Finding the Connection Between My Roots and My Art
By Aakash Phulwani
Born and raised in Tanzania, I pursued my undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering at Lehigh University and graduated in 2017. Right after, I took up a job in New York City as a Technology Consultant at EY. I now have moved my base to London.
Growing up, I was massively involved in sports and played a lot of cricket, football and badminton. I was always someone who liked to do it all so I found a way to manage my time well to be involved in a lot of activities outside of my academics. My involvement in dance was minimal as I only danced for certain shows during the year but never thought about actively training. However, when I moved to America there was a shift from sports to dance. With the weather not being friendly to the sports I played, I switched my focus to dance and started training myself a lot more seriously.
So dance became a strong passion of mine starting my first year of university and I continued with it even when I moved to NYC for my job. Dance became a creative outlet for me after my regular day job. I got a lot of happiness from just creating a lot of new content collaborating with other dancers learning and it also was one way for just keeping myself fit and active.
Growing up my biggest inspiration was Chris Brown and Hrithik Roshan. I used to watch a lot of their videos and learn. After training in New York, one of my friends gave me the idea of combining Afro Dance and Bollywood, which was basically two sides of my identity as an Indian from Tanzania, and that’s when AfroDesi was born. I noticed the gap between the Afrodance community and the South Asian dance community, so my goal was to bring them together and bridge that cultural gap. They’re both such vibrant cultures, and the music and dance from both sides complement each other so well. Two of my best friends Pranav and Ashoka got on board and we just decided to give it a shot and thankfully, people loved it. As part of my training in Afro Dance, my biggest inspiration is George and Kurtis from Homebros UK. I love the way they teach and share their knowledge and just how they put emphasis on feelings first in dance.
I connect to both my South Asian identity and my Tanzanian roots. I was brought up in a very Indian a household, so I’m very connected to my Indian culture and I’m very proud of it. It definitely means a lot to me to represent and promote it through my art.
Fitness is also something I believe is core to my lifestyle as a young adult. I started getting serious about my fitness at the age of 17 and started going to the gym. Over the years, I have learned a lot about my body and how it responds to different workouts and what kind of diet I need to maintain to be in shape. I have managed to train my mind very well to be disciplined about maintaining my fitness and making sure even if I go off track for a while, I can get back to it. I believe discipline is far more effective than motivation, and at this point working out and fitness is essential to my daily routine.
As a corporate guy, I do work a lot but I believe it is important to keep up with things that I am passionate about which allows me to become a well-rounded person. Despite of being involved in a lot of things, somehow I manage to find time to socialize. I firmly believe my body can do it all mainly because I live an active lifestyle, which helps keep up my energy levels as well as learn how to prioritize things that are important to me. I plan to keep up with everything I am doing for as long as I can live large and pulse forward.
Aakash Phulwani is a Pulse Brand Ambassador and dancer based in London, England. He is the co-founder of international dance group AfroDesi.
