My Tango friends who make me smile

My Tango friends overseas are wonderful. Here is an example of our conversation which made me smile cheek to cheek.

Me: Oh! I miss milongas there. The quality dancers there. I am getting frustrated. I have my lovely students here, who are progressing so well and I have my own Tango community which is wonderful but I miss dancing with____, ___ and ____ there.
My Tango friend: It is OK. You just need pair of new shoes.

What my friend said was partly true but also what I said was so true. I love my students. We are doing so well together- classes, practicas, practilongas, milongas. I am just so proud of them. We are one big family. But having said that, I do crave to be back in Argentina soon.

Another conversation with another Tanguera

Me: Have you heard about this Tango teacher? Is she good? They claim she has 25 years of dancing experience.
My super advanced Tango friend from Argentina: That teacher with 25 years of dancing experience? If I dance like her after 25 years of experience, please come and shoot me.

And since then I have not stopped smiling.

Holi

Today is Holi. And as usual, it remained the same for me even this year. Read about it here.
It just meant that I had an off from work and could accomplish a list of my pending tasks.
Yes, I dislike holi and never dirty myself with colors. What is getting worse is witnessing every one's pictures on facebook where they are colored and look like ghost. Spare me the horror.
I had a nice fruitful day (except for the fact that right across my house, there was loud music playing of all holi songs- rang barse etc.- which was just so annoying).

Tcore for abs

Miss India robots

I watched Miss India show last night. These days I barely watch television. I have no time for TV anymore. No time for much socializing. No time to read newspaper (I read all news online). And I am certainly not interested in any crappy news with gossip.
Anyways, coming back to Miss India- My son just happened to be there with me for 2 minutes and made a comment, "what are you watching? Don't they all look alike? Every Delhi girl, these days looks like this." And I wondered, he was so right.
These days everyone has access to all the cosmetic procedures. Everyone wears designer clothes. Everyone looks so alike- like a robot. There is no real beauty. It is all plastic. They gave pretty much the same answers. It was so boring.
The need of the day is real persona with some substance and depth. That will make you stand out.
Uplift yourself. Learn new things. Have goals, interests, ambitions, passions. Do things that make you happy without thinking about what others would think about you. It could be most basic and humble thing, which others may think nothing about but means a lot to you. Things as simple and basic as cleaning your wardrobe, cleaning the house, cooking, or maybe dancing. You have to prove nothing to others. You do not have to do a thing that others are doing, to be in the same league. You do not have to do it because it brings you more money or makes you famous. You have to do it because it makes you happy.
Surround yourself only with like minded people. People who understand you, friends who are there for you, ready to help you. Not social butterflies.
Life these days is very challenging, demanding and can get depressing if you do not have your orientation right. You can be happy with small basic things and you can be miserable even with tremendous fortune, fame and success. Choose and decide wisely what makes you happy. And that choice and decision has to be made only by you and should not be based upon how others would react. It should not harm anyone. And if it makes you happy then there should be no stopping. Choose, decide and act wisely.
Most of the times we want to be seen where everyone else is- where there is a big crowd. And we feel like a looser doing things which others are not doing. But for once try doing what you like irrespective of the fact whether others do it or not, approve of it or not. Be where you want to be irrespective whether there is a big crowd or not. You feel so happy and contended and would be a person of substance.

My sketches

Flamenco

Yours truly learning flamenco. 

With me is my Spanish flamenco teacher.

I sketched

Tango plus clubbing

The whole of Tango group went to Lap for clubbing. 

I sketched

Success

Success is an attitude, it is not a phenomenon. When you agree to be bogged down, that is a sign of failure. Resist getting bogged down. You turn a lit candle upside down, the flame always goes up, it never goes down. In the same way, if we can have the enthusiasm to say, ‘I can make it’, that is what I consider a sign of success.

Me

If

Such a conflicting statements I heard from 2 friends today.

Friend 1- "Kiran I have to tell you something. Certain people are talking nasty things about you. I was surprised to hear them. They said, ....."

My reaction: Really? But what can I do about it? I am just leading my own life. I am not going to change. Nor am I going to confront anyone. Nor am I going to offer any explanation or justification to anyone. So nothing can be done. Let it be. I am happy in my own life.

Same day, within an hour

Friend 2- Kiran you are an inspiration to so many women. I give your example to everyone. I get courage seeing you. So many of us get motivated by seeing you.

My reaction: Really? But I just lead my life. I am what I am and will continue to remain what I am and will do what I do. I am happy with my own life.

The comment and compliment both did not affect me. 

Life has suddenly become super duper busy. I am neck deep in work and too much is happening. ( I am not complaining. Just stating). There is fitness work, teaching Tango, export of saris, coordinating with weavers and now I have also started manufacturing and export of Tango dresses and shoes.

Socializing has taken a back seat. Blogging too is sparse.

Of late, I have discovered that my one and only LOVE is Tango and everything related to Tango. It gives me so much joy that it is never a chore. It is something I look forward to. Whatever, I maybe doing, Tango songs are always playing in the back ground. (My fitness clients do not like that so much). I am humming those songs. I want to paint Tango paintings. Seeing the Tango dresses and shoes being made, makes me think of Tangueras who will wear them and look so gorgeous. I read books on Tango. Are you already getting sick of reading this blog post? Confession: I am obsessed and addicted and I am loving it. I have never been this happy. The Tango class that I teach gives me so much joy. I have always loved my fitness clients but my tango students are really special and dear to me. 

IF

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son! 

Rudyard Kipling

Saris for sale

Here is the newest collection of exquisite, handwoven saris. I have limited stock of single and unique pieces. These saris take lot of time to be made and there is more demand and less supply. I am unable to meet wholesale orders. To place your order-
Quote the blog. In this case it is- http://www.kiransawhney.com/2013/03/saris-for-sale.html
and the number written against each piece. Email me at
kiran.sawhney@gmail.com
The price is quoted in Indian Rupees.
I ship internationally.
Shipping charges are extra.

Please do not order from previous sari blogs. My pieces get sold fast and I am unable to reproduce them. I apologize, I have not been able to respond to your sale orders for previous sari blogs. Some of you have been impatiently waiting for me to put new pieces. But as I have expressed, I have limited supply and a demand that I cannot meet. I sell only through this blog. Kindly bear with me. 

1. Dhakai. All over Dhakai from Bangla Desh..

Rs. 9000/-

All over body.

2. Cream Chikan hand embroidery. Full Saree on mul mul

Rs. 9000/-

3. South Cotton. White and gold.

Rs. 15,000/-

4. Chanderi with tested zari- White, red and gold.

Rs. 5000/-

5. Chanderi. Cream red and black

Rs. 5000/-

6. Peach Chikan hand emroidered. 

Rs. 9000/-

7. Grey simple chanderi

Rs. 5000/-

8. Grey chanderi with roses

Rs. 5000/-

9. Gold chanderi sari

Rs. 11,000/-

10. Cream gold and silver chanderi sari

Rs. 10,000/-

I dislike pumps

Shoes set the personality. People choose shoes based on whatever they are going to do, whether it’s a sexy night out, a professional meeting, or a casual romp with my family. Shoes really do absorb your experiences. A shoe represents much more than comfort for the feet. It is such an intense form of expression that it can transform the person and their characteristics. It can create the most varied of attitudes, funny, childish, exuberant, austere, sensual, indifference and many other expressions. Shoes have soul. They express lightness, they annul time and take you in a trance; shoes are ornaments of bedrooms and bathrooms; shoes can be seen walking outside, along corridors, through the rooms and in all directions, expressing themselves and provoking emotions.

In shoes, there is one trend that I completely dislike ( you may call it "hate"). And that is pumps. They are ugly, bulky, heavy, atrocious and disgusting. Women get attracted to it because these probably give them a comfort of wearing high heel with elevated forefront. Today I saw this sale on Steve Maden and every shoe was a pump and each shoe looked abominable. This is precisely the reason, I never buy Christian Louboutin or Steve Maden or Aldo for that matter.

Stiletto should be dainty looking. For dancing and pivoting on the forefoot, I need zapatos that are flat from front and have the most gorgeous heels behind. Nothing ugly looking works. And yes, comfort cannot be compromised. When I look at pumps, I seriously look away in disgust just as I look away when I see meat. I dislike wedge heels as much. And wedges which have heels in front and back (block) look the worst. They are a perfect killer for the most gorgeous designer outfit.

I am a shoe lover. In all my trips overseas, I have brought back shoes. And I cannot even dare to disclose how many in each trip. I can truly and confidently say that Argentine's make the best shoes. Yes, they make of pure leather and I do not buy leather but they are happy to customize them for you in fabric or pleather. And we in India, make and wear the worst looking shoes.

Mate

I have never tasted tea or coffee in my life. But I got addicted to mate. Mate is a beberage commonly drunk in Argentina.

  In my next birth, I want to be born in Argentina ( and from a womb of a tanguera). 

I like the new pope

He is from Argentina, likes Tango and is very fashionable.

The Pope, wearing a fabulous vintage chiffon-lined Dior gold lame gown over a silk Vera Wang empire waist tulle cocktail dress, accessorized with a three-foot House of Whoville hat and the ruby slippers Judy Garland wore in the Wizard of Oz.

Pope Francis is a tango lover

Every Tango lover is rejoicing about this. It is interesting to read Tango addicts quotes on fb like the ones below:
Next  milonga at the Vatican.
11th commandment by Pope- Thou shall Tango daily.
News from NDTV, quoted here.

Vatican City: Pope Francis, the first Argentine to rise to the throne of St Peter, loves tango and danced to the passionate South American music in his youth.

"I like it a lot. It's something that comes from within me," Jorge Mario Bergoglio said in an extensive 2010 interview published in the book "The Jesuit," by Sergio Rubin and Francesca Ambrogetti.

In the interview, the then cardinal Bergoglio revealed himself to be a bit of a connoisseur of the history of the tango, the music that emerged from the poor barrios of Buenos Aires and Montevideo.


He said he was a fan of the great tango singers Carlos Gardel and Julio Sosa and the early 20th century orchestra of Juan D'Arienzo.

As a good pastor, he related the world of tango to that of religion in the interview, and expressed admiration for Ada Falcon, a famous tango dancer who left it behind to become a nun.

He also said he had fond memories of singer and composer Azucena Maizani.

"I gave Azucena extreme unction (in 1970). I knew her because we were neighbors," he said.

Of the more contemporary tango scene, Bergoglio said he admired Astor Piazzolla, the Argentine composer and master of the bandoneon who is considered one of the greats of 20th century tango.

"Do you know how to dance tango?" Bergoglio was asked.

"Yes, I danced it as a young man, although I preferred the milonga," he said, referring to the faster paced country music that was one of the early roots of tango.

The future pope said he had a girlfriend then, and they would go dancing together with a group of friends, but the romance ended "when I discovered by religious vocation."

El Besito milonga in New Delhi

El Besito is a new milonga started in New Delhi. Last time was the first milonga and I was the DJ there and also taught a premilonga class.

It is happening at a swanky location and I am so proud of New Delhi Tango school students who participated in the milonga with full zeal. More than anything else, I am proud of them.

This follower was in the milonga after taking 1 class from me.

Kiran Sawhney interview on Zee news

Kiran Sawhney interview on Zee news

Men and relationships

This is what Oprah had to say about men:

If a man wants you, nothing can keep him away. If he doesn't want you, nothing can make him stay. Stop making excuses for a man and his behavior. Allow your intuition (or spirit) to save you from heartache. Stop trying to change yourself for a relationship that's not meant to be. Slower is better. Never live your life for a man before you find what makes you truly happy. If a relationship ends because the man was not treating you as you deserve then heck no, you can't "be friends". A friend wouldn't mistreat a friend. Don't settle. If you feel like he is stringing you along, then he probably is. Don't stay because you think "it will get better"You'll be mad at yourself a year later for staying when things are not better.The only person you can control in a relationship is you. Avoid men who've got a bunch of children by a bunch of different women.He didn't marry them when he got them pregnant, why would he treat you any differently? Always have your own set of friends separate from his.Maintain boundaries in how a guy treats you. If something bothers you, speak up. Never let a man know everything. He will use it against you later.You cannot change a man's behavior. Change comes from within. Don't EVER make him feel he is more important than you are...Even if he has more education or in a better job.Do not make him into a quasi-god.He is a man, nothing more nothing less.Never let a man define who you are.Never borrow someone else's man.If he cheated with you, he'll cheat on you.A man will only treat you the way you ALLOW him to treat you. All men are NOT dogs.You should not be the one doing all the bending...Compromise is two way street. You need time to heal between relationships.. .There is nothing cute about baggage...Deal with your issues before pursuing a new relationship. You should never look for someone to COMPLETE you...A relationship consists of two WHOLE individuals...Look for someone complimentary.. .not supplementary. Dating is fun...even if he doesn't turn out to be Mr. Right. Make him miss you sometimes...when a man always know where you are, and you're always readily available to him - he takes it for granted Never move into his mother's house. Never co-sign for a man. Don't fully commit to a man who doesn't give you everything that you need. Keep him in your radar but get to know others. Scared of being alone is what makes a lot of women stay in relationships that are abusive or hurtful: Dr. Phil says You should know that: You're the best thing that could ever happen to anyone and if a man mistreats you, he'll miss out on a good thing. If he was attracted to you in the 1st place, just know that he's not the only one.They're all watching you, so you have a lot of choices. Make the right one. Ladies take care of your own hearts...

Another Tango evening in Delhi

It was a private party at plush and enchanting residence of a Tango friend in Delhi. There were flowers in full bloom in the garden, tea, snacks, drinks, lots of live food counters, live musicians and of course, Tango. It was a very pleasant evening and a very classy do.

The pictures below are shot by Maxie Cooper. She is from Mumbai and passionate about Tango and photography. She is an artist. I love the pictures she took. These pictures are copyright of Maxie Cooper and cannot be used without her permission.