very supportive of his acting and hobbies which is something I haven’t seen abroad as I’ve lived abroad and been to many countries for dance and just to travel. His parents sponsored a trip for him to New York for a month or so and with the help of Kundu’s contacts he got to practice with some of the best crew of New York like the Brooklyn Chaos crew . After the VH1 tour I was taken into the crew. We performed for a while until Kundu left India for quite some time. We did a few shows together but eventually the crew fizzled out. Kundu came back eventually but he travels quite frequently and gives workshops and teaches all over the world . My last year was coming to an end and I had some good experiences, made some spare cash through shows, so I moved to Bangalore with my mom.

New Crew , New ventures

When I was living with my mom and awaiting my results anxiously, she persuaded me to work for her company instead of sitting around and watching TV and hanging out with Heera as he was also living in Bangalore and working for Greenpeace(for the Bboys who don’t know what that is, it’s an Environmental NGO! So I joined her company Time Life. They made educational products for children between the age group of 0-12 and sold their product through agents. I was a direct selling agent! No car, no knowledge of Kannada which is difficult to do without if one were to use public transport for a sales job in Bangalore. I did several appointments but I think I made only one sale in a two month span, which fetched me a Rs. 5000 commission. It was good enough to fund my trip to Goa(with some college friends)which I made before collecting my college results. When the results came out I made a trip to Mumbai to collect my degree and the results. I had just missed the first division!!! Had I completed my Advanced Economic Theory paper I would have made it. It was too damn confusing, because it was my first exam, and when I got the question booklet, there were 4 options –old paper pattern, revised and two others . I didn’t know which one to attempt, neither did a whole bunch of guys at the examination center . By the time I figured out the right one I had already begun attempting the wrong question paper which was for the guys who flunked out last year!!! I made it, but barely. So after I collected my results I had a few days and I linked up with Mario and we organized a session at his crib in Borivilli. We invited Bunny and a guy called Sumeet Suvarna (Bboy Ninja) who wanted to learn breaking. He was a Bollywood stuntman and a mixed martial artist. We had a dope session where Ninja showed us a few martial arts kicks!

That same night I went to my cousin's house to have a few drinks and chill. While I was there she told her boyfriend Jaideep that I could break. He said, “Really! Can u show us a few moves?” At that time my belly was full of snacks and beer so I showed them a video of our Kundu dance show reel. He told me that his mom owned a school and proposed the idea of teaching kids. I took up the offer and mailed the video to him .

I returned to Bangalore to my mom and awaited a call from Jaideep’s mom who runs R.N Podar School. It is one of the elite schools of Mumbai. After I got a go ahead from the school I packed my bags and was glad to quit the job at Time Life . I moved back to Mumbai with 2 of my college friends, Alem Ao and Raghav Bhandari. I had a meeting with Jaideep’s mom Mrs.Bir, a very nice lady. The meeting was to discuss my remuneration and the age groups I was to teach. I proposed that I perform in front of the whole school and then see the reaction of the kids and from there decide what age groups to start with. I called Mario, Bunny and Ninja (Venky was in the states at the time) up and asked them if they could perform alongside me. They agreed and we did so, where I introduced them as my friends. I got a good reaction and 25 kids signed up for classes, so I had two batches whom I taught thrice a week in their sports hall. Having moved back in town the guys and I would meet frequently at my terrace and practice. Bunny and Venky were in touch frequently and they had decided to come up with an idea to form a crew. We met and thought of names like Tribal Technique (I came up with that as I was obsessed with Tribal gear at that tim. Bunny suggested Freak N Stylz so we went with that. The founding members were BUNNY , MARIO, VENKY , NINJA and I . Venky joined us when he got back from New York.

We would practice at least thrice a week. We would share our ideas for different moves styles. Venky told us about his adventures in New York and I told them about Heera who was my teacher. One of our first performances as Freak N Stylz was for a show on MTV called Crazy Sexy Cool.com at Saphire college. We battled some guys from another dance crew who were also messing around with breaking, and I gave a breaking tutorial in Hinglish. Some of the terminology and names of the moves were wrong as I had just started off, so we received some criticism for that from breakers abroad.

Bunny and Venky were in touch with Gautam, the guy from Jaihind college who I had met and saw him dancing with the nunchucks (my only memory of him). He and his girlfriend Ambarin had intentions of joining us too. We were apprehensive at first as we were a breaking crew and he didn’t really break. Ambarin Kadri(Bgal Amby) was also a good dancer who could dance hip hop and could pop. We sat on it for a while as I didn’t really know them but Bunny and Venky knew them better. Later on the guys showed me a video of Gautam and Ambarin performing at a college and they had announced themselves as Freak N Stylz Crew. I didn’t make much of it as I saw it as eagerness to join our crew so with a collective decision we invited them to join us.

 Amby wasn't the only girl in the crew , as I was in touch with Eden Shyodhi (Bgirl Phoenix) a friend of mine from college . She was in our crew for a short while and performed at a couple of gigs with us like the Auto Expo2008 and the launch of Ed Hardy, she left the crew for other commitments, but I would not her name to go unnoticed as many people wouldn't have heard of her in the scene today.

This is another show we did together on MTV called MTV U. There is footage from the very first show that we did( MTV crazy sexy cool.com).

My classes at Podar were going on fine and one of the kids, Abdul Shaikh, was really hyper. His energy level was high. He stuck on for quite a while as kids came and left and eventually the class was trimmed down to about ten. Shows also came along quite frequently as we were one of the first crews around. I networked quite a lot, went out to clubs and danced, and met a lot of people in the industry which lead to a lot of shows. At this time I missed Heera a lot and thought it would be great for him to come down to Mumbai and start something together. I convinced Heera by the beginning of 2008 to move down to Mumbai . He moved in with me and we started breaking classes together. We started the venture “Style Kings” and taught people from all walks of life such as aspiring actors, models, college kids and so on. We rented a hall on Carter Road where we had ample space and time apart from the batches where we could train ourselves. This was the point where my breaking skills really improved. Heera was my mentor and he taught me a lot of techniques and a lot of footwork and imparted a lot of his knowledge. Life was good at that time, money was good and we had time to ourselves too because we were running our own ventures. My Podar kids were doing fine and I would put on an annual show for the parents and rest for the school every year till 2009 when my contract ended. I invited Abdul to join the classes at Carter Road in addition to the school sessions as we saw huge potential in him. But after he paid his first month's dance fees, we took him as a friend and he just came to chill and practise with us. At a point Mario phased out of our crew as he wanted to focus on a career, and Ninja had some issues with us and he left too and formed his own crew .

While we lost a couple we gained three more Nishit(Remedy) who I had introduced to breaking in college, Gani, Sabha(Xample), and Wasim. How we met those 3 is interesting. They were part of a crew called Flying Machine, a Trombay based crew, all guys from the Cheeta Camp area (a military base not a zoo!). We battled them once at our centre on Carters, which was fun, but a couple of their main guys who held them together got jobs and they didn’t want the rest to quit so they proposed it to Gautam (ET) that we take them in. So the induction process was bboy style . We had to battle them 3 on 3 and choose who gets in. But of course our crew policy was that before this we get to know them and see how they gel in during practice, because a crew is a family not a team. After the battle we took em all!! So by around 2008 Freak N Stylz Crew was BUNNY (Karan), VENKY(A.V. Venkatesh), ET(Gautam), AMBY(Ambarin), REMEDY(Nishit), XAMPLE(Sabha), GANI ,WASIM, & ME(Simon). We all had our strengths and contributions. Because I was older and had my own place, I went out more and networked a lot. The other guys lived with their folks and didn’t go out much. Venky was the diplomatic one and the arbitrator whenever we had issues. ET had good contacts in the youth circle and was good at business. Bunny, Amby and ET ran classes in another studio too so thanks to both of us we had 2 centers. One from 12-4pm every day except Sunday and one from 5-9 pm on alternate days. We had good space, something most crews scavenge for.

Here's a clip of a battle with our arch nemesis Ninja and his crew "Team Most Wanted" at the Khar Centre .

We had many adventures as a crew performing all over the country on platforms such as Auto Expo 2008, launch of Ed Hardy India, and so on. We were on a reality TV show India’s Got Talent where we made it past one round before getting eliminated by celebrity judges. We featured in many magazines and newspaper articles. My career as a a dancer was at its peak. As a teacher I developed the skills dealing with different age groups, breaking down a certain move, etc. I did a lot of jobs freelancing as well. I can say that the Bboy I am today is because of Heera’s constant support and the experience with Freak n Stylz .

Venky had some serious health issues due to which he could not exert his body at all sometime in 2008 I think. That meant he wasn't around much after that.I had contracted the Malaria virus in late 2009 and was quite ill as my platelet count was very low which crippled me for almost a month. I was living alone at that time with a friend Thakur because Heera moved to Delhi . I had no option but to leave for Bangalore to my mom to recover because it was closer that my dad(in Dehradun). Little did I know that while I was away recovering the crew was undergoing some issues with a couple of members and when I returned ET, NISHIT & VENKY were on one side and the rest on another. This time I tried to play the arbitrator, but obviously I wasn’t good because the rest of us formed Roc Fresh on the 15th of December 2009 and the others remained as Freak N Stylz. Honestly I am sad that I didn’t succeed in bringing the crew together but I haven’t looked back ever since because Ive had an amazing journey with Roc Fresh comprising of BUNNY, AMBY, GANI, WASIM, XAMPLE, KIDD , ABDUL, NIKHIL & ME .