Samay Raina called it ‘waste of time’; Maharashtra balancing artist explains why it’s an art

Why he started

Ironically, Vaishnav’s journey began with disbelief. When he first came across videos of rock balancing, his immediate reaction was that they had to be fake. “I thought they used magnets or some camera trick. That curiosity made me want to explore it myself. I was introduced to the art by my friend Chintan Vaishnav, and that’s how everything started,” he says.

At the time, he wasn’t an artist. He was working as a digital marketer, a profession he stuck with for five years. Even after discovering rock balancing in 2021, it remained a weekend pursuit.

He spent two years practising in the mountains around Pune, on footpaths and anywhere he could find suitable rocks before deciding to take the leap in 2023. “I realised everyone who experienced this art had a positive reaction. Seeing that expression on people’s faces became addictive. That’s when I knew I wanted to do this full time,” he recalls.

 

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More than just rocks

Despite being known for balancing rocks, Vaishnav says the skill isn’t limited to stones. “You can balance almost anything, depending on the surface. Rocks have a different energy because they are the oldest material on Earth. Working with them makes you feel calmer,” he says.

He explains that the process isn’t mystical. “It’s purely physics and geometry.” According to him, every balanced structure ultimately depends on just three points of contact. Using the example of the traditional three-stone village stove, he explains that balance isn’t magic—it’s understanding weight, angles, and friction.

Why he calls it meditation

While spectators often admire the final sculpture, Vaishnav says the real transformation happens during the process. Balancing forces the mind into complete focus. “When you’re doing it, you’re forced into a state where your mind becomes empty. You’re not trying to meditate, but the process makes you meditative,” he adds.

The art, he says, also changed him personally. “Rock balancing forced me to become more conscious of my surroundings. It increased my patience and helped me connect with nature,” he notes.

Over time, the lessons extended beyond balancing stones.

One of the biggest, he says, is learning to stop trying to please everyone. “The rock constantly communicates with you. Every second you’re making decisions—left or right, yes or no. It teaches decision-making. It also teaches you that you can’t please everyone.”

For Vaishnav, balance itself has taken on a deeper meaning. “Balance is acceptance. The moment you accept a situation, your mind becomes peaceful. If you keep resisting reality, you’re no longer balanced,” he explains.

The challenge of balancing a person

Perhaps his most ambitious feat so far involved balancing a woman seated on a chair with only one leg touching a rock while the remaining three legs stayed suspended in the air.

But Vaishnav says the challenge wasn’t his alone. “It depended as much on Meena Salunkhe as it did on me. She’s a yoga and parkour artist, so she knows how to control her body and even how to fall safely. Once the chair is balanced, she has to remain completely still,” he says.

 

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Contrary to what many might assume, he says fear wasn’t part of the equation. “I just wanted to see whether it was possible. I carefully chose someone who was capable of handling the risk,” he says.

Teaching balance

Today, Vaishnav’s workshops attract a remarkably diverse audience. From Google professionals and IIT students to schoolchildren, visually impaired children and youngsters with ADHD, autism and Down syndrome, he has seen firsthand how different people approach the same challenge.

Interestingly, he believes adults struggle more. “Professionals overthink. Children don’t. Kids simply follow the process, while adults try to find something extraordinary instead of keeping it simple,” he observes.

One of his most memorable experiences has been teaching visually impaired children. Since they couldn’t rely on sight, he had to rethink his entire teaching method. Instead of showing them what balance looked like, he encouraged them to understand it through touch. “I made them feel the rocks, their texture and their shape. Before teaching them, I closed my own eyes and tried to experience what they would feel,” he says.

 

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His sessions with children with ADHD, autism and Down syndrome are even less technical. “I don’t focus on teaching theory. I simply let them play with the rocks. When they finally achieve balance, that feeling of accomplishment brings them genuine happiness,” he says.

Those experiences, he says, have also changed him. “Every person is different. You have to keep learning and adapt your approach every single time,” he says.

From celebrities to Latent

Before appearing on India’s Got Latent, Vaishnav had already demonstrated his art to celebrities such as Kareena Kapoor and Tanmay Bhat. Like many others, they initially suspected there was a trick. “They thought it was glued or held together with magnets. When I dismantled the structure, they were genuinely shocked,” he says.

His appearance on Latent, however, introduced him to a much wider audience. Staying true to the show’s trademark sarcastic humour, host Samay Raina quipped, “What a waste of time,” after Vaishnav wrapped up his 90-second balancing act. Vaishnav says he expected the leg-pulling and took it in the right spirit. “Some people appreciated it, some questioned it. It’s a mixed response, but I think people should experience it before forming an opinion.”

 

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In the age of short videos…

Despite building an audience on Instagram, Vaishnav acknowledges the irony of creating an art form that demands hours of patience for videos that last barely a minute. “People see a 90-second video, but they don’t see the 90 minutes that went into creating it,” he notes.

For anyone curious about trying rock balancing themselves, Vaishnav doesn’t recommend starting with a complicated sculpture. Instead, he offers a simple assignment. Balance one brick on the corner of another. “The brick will talk to you. You just have to listen.”