I did my first Bollywood dance class last week which was exhausting yet fun. As a desi, most of the songs were familiar except the seeti maar (whistle) song. When I tried watching the Salman Khan song afterwards, I was put off by the crude steps but more impressed by the instructor.

It felt awkward dancing with a bunch of strangers but the instructor was a pro. She made sure I felt included by introducing me to the class and remembered my name at the end of it. At the start, she’d play each song for a minute or so and tell us what steps to expect before playing it again.

The steps were simple enough for me to follow and we acted out a lot of the lyrics using hand and facial gestures. At seeti maar, we mimed whistling, at moochon ko thora round ghuma ke, we twirled our imaginary moustaches, we pretended to drink lassi, point at a pimple and so on.

With the steps, we did a bit of bhangra, thumkas, the twist and all that you can expect with Bollywood. A few songs in, I’d forgotten I was in a room full of strangers.

I was grateful for the short break at the end of each song where I’d mop my sweat and have a sip of water. Soon enough, the hour was up. The instructor told us to wear festive colours for next week and took a group selfie which was surprising but somehow fit in with the weekend vibe at the gym.

Tomorrow I’ll be going in again for the last dance class of the year.