Save A Soul

Umesh Makarana is a dancer who lives in Charkop, Mumbai. He’s skilled in the dance form Krump and is practicing it for a couple of years. His dad passed away 13 years ago, and since then his mom Neeta Devi had been his whole world. Sadly, his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer recently and he cannot afford the treatment. Currently, Umesh alone is the sole bread earner of the family. He earns through cash prizes from dance competitions and battles.

To help and support Umesh, Siddhant Singh, Managing Director of ‘Sir J.P. High School’ (Kharodi, Malad), along with his college friends Pramod Saroj, Anukul Thete, Aziz Sisawala, Sarvesh Vayangankar, Gaurav Krishnan, Mihir Kansara, Tanaya Sane, Anuja Sakpal organised a fundraiser called “Save A Soul”. Pramod, a member of the famous dance group called ‘Khadihood’ is the reason this fundraiser came to the table for discussion. He decided use dance to help people and do good in the society. This fundraiser was in form of a dance battle including three styles:- Krump, Rep Your Style, Girls Rep Your Style. It was held on 7th November, 2019 at ‘The Talent Studios’ (Andheri). Gaurav’s father owns the studio and was generous enough to sponsor for this event as soon as he heard it was for a good cause.

About 50 people came to the event, 20-25 of them were dancers who particpated including Umesh. Few of them even participated in two styles. Rest of them were viewers. The judges for Krump were Rajiv Chakravorty (Killa B), Apurva Sawant (Slaughter); the judges for Rep Your Style were Deep Das (Deep Soul), Anushi Singh and Sairaj (Basick); and lastly the judge for Girls Rep Your Style was Anushi Singh. Before the battle started, the deejays JC and Ranjan Patel (Groove J) were giving some sick beats to the dancers to warm up till the judges arrived. After an hour or so, the emcee Bhupesh Sawant (Crazy Rock) started the event. It was a knockout battle and the event started with Rep Your Style, followed by Girls Rep Your Style and ended with Krump.

All the dancers gave excellent performances. The competition was so intense that the judges had a hard time deciding the winners. In Krump, the winner was Saurab Banerjee (Bleed) and the runner up was Pranil Ghadge (Wolcano); in Girls Rep Your Style, the winner was Dhara; and in Rep Your Style, the winner was Mohit Jain (360) and the runner was Harsh Parmar (Improper). The organizers and the judges awarded the winners with trophies. The emcee said some kind words for Umesh and Umesh thanked everyone for coming and supporting him. And lastly, all the judges were given a thank you gift and the event ended with a feeling of goodness and warmth.

7th November was a day full of talented dancers, laughter, love, positivity and all of that for a good cause. Sir J.P. High School thanked Khadihood for their constant support for this event and also thanked The Talent Studios for sponsoring the venue. A group of non dancers coming together to help someone from the dance community shows that we can achieve anything with love and respect despite our differences.

– Anukul Thete