Mumbai: The B-boy who crossed over for dance battle

Winners never quit quitters never win and Ramesh Anand Yadav aka Bboy Tornado is a living embodiment of that maxim After facing initial rejection when he started off as a breaker the technical term for a break dancer seven years later the 21yearold has now emerged victorious in Red Bull BC One Cypher India 2019 the countrys premier Bboying competition held last weekend It qualifies him to represent the nation at the World Finals in November which will be held in Mumbai We speak to Yadav post his winEdited excerpts from the interviewHow did your journey as a Bboy beginI belong to the slums And when we have birthday parties or weddings in our neighbourhood in Mankhurd there is always a DJ invited to play with Bboys dancing to the music That inspired me to take up dancing I was 14 back then but when I met these dancers and said that I want to learn from them they gave me a whack and shooed me away They werent interested in teaching me But there is a big gutter near my house across which these Bboys would practise And for one straight month I stood on the opposite side of that nullah and copied all their moves after following them with keen attention Finally one day they asked me to cross the gutter and told me Aa jao tumko bhi sikhate hain Thats how it all beganYadav extreme right with the Flying Machine crewWhat do you think are some of the problems that the Bboying community in India facesThe first thing is that the government here does nothing to support us If say the authorities sponsor foreign trips for Bboys and Bgirls a lot can happen since we will learn from the best and people abroad will realise that our country has a breaking community as well Or the government could also help us with the events we organise locally The underground jams we host attract 500 to 600 members and cost us around 6570000 including payments for winners judges and renting the hall But if the authorities put in that money we can make the events even bigger and call judges from other countries who would give the locals a perspective on the scene abroadThe second thing is that people in India still dont know that breaking is a form of dancing They think its a stunt form And even if you see reality shows youll find emcees who say that a participant will perform Bboying along with his or her dance routine which indicates that they too have the same misconceptionWhat are some things that you find encouraging about the Bboying communityThe people who are part of it are all really peaceful We are always training one another and there is a real sense of community We have underground battles and its only during the course of one that we consider each other enemies But as soon as it finishes we are all friends once againBboy Tornado is declared the winnerWhere does your crew practiseIm part of a crew called Flying Machine and we practise in the underground portion within Juinagar station in Navi Mumbai Its a local train station but nobody ever comes to that section which gives us the privacy we needWhats your longterm plan with dancingI want to be a Bboy all my life Ive lost my father and am on my own I have a dayjob as a technician who does Dish TV fittings for households I havent made any definite plans and am now just going to pursue both my job and dancing But the aim is to travel abroad and take part in international competitions to improve myself as much as I canCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates