When a 90s kid thinks pole dancing, Demi Moore in Striptease comes to mind. Those legs, those moves, that body… wow. Here and now, in Mumbai, when I come by to try a pole fitness class at Pole Burnt, Aarifa Bhinderwala’s passion project, I don’t even know what I am doing there. One look at Aarifa’s Instagram will show her flipping up and down light as a feather, her tall, lithe body perfectly toned. She’s sexy, she’s strong, she’s gorgeous. Me? I am half her height, and more than double her width. How am I even going to get on to this pole? Internally, I pray it’s tethered tightly to the floor.

Sunday mid-day editor Aastha Atray Banan limbers up the pole fitness rage, and comes away feeling up for any challenge