The Rainmakers - Meher Malik

Born in India, bred in Oman, Meher grew up in the helm of Middle Eastern culture but moved back to India to pursue fashion at NIFT till one day she realized that her actual calling was – dance. She had that fluidity of movement ever since she was a little girl of 7 and today, she is a movement artist. She has always had more interest in understanding the potential of the human body. As much as she loves belly dance, her journey is more towards understanding how to unlock the potential of the human body and how to heal through movement.

She keeps herself engaged in other hobbies like swimming, reading, writing and has a keen interest in philosophy and religion. She finds comparative religious studies and learning about different ethnic groups in cultures interesting. All this dabbling comes from a childhood ethos that her mother instilled in her, she said on one side is the devil and on the other side is an angel, who is it that you will listen to? That has been her biggest life lesson - focus on what voice you want to listen to. Growing up with values of minimalism and sustainability, Meher has always been environmentally conscious, waste less, care more and give back to the world which gains voice through her recycling projects.

These values have helped her cope with certain untoward misconceptions that come with her love for Belly Dancing. She’s worked hard to make people understand and appreciate the seriousness behind a dance form that can be misconstrued as overtly sensual, it is sensual but it is also powerful and magnetic. In this journey, she has inspired a lot of women to reclaim their bodies. She looks back to when she got married into a Nepali family where everyone wore sarees and realized her fascination for the drape.

She believes that when a girl becomes a woman, she doesn’t have to prove herself to anyone or justify her world view, she needs to be well informed, go with her gut instinct and trust her decisions. Her message to her fellow women is to believe in themselves and honouring their belief system.