大象传媒

Abdul-Rehman Malik, journalist and broadcaster

Chris, when I knew I was going to be in the same studio as the dance legend that is Darcey Bussell, I was instantly hit by memories of my own predictably embarrassing dancing misadventures.

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Of the many words I could use to describe myself, 鈥渆legant鈥� would not be among them. And a certain, elegance, is required when it comes to dancing.

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I remember my Grade 8 prom. Dressed in as fine a suit as my parents could muster, I spent most of the night asserting my right to sit down. I rebuffed every entreaty to join the dance.

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Finally, as the night was drawing to a close, I was forcibly dragged on to the dance floor. 鈥淐ome on Abdul!鈥� they roared. I didn鈥檛 know what to do, so I began to nervously hop up and down. They looked at me, shrugged their shoulders and started doing the same. We finished the night hopping around the darkened gymnasium. They dubbed the dance, 鈥淭he Malik Hop鈥�.听

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Darcy, I鈥檓 sure it would have received a rather low score on the Strictly scale, but my friends were terribly kind. I was dreadfully awkward.听

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I grew up with the poetry of the mystic Baba Bulleh Shah. Expressed in melodic Punjabi, this was the verse of a spiritual rebel. Railing against the empty pieties and hypocrisies of clerics, Bulleh Shah sought God in the back streets and the gutters. Amongst the ignored and the impoverished, he found a faith which healed, gave hope and above all offered joy.

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Overwhelmed by the beauty of it all, he was ecstatic. 鈥淵our love,鈥� Bulleh Shah exclaimed to God, 鈥渉as made me dance 鈥� dance like mad.鈥�

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I admit that I too in the gatherings of modern day mystics 鈥� and the odd wedding 鈥� have occasionally found my groove. I have learned to move without care for others, but to find in the words and music, a moment when my body moves to a divine rhythm.听

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My son loves to dance. He finds the beat quickly and like a live wire he begins to bounce about, twirl and whirl. He hums, whirrs and makes up his own words to the songs. If he catches my eye, he鈥檒l run over. 鈥淟et鈥檚 dance, Abba!鈥�

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