I am posting this real story of breaking gender stereotypes under the tag #kbcPinkooShergill contest.
Who has said that being graceful is meant only for girls? Well, I realized it when I first saw “BOYS” at my daughter’s ballet academy. You heard it right, BOYS doing ballet. I thought,
“Mera desh badal raha hai aur soch bhi!”
There’s no doubt that girls are stepping into any field, but being raised in India, boys are still being instilled patriarchal things as boys should not dance like girls. They are boys meant for tough fields and not for these delicate dance forms.
I forgot about these boys as days passed. Being a mother to a ballerina at home, my Search engines and YouTube always recommend information related to ballet. So, once while going through YouTube, I saw a boy who struggled to get into English National Ballet School of London.
KAMAL SINGH, a son of a rickshaw driver. He was outstanding in football and taekwondo like any other tough boy. But he was dreaming of a totally different field. His inspiration was a Bollywood movie, ABCD. Then without looking back, he gave his first trial class at a Delhi-based ballet school. Soon, his coach found him exceptional compared to other students. He also turned down scholarships from a Russian ballet school because his eyes were on London ballet school.
The real struggle started when financial constraints were holding him back. But his coach made an online fund-raising campaign and finally, he flew to London. Now he has totally involved himself in the training.
People trolled him saying he is spoiling India’s culture, called him gay and what not. But this boy broke all the gender stereotypes and he is way beyond this patriarchal society. He has set an example that even being a BOY he has all rights to choose an unconventional profession.
Ballet is still developing dance form in India, but this boy already made headlines with his choice of passion.
