Two Right Feet

Four years ago, Sant Advani had a heart ailment owing to which he couldn’t walk at a stretch for even half an hour — but he could still dance salsa for two hours. “I think the ‘feel good’ endorphins simply took over,” says Advani. His cardiologist Dr. D B Pahlajani told him he could continue dancing as long as there was no discomfort.

The spry silver has already mastered salsa, cha-cha-cha, jive, samba, rumba and the foxtrot. And now, he’s perfecting the Argentinean tango and waltz. “Thanks to my wife who is a good dancer, I learnt to dance to Red red wine on the day of my wedding,” says Advani. It was on a holiday to Goa six years ago that he started pursuing dance seriously. “The resort had a dance class that I joined for a lark, and today I am an honorary dance instructor there,” he says with pride. “It never takes me long to get people on the dance floor,” he adds. Noting his enthusiasm, four years ago the hotel staff asked him to be their dance instructor whenever he vacationed there.

Advani heads a pharmaceutical and hospital contamination control firm. But life clearly isn’t ‘all work and no play’. Every week, he takes time out to groove to his favourite numbers that include Bachata, Oye como vas, Mama kiyelele, Summer of ’69, La bamba, Rock around the clock, Tequila and the pulsating salsa version of Hotel California. “When I dance, I surrender to the moment.”