Shaking off stereotypes: India’s male belly dancers defy the odds

Sporting a nose ring and chunky silver jewelry the dancer in a long skirt and blouse pirouettes and shimmies with sinuous and graceful pelvic and belly movements, as the audience looks in rapt attention.

Delhi-based Fashion graduate Eshan Hilal, 26,  was just five years old when he first danced to the rhythms of a popular song from a Bollywood hit.  But as he grew up in a conservative Muslim family, and refused to conform to the stereotype of a typical boy who would play cricket and rough games, and wanted to continue dancing and watching videos of graceful actresses on television, he was shamed and abused by his family and friends, who disapproved of his unconventional choices.