With over 210,000 viewers on Instagram and countless retweets on Twitter, Hula hooper Eshna Kutty’s video is trending on social media. “But my mother’s concern is I am wearing a not-so-nice sari,” laughs Eshna, over phone from Delhi.
This is the third in a series of videos where she is hooping in a sari and a pair of sneakers. This particular two minutes and 11 seconds video has her dancing to ‘Genda Phool’ from Delhi 6 , in a chocolate brown cotton sari and armed with a metallic blue hoop that matches her blouse. Her hair is a nonchalant mess as she does a set of casual moves and off body tricks.
“Initially, I was bummed because I was being an average hooper in the video. I was just having fun and not flaunting any skills. But now I think, that’s the reason it’s doing well,” says Eshna, who continues to receive a barrage of messages from people who want to try the same and feel the way she does: liberated and happy. The video, released on Wednesday night, went viral on Twitter a day later. “I wasn’t on Twitter but I finally made an account today,” the 24-year-old adds.
“The notion around saris have been that the wearer has to be proper and pin it up a certain way. But the goal here is to be comfortable and do what you want in it,” says Eshna, adding that this concept of hooping in a sari and sneakers had been in her mind since April, when she noticed a surge in interest in this hobby. She also conducts classes and workshops and most of her viewers are Americans and Europeans. Trending under #sareeflow, the idea came about as a means to engage more Indian audience. “I thought if I add an Indian element, people will be intrigued by it,” she says.
Eshna’s Indian student hoopers are now taking this trend forward by posting their version of the sari-sneaker-hoop dance. The numbers are growing by the day; the energy is, admittedly, infectious.
PICTURE CREDIT: Eshna Kutty
