How do you heal a community through dance and not feel like an impostor?

‍In 2014, Jignal was a fourth year medical student with a passion for dance and community. She sought to help out others through creating Arogya Mantra - a charitable trust board that would govern Aaja Nachle; a community dance school that also offers up free medical screenings during classes and community events. Initially started as a project with other med students; Jignal drove to Auckland from Hamilton every weekend to devote her time to teaching members of her community to dance and look after their health.

This interview is dear to our heart because Cheerag, Jignal's husband reached out to us saying that we have to interview his wonderful wife because, and I quote "she has MAD imposter syndrome." He thought it would help other young ethnic girls hear from her. And darn, we are so glad he reached out... 😊

What inspired you or called you to becoming a doctor? (They say that there's a 'calling' for people in medicine, did you hear that call?)

I have wanted to be a doctor for most of my life, but I can’t say I knew what the job entailed beyond helping others and working within science. I genuinely learnt more about the profession during the pre-med year at uni and am still learning as I move through different roles in medicine. I am lucky my personality and personal values align with the qualities required to enjoy the job.

What do you feel inside of yourself when you dance and when you teach others how to dance?

I love dancing. It makes me so happy. I cannot imagine a world without music and dance. It has played such a big role in my life. I grew up doing ballet, rhythmic gymnastics, jazz, bharatanatyam, contemporary and Bollywood dancing. It was my escape from reality and taught me how to persevere and work hard. I have learnt, and continue to learn so much thanks to dance. It is hands down the best gift my parents could have given me!

Though I do not teach dancing any more, I really enjoyed it! It is incredibly fulfilling to empower someone else with your knowledge and let them then pass that love and passion onto others. 

I really value being able to express my ideas through dance as use this as a teaching tool. When I used to teach our youngest students, the ideas we would explore through dance acted as ‘lessons’ for the students, i.e our story line for the dance performance may have been about hard work, challenging typical Bollywood love stories or celebrating friendship. One of my first story dances was about dancing with your friends rather than doing your homework and taking part in pooja! There are many opportunities to relate their work back to life and create beautiful ‘life lessons’ out of their dance lessons (does life imitate art or art imitate life? I love that old philosophical question...).

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Tell us about the dance school! So how's it all going now?

The dance school has grown and continues to grow every year. It’s a social enterprise and is governed by the charity Arogya Mantra. It blows my mind that we are finally at a stage where it runs itself. I used to hope and dream that it would one day stand on its own two feet like this, providing opportunities for employment, empowerment and of course culture and art - we are finally here!

We have a model in which we can use dance as a tool to foster health, culture, and our kiwi migrant perspective in a manner which is sustainable and community led. I think when you put this much hard work and soul into something, it's bound to succeed.

The two organisations have grown beyond myself and anything that we have achieved is a direct result of the hard work our dedicated team of teachers, students, managers and well wishers put into the school, the charity and their community.

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Let’s talk about impostor syndrome - almost everyone we’ve interviewed felt like they were not good enough or didn’t fit in some way. It’s quite a shocking reality that all of you amazing people can feel that way - yet it’s reassuring that we are all having a very human experience! What’s your relationship with impostor syndrome? ‍

I used to feel anxious and out of place from time to time when I first starting working as a junior doctor and the dance school was growing in popularity... I did not understand this was imposter syndrome at the time. Even though I was doing it and flourishing, deep down I thought it was not possible to have success in both these areas and maybe there was a mistake. There were no role models doing both medicine and charity/dance.

I have done a lot of work on myself to pick up on these thoughts and stop them. I have also come to accept it is a result of the sexism and racism that exists in our world. We must actively unlearn it. Imposter syndrome is like a silent manifestation of all the harmful messaging and bias towards various groups of people in society. You do not give it permission to affect you nor do you agree personally with any of these messages but it infiltrates your subconscious. Scary!  

I have an amazing mentor: Veena Joshi (she is the chairwoman of our school and charity). She’s tough, gutsy and I have utmost respect for her. I have said some stupid things around her when I was in my early 20’s, for example ‘we should get a guy to say that, because they won’t listen to girls’. I am sure that kind of thing would have been infuriating but she has always reorientated me to take back my power and not undermine myself despite the challenges of running an organisation within a very hierarchical and patriarchal community...

We have had similar experiences with people not wanting to give you time or just being plain rude as you are a young coloured female. She’s very straightforward and honest with me, and validates why we are more likely to develop these ‘imposter’ like feelings. I hope I can be just as great a mentor to others, as she has been to me!

I think you need to recognise imposter syndrome when it emerges, dive into your support network, talk about it and then try and work through it. I have found most of the people I look up to have felt this way at some stage in their lives.

I do not think it means you are weak, cannot handle the workload or responsibility. It’s just a sign that we are humble humans living in a modern world with a lack of representation thanks to racism/sexism! I am glad these issues are being made more apparent and platforms like Storyo contribute to this much needed change (:

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Do you have any recent ponderings on the things you want to see in this world?

So many ponderings! My top 5 would be:

• Dance is just as important as math and science. Why do we underestimate dancers and dance education? Truly appreciating and mastering dance requires just as much intelligence as you must exercise for conventional subjects like math, science and english. 
• We must empower our youth. Young people are our future and should be encouraged. I am so optimistic about the future because we have a generation of absolute superstars in the making! Stop with the barriers and subliminal biases – give them a platform and help them grow.
• Governments, businesses and PEOPLE need to invest in community led, grass roots initiatives. Appreciate the stuff that works and the models that are sustainable and celebrate them! We know so many awesome groups in the wider Asian, Pacifica, Māori and migrant circles sharing the same kaupapa as us, but unfortunately they have limited resources and cannot continue their awesome mahi as you can only keep volunteers engaged for so long. 
• Global citizenship is an important concept that needs to be taught in schools. I find it fascinating that many don’t see beyond themselves or understand this notion of the ‘cosmic lottery in life’!
• Women are amazing. I am so proud to be one and love my network of fierce friends, family and supporters. It's a double edge sword but the tide is changing and - well, what a time to be alive!

So, how was the read? Share Jignal's wonderful story with anyone who might resonate with the whole impostor syndrome situation and needs some reassurance that we are all in it together ❤️