About Me — Nidarshana Sharma

I love to write, explore, and bring a smile to people’s faces.

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Image of the author from her trip to Ljubljana

I turned 33 this year. So I thought the best way to introduce myself would be through 33 interesting (and many boring) facts about myself.

1. I was born in New Delhi, the capital city of India, and lived there for the first seven years of my life. If you live in India, you probably know that the city has had it rough for the last few years with pollution levels breaking records every winter and public (especially women’s) safety being questioned. But, every time I’m in Delhi, I feel a tug in my heart.
2. I was once kissed by a random boy in my class. He caught me unaware and I felt pretty humiliated about it back then. Now, it’s a half-funny memory, if that.
3. I was a nerd in school and I thought that was the way to be. I also was a know-it-all and left no unturned in making others feel bad about the things they didn’t know. But, I got better when I saw how flawed my thinking was and how academically weaker students were making it big in their lives.
4. Though I was a nerd, I was/still am a kickass dancer. I had a brief career in Zumba and dance fitness in my twenties.
5. Growing up, I was very close to my maternal grandfather. He would tell me stories of his travels and share little pieces of history. He was the one who helped me like history. He was also the one who bought me my first mobile phone.
6. Though I’m from Tamil Nadu, a state in South India, it wasn’t until three years ago that I started to live here. All my life I’ve lived in other cities. But that helped me learn new languages and make friends from other parts of the country.
7. My first job was at Google. I was a campus hire and one among just 4 girls who were chosen over 300 others. That moment when I received a call from them is still one of the best ones of my life.
8. My love for dancing and a subsequent career in it came calling and I quit my job at Google (people still ask me why) to pursue it.
9. I’ve helped thousands of people dance away and burn calories. It was one of the most gratifying jobs.
10. I used to organize dances at weddings and have also danced at a couple of my clients’ weddings.
11. I love movies. I’ll watch any genre, except horror.
12. I love driving.
13. I’m a family gal. I have very few friends.
14. I worked as a waitress at an Indian restaurant in Melbourne. It was weird to start off with because there is such a clear demarcation of class in India and there is little to no dignity of labor, but I soon learned that wage standard means anybody can work any job as long as they have the skills or are willing to learn them.
15. I’ve always thought of myself as the archetypal ‘hopeless romantic’.
16. In one of my jobs, I lent my voice to many training videos. Now, I’m quite confident that I could be a voice-over artist if all else fails.
17. I want to be able to meditate every day. I have tried at least five or six times but I fail to make a habit of it.
18. I used to be terrified of dogs as a kid and one fine day, my fear went away thanks to my friend’s golden, Coffee. I will write another story about that.
19. Once, my childhood friend almost beat my brother up because he threw a pebble on my face in front of her.
20. When I was a child, I wanted to be a doctor because I thought I would always want to study.
21. I’ve tried my hand at network marketing. It was a difficult path to choose but I wanted to get out of my comfort zone. In hindsight, I don’t think it was a very wise decision.
22. I used to be vegan. In fact, I used to be a very aggressive vegan. I’m glad I still have friends, in spite of that.
23. A book that changed my mindset was ‘The Secret’.
24. I’ve done a 10k run twice. Once, I walked, and the second time I ran the entire 10 km. It was one of the shiniest moments in my life.
25. I’m not very great with kids but gave dance classes to toddlers for two whole years! Again, wanted to get out of that comfort zone.
26. All my life, I thought I would marry a long-term boyfriend. But I ended up meeting the love of my life and my husband on a matrimonial site.
27. I hope to make a full-length feature film, someday.
28. I would like to think of myself as a little bit of a relationship geek. In my twenties, I would dole out relationship advice by the dozen. It worked because sometimes people sought me out.
29. Some of my favorite subjects are history, psychology, fitness, and weirdly personal finance (I’m no expert at it).
30. I am a little hydrophobic but I’m actively working on changing that with some swimming lessons.
31. I am terrified of lizards and feel shudders down my spine when I see them.
32. I love yoga, running, dancing, and skipping. I love movement.
33. I got married during the pandemic and most of my friends missed my wedding. Still, we had 150 guests at the wedding, which to most Westerners would seem normal but for us Indians, it’s just 10% of what could have been the attendance at a regular wedding.

So, that’s me!

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