Sima - Jungle dancer and Creative being

Sima Gandhi - Jungle Experience

Sima Gandhi moved to Thailand last April, to krabi to teach English. She had two months before she started her job and a friend was going to visit Koh Phangan and he said “Sima you should come and meet me so I thought why not?”  Sima was just going with the flow, she had no idea what Phangan was about, she had not heard of it or the Full moon party. However, she immediately fell in love with the Island, she describes this as falling in love like how Carrie loves New York in the TV show Sex and the City. At first Sima only stayed for the weekend before she went to work back in Krabi, but she couldn’t get enough and made a point to come back every time she had a three day weekend which was once a month. She knew in her heart that she eventually wanted to move and live here, which Sima did in January.

Hey Sima so what is your history of dancing?
I started gymnastics from an early age, in particular rhythmic gymnastics which places value on the dance element. Then in Chicago I was dancing for Zhantra which is one of the top entertainment companies. I just love to dance and always have, it is my favourite form of meditation. If I love it and am good at it then I figure why not?

You dance at Jungle tell us about that?
Lin introduced me to Georgia one time at Jungle Experience because she thought I would be a good fit and it has been a match made in heaven ever since. I love working for jungle because you get to be as creative as you want, the only limit is your mind. It is so colourful and ‘out there’. I love finding new ways to be creative and do this with my costumes, face painting and body painting and of course dancing. I also do led hula hoop there, I only started doing hoop last year but my background in rhythmic gymnastics set me up for that.

You make your own costumes, what is the process and inspiration?
I sit down and brainstorm, or if I see something that inspires me I try to come up with a costume from that. I can start with one idea, object or material and go from there for example the skirt I made and wore at the last Jungle Experience I made out of a big sheet of vinyl with Jungle Experience logos on it which Georgia gave to me and Lin.

What do you feel your dancing can bring to the people?
To let go, have fun, be in the present moment and be inspired.

What projects are you working on at the moment?
I am working on my business idea ‘Kinnaree designs’. I offer face painting, body painting, and henna . I do a lot of UV body painting before Half Moon and other parties. Now I really want to focus on wall murals, I did a couple in Tonsai, Krabi, it made me inspired to do more and I enjoyed painting on a large scale.

Where is your favourite place here and what do you do in your free time?
When I am not doing stuff for Jungle I spend a lot of time doing yoga and meditation. I love exploring the island, going on adventures, reading to learn new things, and doing art. My favourite place is a secret! In terms of parties of course I love Jungle Experience but also Lighthouse, Eden and Guys bar are my favourite parties, they have the best music, a nice vibe, everyone is happy, no sloppy drunk people- they’re just feeling the music and having a good time.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I’m not much of a future planner. I say the best plan is no plan. I’m more focused on the present moment.

What is your life philosophy?
Strive to be the best version of yourself at any given moment