She doesn’t culturally identify with anything Indian, and is happily free-spirited in her dancing influences and prodigiously talented at 18 as a sportswoman. Yet, B-Girl India who represented her native Netherlands at the Olympics, finishing fourth at Paris’ breakout sport of Breaking, clung to her given name ‘India’ when choosing a professional moniker. And the teenaged India Sardjoe believes she carries some of the ‘cool vibe’ of freestyle dancers from the country she’s never visited in her life.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t have any direct Indian influence in my Breaking moves. But my parents chose my name as ‘India’ when I was born and I didn’t want to assume another dancing-name like other breakers. I just like ‘India’ enough,” she says candidly, having returned from Paris where she lost a bronze after making semifinals, but was one of the emerging faces of the new sport, with a documentary on her becoming a sleeper hit on Dutch television.
Her Dutch-born mother Natascha, understands and speaks fluent “Hindustani” though, India says. Father Rishi Sardjoe too reached the Hague in Holland where he settled in the Zeeheldenkwartier (Naval Heroes district), after arriving when young from Suriname, a former Dutch territory in the Caribbean.
23 percent of Suriname has people of Indian ethnicity, those who trace back roots to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and were ferried as indentured labour in the 1870s, and continued speaking an Awadhi / Bhojpuri dialect called Sarnami Hindustani. B-Girl India’s father and maternal grandparents relocated from Suriname to the Netherlands, and the family of 4 (she has an elder sister) straddles multiple cultures and languages, by default.
“Dad was born in Suriname and moved here, so he only understands Hindustani, mother grew up in Holland but speaks Hindustani. I guess my Indian roots go back to great grandparents who were Indian, but there’s my name India,” she chuckles.
She’s part of a multicultural crew Heavy Hitters, but easily the most recognised Breaking face in Holland. “I started hip-hop classes with my sister. Sport was always where my attention was. I got my swimming diploma in school. And also played a bit of football. But Breaking was what I was passionate about. My dad has really encouraged me since I was 10,” she says.
Rishi Sardjoe moved to the Hague, and from starting out as a courier delivery gig-worker, grew his own logistics business in the new country. During the Olympics, he locked himself in the house watching India progress through early rounds, because he gets acutely nervous when she’s on stage.
Rishi would ferry packages and manage the office just as India’s interest picked up in Breaking. “I started out in Battles at age 9. I travelled for a lot of under-13 tournaments to Belgium, and within the Netherlands. Then in 2022 I had second place at Dutch Nationals and also became European Champion and won the Red Bull BC world cypher. Since then it’s just been growing, growing,” she says.
Young Dutch of Surinamese descent focus plenty on academics and her sister eventually chose studies, but B-Girl India was smitten by dance. “When I was really young, it was just very spectacular to look at. And the dance is without ending points in terms of creative growth. A then-schoolmate who became coach, and even qualified for Olympics with me, first taught me elbow freezes,” she says of a move she aced early.
A prodigy even 10 years back, it was India’s flair and ability to try out risky moves that saw her rise in the sport, across European battles. “I’m pretty all-round. I’m good at top rock (standing), footwork, floor, and my signature styles are still evolving. There’s lots of variations though one move I love innovating with is the head swipe and the halo freeze (a power move, rolling of the head like a spinning top),” she says.
Winning the prestigious Red Bull BC cypher and European title at 17 catapulted India into the elite 16 of the world. At the Olympics, B-Girl India won the sport’s first-ever battle at the Olympics. “It was really good that I got my qualification done real early. The timing was good, so I got enough time to prepare by winning the European Championships. Timing wise it was perfect. At the Olympics it’s been an amazing experience, unforgettable really, I never thought it would have such a profound effect on me. The competition and venue were similar to other Cyphers, but the whole buzz around the Olympics- the Village, the dining hall, etc was very different. It was like living in a bubble,” she recalls.
While there was plenty of buzz around her potential medal, she was thrilled to run into Olympics Dutch running royalty. “The Dutch track superstar Femke Bol. I got a picture with her and it was good to see her in person finally. She was really sweet, though I kept thinking ‘Shit, should I approach her?’ But then I thought let’s just do it,” India says.
The Olympics stint though was a one-off, and Los Angeles dropped the sport for 2028. “Well we already knew it. But OK sure, just happy to have had the opportunity to be at the Games. Coming back from Paris, I was feeling really sad. The 4th place finish was heartbreaking. Had to switch off in my head that the road wasn’t ending. There are other competitions. It’s unfortunate because competition was really at the highest level at the Olympics. I really hope future Games consider having Breaking,” she says.
Breaking also got mired in meme-making after Aussie B-Girl Ray Gun became meme material post her eccentric moves, giving enough fodder to outdated Olympic boomers wanting to chew on how Breaking was unserious. “Honestly, I don’t want to talk about it. I’m sure she trained as hard as anybody else. That’s all I’ll say. It’s not my place.”
Outside of the Olympics, the sport is growing bigger across neighbourhoods in all continents – from Japan to Switzerland to Peru to New Zealand, even as prize money increases for circuit battles. “The level is really high and getting even better for B-Girls. I’m just 18, but those younger are much much better than us. They are highly technical, powerful and have great footwork,” she says.
There’s a hint of Indian geekiness in her quite apart from the free-flowing creativity of the Dutch when she speaks of her signature move. “No favourites as such but the Elbow 1.5 is something I took long to get good at. I had to practice it for a long time, break down the movement, study it, and it just looks very pretty,” she says.
Though India is not on her calendar, she would love to visit it properly some day, more so for the typical folk and street dances dotting every community. “Not planned India trip yet. But it’s really huge and beautiful and diverse so it will take a lot of time to cover the country,” she says.
