Women Lines

Nidhi Mehta is the founder of BollyBeatz in Singapore and is a Professional Dancer/Performer/Teacher & Choreographer with over 10 years experience in the dance industry. Nidhi Mehta is an irresistibly energetic fitness personality and choreographer who has pioneered the introduction of BollyArobix dance to the forefront of fitness with her series of unique and intense workout’s. She has also successfully created dance routines for music videos, cultural festivals, corporate workshops and concerts utilizing her knowledge of Bollywood, Indian classical dance, salsa, hip-hop, and other dance forms.

Nidhi in action!

1. Please share about Bollybeatz?

Nidhi: BollyBeatz is a Bollywood Dance Instruction school. I started it in 2002 in Bay Area, California, USA. There I ran operations in the name of Stepz! Dance was always a passion since school days. But as most of us, I completed my MBA and got a job with McKinsey and started working in a corporate. Its only after I got married, I quit my job and then Dance happened to me. It was not planned or even a remote thought in my mind. It was all by chance and accident! I guess some things are just meant to be!

2.     Please share about your various performances and performances by your students. How many years you have spent in Singapore and how you feel about it? What are the main challenges you faced while opening your school? 

Nidhi: I started the dance school in USA, sold it in 2005 and moved to India. I started BollyBeatz in Chennai , India and it did very well till I moved to Singapore in November 2007. Since then I have been here. I don’t know where my next stop is – but I am looking forward to it! I love Singapore – the people are very health conscious and fitness freaks. They enjoy my style of teaching and are quite dedicated. We have performed at the Ms India-America Pageant in USA, at Stanford University, various competitive shows, shows for non-profits.. in Singapore we have been a part of the Dans Festival at Esplanade.

I have been fortunate that things worked out quite smoothly when I started my company. There have been hiccups like coming across some people you have trusted to be your instructor and who have copied your routines and tried to use it as their own. They put a bad taste in your mouth – but I personally feel – there are enough good people out there.

3.     Do you think you can dance for the sake of movement without any meaning or emotion in it?    

Nidhi: Yes – dance is about music and rhythm. You don’t have to understand the language of the music or its meaning to enjoy and dance to it.

4.     How would your life be if you weren’t a dancer?                                                         

Nidhi: I would be in a corporate – probably a management consultant or in marketing.

5.     If you had to choose one kind of dance, what would it be?

Nidhi: Bollywood coz it blends various forms of dance styles into it. What I do and teach is a fusion is Latin Dance, Jazz, Hip Hop, and Belly dance!

6.    What did you sacrifice to get where you are today? What do you think got you this far?(source of motivation) 

Nidhi: I didn’t sacrifice anything for what I have achieved. Yes, maybe my fulltime job in McKinsey, but I am happy about it! I am happy that I quit my job and recognized this opportunity that came my way and grabbed it. I also feel it was destined for me to do what I am doing today. I believe a lot in Karma, Destiny and Luck!

My work has helped me create the perfect work-personal life balance. I do all my admin work from home so I am around when kids need me.

What has got me so far is my perseverance, my husband’s support and my survival skills – coz I have moved 3 countries in 10 years and replicated the same model with success, franchised it and moved on! I don’t get afraid of change. I embrace it as a new opportunity for me to grow!

7.     How do you feel teaching dancing to students? Do you want to share something about your students or any other incidence related to Bollybeatz? 

Nidhi: I love teaching dance. It’s a very satisfying experience to see people who have very low confidence in their dancing skills come to me to learn and then I see them open up, absorb and their stamina increases, steps and flexibility improves and they become great movers & shakers.

 Someone in the USA had wanted to join my classes and had been in the waitlist for 4 months. Suddenly, one day a spot opened up and I called her to see if she wanted to join and she did! Later when we became good friends she wrote me a note saying that she had got laid off from her job after 10 years of working in that company. That’s the day I called her to join the class and she contemplated if she should join or not coz it was an expense she could avoid at this point. But she nevertheless said yes and signed up for the class and she said to me that it was the best decision she took. It helped her to stay out of depression and from being sad. It helped her find a new circle of friends whom she could connect with and dance made her happy!

8.    How do you dance: with your mind, with your soul, with your body or with your heart?

Nidhi:I dance with my heart, body and soul. There are times I have danced with a muscle pull and once the music comes I get so carried away that I forget the pain and dance and of course after class I am dying in pain! I have never missed a class. Even with 100 fever I have taken a painkiller and done my class coz it’s a commitment!

9.    What are your future plans and vision for Bollybeatz?

Nidhi: I plan to start various other forms of dance fitness modules under BollyBeatz and concentrate strongly on the dance fitness element that we provide. We plan to start partnerships and open franchises in various other cities to empower others who love to dance and enjoy teaching take this opportunity to do and create something big with their passion.

10. Message for womenlines readers and other women.

We are blessed that we are women. We have the capability fo multitasking. Some of us do have the luxury of staying home and pursuing our passion and make a career out of it. If that’s an option that you have been given and you are just staying at home . Take a look inside. Look at what you see yourself doing and try and start somewhere. Believe in yourself! I have recently launched a website www.supermompreneurs.com read some of the profiles – they are truly motivating and awe inspiring!

 Visit http://www.bollybeatz.com to know more about Nidhi and Bollybeatz!

Samantha Wong is the Chairman for Sengkang Woman Executive Committee, in Singapore.

Confident, pleasing, helpful, a woman with a big heart, Ms Wong has dedicated herself for the work for women in the neighbourhood Community Club.

Womenlines will love to report about Ms Wong who is dedicated to her job to do goodwill for womenfolk around, through various activities and support of the Community Club.

She is a Singaporean and whole heartedly she is putting up efforts to integrate immigrants in the local society by supporting various events like Dazzling Divas, new immigrants’ gathering,etc.    She is involved in community activities for last 20 years. She is very passionate about reaching out to new immigrants in Singapore and integrate them within the local society. Dazzling Divas , organized last year was one such event which was based on Bollywood songs and dance theme. Ms Wong relates very easily with women of different races, this was quite visible in Dazzling Divas as she dressed herself in Indian attire, which helped in bringing comfort level between her and Indian group. This event helped to bring various immigrants, basically Indians and Singaporean ladies on one platform and have fun together. She herself enjoys meeting women from different races and motivates them to explore their things of interest. Ms Wong has supported many ladies to start various interest groups like Dragon Boat group, book reading group, Fitness groups, Morning walk group and many others which help ladies to pursue and enjoy their hobbies with like minded people.

In her 20 years span of experience in the community she has seen various phases of its growth. She remembers, in early days it was difficult to outreach immigrants as they were very close knitted group. She is grateful to the Community Club for supporting her through various grants and other helps to organize different activities in the centre. Some activities like helping out in the MP’s meet-the-people session every week and helping residents with their problems is really fruitful.

Ms Wong wants to involve more women in the Community Club’s activities. She considers the Community Club as an excellent platform to carry out various activities of one’s interest. Ms Azeeza Jalaludeen, member of Sengkang WEC is a big fan of Ms Wong and she considers her to be a very good mentor who is very creative and innovative and who has different ideas for empowering women.

Hats off to Ms Samantha Wong for her endeavor in field of women empowerment and emancipation.

Neha

Neha Modi Banthia and Preety Agarwal, together formed “Sparkz”, a very new IDEA for kids activities.

Sparkz deals with party affairs-decoration, games, entertainment, etc. Main focus is to keep kids busy in some creative work while their mothers can enjoy the party fully.

Neha’s background includes an MBA from a premier Institutes in India. At present she is working for an MNC in Singapore. Her zest to be an entrepreneur and her inclination towards Art and Craft made her to work on this line.

Preety is from finance background and is a Chartered Accountant and Company Secretary. She has worked with Tata Steel (one of the largest steel manufacturers of the world) for more than 6 years. But underline their always lied a zeal to become a successful entrepreneur which turned on when this concept came in her mind. 

The success story and life of two females who hail from very small towns in India (Giridih, Jharkhard and Hind Motor, West Bengal) is putting wave among those parents who want to enjoy and socialize freely in Parties and Get-Together.

How the idea came into existence?

Neha feels two incidents in her life made her to work on this line:

Incidence One – During her childhood, her mother use to go for Kitty Parties. During one of the party at home, a lady bought her daughter along with her. Neha was in Class X and was working on a project given in the class. The kid helped her in completing the project and lady was quite satisfied since Neha kept her child busy and she had a nice time enjoying the party.

Preety

Incidence Two – Sometimes back Neha attended a cousin’s marriages in India. Her cousin sisters were having difficult time managing there naughty kids along with the marriage ceremonies. She was preparing home made envelops (typically used in India to give gift in terms of money) for the marriage. She again used the same style to keep the kids busy with her and let her cousin sisters enjoy the marriage fully.

These two incidents made Neha realize that parents especially women really find difficult to enjoy parties as they have to take care of their kids in the parties too.

Preety is a mother of 4 year old very naughty kid. She tries her own ways to keep his son busy in creative activities apart from his daily routine. She understands the problem faced by mothers during such parties as she herself faces the same in any of the get-together. She has learned while upbringing her son how to be patient and to make them comfortable by enjoying various activities at the same time.

The very recent activity held by the duo was at Mandarin Garden Condo in Singapore Diwali Party where they arranged Deepavali  Diya making activity by kids. Their efforts were appreciated by the crowd. The best thing turned out was both parents and kids went happy home: the kids having their own hand made diyas in hand and parents having nice time enjoying the party without being concerned about their kids…………………..and this is what their motto is.

In their near future they see themselves  coming with different ideas for events where mothers can enjoy freely keeping their kids involved with us. They will try to keep their activities in a way such children have learning as well as creative session. They have plans to expand and enter into event management mainly arranging parties for adults as well kids. Their responsibility will start from arranging the place, decoration, entertainment, games etc. Their motto is to try their  best to keep everybody entertained and enjoy and make every moment a memorable one.

Best of Luck to Sparkz to spread their Spark around!

Beauty with brains, this thought comes across your mind when you meet Murshidah Said!

Beauty with Brains

Murshidah Said is an independent speaker and adviser of grooming, corporate image and personal empowerment and transformation for individuals and corporations. A graduate of the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and Sociology in 1993, Murshidah runs successful businesses for more than 10 years expanding throughout Asia that teaches entrepreneurship to teenagers and adults. She has over 5 years of personal grooming and personal image training experience to teenagers, corporate executives and government level executives. She also owns a convention organising and event management company and has organised over 150 projects spanning the Asia Pacific region (including Hong Kong, Seoul, Beijing, Sydney) since 1993.

Murshidah’s passion is to help people look great and feel great by gaining more self-confidence and attraction through motivation, inspiration and proper advice on inner and outer personal image. She is often invited to speak at conferences and be an emcee at events. Murshidah’s courses address the importance of education for the WHOLE BEING, ie incorporating the interconnection of body, mind, heart and spirit. Even the skills based programmes she conducts include the emphasis on the spirit which is hardly addressed in most corporate and management trainings. She emphasizes on principles-based practices in her courses. Murshidah is a regular speaker at conferences and is currently working on her first book. When working in a multinational exhibitions organizing company in 1995, Murshidah was the youngest appointed Conference Manager heading the Asia Pacific Conference Department team in less than a year.

After 13 years in the events and conference organizing industry, Murshidah went on to discover her passion of empowering people and helping them to excel in their life. After overcoming major financial and emotional challenges during business difficulties in 2002-2005, Murshidah started working with individuals as a personal coach to coach and empower them to take personal action to transform themselves and their lives.

In 2005, Murshidah was trained and certified to be a beauty workshop specialist and since then has been conducting grooming, skincare, personal care and makeup programmes to many corporations, institutions and individuals alike.. Some of her clients for personal grooming and makeup include Sheraton Imperial Hotel, Westin Hotel, Pan Pacific Hotel, Marina Mandarin Hotel, Damansara Specialist Hospital, National University Hospital of Singapore, Tawakal Hospital. Between the years 2005-2007, she has also trained teenagers from the Secondary Schools in Singapore on proper grooming and etiquette, how to gain confidence and public speaking skills as well as given talks of having a healthy lifestyle.

Murshidah plays role of businesswoman, and many more with such perfection that you are forced to admire her. It’s her passion to create a niche for herself, which keeps her going on forward on the success trail. When asked about the source of her motivation she says that “My Daughter is my source of motivation and I want to give her the best.I want to leave a legacy and empower one person everyday in my life”.She further shares “Its not necessary you are always on the success path only. Your real test comes when there is a down phase in your life and if you pass out that phase successfully then only you are the winner in real term. So never loose hope in life and whatever you do, do it with passion. Success will always follow you!”

An avid traveller and adventurer, she has explored Europe, Middle East, South Africa, USA, Asia Pacific and Australia alone on a backpack as well as with a small group of like-minded friends. Murshidah is resourceful and jovial and participants of her workshops are guaranteed of lively and fun sessions where they learn to expand their social skills and perform beauty and life makeovers. Her love for learning, colours, music, dance and movies are brought into the workshops that she conducts.

Womenlines hats off to Murshidah for celebrating womanhood in real terms in life!

Shivali Mathur, a mother, home manager and an artist!

Womenlines introduces Shivali as entrepreneur of the month because of her extraordinary skills and achievements. Her story is motivating to all those aspiring ladies who want to create niche for themselves and also want to look after their family while managing their work from home.

Shivali is a commercial art artist. She is a Commercial art diploma holder from Jaipur college. She says that she never planned her career. She wanted to pursue modern office management but got admission in commercial arts. She was not aware

Woman who fills colours in everybody's life

at that time that she had taken a right decision for herself. She started her career in field of arts by taking art classes for kids in home. When she shifted to Singapore then her career graph started taking positive turns. She started making her own paintings. Once her little one had grown up, in 2005 she started taking drawing and painting classes in Singapore. That time she got a chance to participant as an Indian Artist in South Asian Art exhibition. There she got introduced to Temple of Fine Arts, Singapore and participated in three of the Dance India Taste India events organised in Singapore by them. She is also involved to promote Indian Art with India Tourism Board in Singapore at many of the events organised by them. Ang Mo Kio GRC also invited her to exhibit her art work at ‘Rhythms In Unity 07′. Along with all these activities, she also started conducting kids holiday workshops, kids birthday crafty workshops, art workshops for kids and ladies. Mind you ladies, her classes are not just only for kids and youngsters.Students of all age groups and from different walks of life come to her. She has students from age 50 to young as 4 years old. Some working women have also come to her to learn painting as they enjoy doing it and find it easy way to relax  themselves. Recently, she also got an opportunity to exhibit her art work and conduct workshop at ‘Celebrating Womanhood’, an event organised at Suntec, Singapore. Visit http://www.shivaliart.com/index.php to have a look at her work.

At present she has joined Global India international School as an Art and Craft CCA teacher and as a teacher for the Indian Club In Singapore Management University(SMU). In SMU, she is teaching various type of Indian paintings like Madhubani, Warli, Miniature paintings.

This path of her career has been built up by her hard work and dedication. In the meanwhile she became mother twice. She managed moving with her husband from one place to other, and is managing her home with a touch of art in it!

Its really aspiring ladies. If you have some art in your hand then don’t get it go waste!

You never know how God can help you out if you work with true dedication and integrity!