I’ve always had varied interests and spent time giving these form … be it flying or travelling, trekking or pursuing fitness. A person has many facets and by allowing yourself to explore and express is a great way to bring balance in your life and to widen one’s horizon.

I am passionate about fitness so there’s many things I do like playing tennis or yoga. I’ve recently started doing Pilates at Yasmin Karachiwala’s Andheri studio and that’s been a lot of fun. I love flying on weekends. I’m a hobby pilot and I got my Private Pilot’s License three years ago. Also, I love hiking and we’ve been doing weekend treks with my son around Lonavala which has been fun.

I go for short getaways as often as I can… it can be a quick getaway to Mulshi or if I have more time then to other destinations around India or abroad. Travel is definitely a passion.

Stress is something that is in everyone’s life but making sure you have hobbies that give you a chance to engage with something you enjoy and renew your mind and energy creates balance and allows you to deal with it better. Playing with my son Nihal is always fun. He’s at a fun age that is delightful!

My latest initiative, Hobbyist World is a digital platform to showcase and curate hobbies and hobbyists. This is a platform that encourages people to have a work-life balance and help in discovering something that makes them live life to the fullest. Hobbyist World is a breath of fresh air in a world full of tiresome jobs. The platform is at a nascent stage right now, but so far it has been well received.

My dear friend, Akshay Kumar told us about his passion for Martial Arts. He believes that hobbies should be enjoyed on our terms, no permission, no expectations, just freedom of expression. As a young boy, Akshay was very shy and his hobby began from jealousy. His neighbour had started training and got a lot of attention from the ladies. Therefore, he started training in Karate, and this was the best decision he ever made. By the time he was 15/16, he was living, training and fighting in Bangkok.

To this day, those were probably the best days of his life. Street fighting taught him a lot, but it was Thailand that made a man out him as he learnt to cook, clean, shave, serve and compete, it was these days that shaped him and brought the best out of him. He also said that his passion for Kung Fu escalated so much so that it was the very reason why he started a career in the film industry and has been in it for so long.

Tiger Shroff also expressed his love for dance and inspiration with Hobbyist World. Dance keeps him happy, in a good state of mind, and as it’s a part of his job, it’s a productive hobby that he also loves doing. His inspiration for dance comes from Michael Jackson and he also started with Michael Jackson’s dance style, which is a combination of pop-lock, boogaloo and some freestyle. Though, his favourite dance form is breakdance.

Dia Mirza told Hobbyist that her creative outlet is pottery. She started learning pottery for a role that she was playing and soon it became a hobby that became an outlet of part of self-actualisation, relaxation and fun. Pottery elevates her spirit, just like any hobby for anyone. She loves carving on plates and bowls and painting them. She would love to try her hand at figurines and sculpture! She especially loved working on the ‘Tree Ganesha’ with Dattatri. Nature is her muse and pottery is joyful meditation for her. At Hobbyist World, it is believed that everyone should have a hobby.

Co-ordinated by Nichola Pais