Bengaluru has a real-life Hannah Montana

You may call March the last month of the financial year, boohoo, but in 2026 I called it Hannah Montana season. Miley Cyrus’s Disney show about an ordinary girl by day and a superstar by night recently completed 20 years, and the world woke up to the fandom again. There were sparkle-filled watch parties, karaoke nights with blonde wigs, and my favourite: a themed spin class at Bengaluru cycle studio Chakra Athletica.

That’s where I first met Tanya Shah, our instructor for the Sunday morning session, bopping around in the hallway as ‘Rock Star’ blasted in the background. She was wearing a bubblegum-pink halter-neck crop top with a white skater skirt. Her shoulder-length hair was divvied into two waterfall pigtails and a bunch of pink and purple star-shaped clips held stray strands together.

Under the soft spotlight of the pitch-black studio, the 28-year-old looked nothing less than a mini pop star getting ready for her set on stage. You know how some people embody big, contagious energy? Yeah, this was that. Just having her around was enough vibes-osmosis to jolt me up. When we were spinning to ‘Best of Both Worlds’ at 120 beats per minute, my glutes screaming for rest, Tanya was unfazed—singing along on the mic and spitting motivational mantras as the rest of us huffed for air.

At this point, I had no idea that Tanya isn’t just a Hannah Montana fan, she’s actually living a double life herself. On Instagram, to Chakra’s 27k followers, she’s spin girl Tanya, who wears pastel-coloured twinsets, hosts Pop Princess versus Bass Baddie classes, and hands out star stickers to keep you motivated. But on LinkedIn, the less fun side of the internet, she’s Harshali Shah, a healthcare consultant who wears a simple black blouse in her profile photo. Under this moniker at her 9-to-6 job, she analyses drug prices and performance to help pharma companies determine demand. Here, it’s all about KBQs and KPIs.

“Growing up, I hated my name and my mum called me Tanya; that felt more me,” the spin instructor explains of her alter ego. “But at school, in college, and now at work, I’m still Harshali.” It’s not just semantics; the name embodies a different personality. After seeing her as Tanya it’s hard to believe but Harshali grew up being the quietest girl in the room. In Severance-speak, it’s as if her innie is an introvert, and outie (at the spin studio) an extrovert.

“Back in 2024, I started going to Chakra to get some movement in and always admired how the instructors put themselves out there,” says the outgoing Tanya. “I wanted that courage but just didn’t know how to find it.” As fate would have it, she saw a hiring post from the studio and took the leap of faith. Every day for two months, she trained before work to get certified as an instructor. While staying off the saddle to the beat was tricky, the real challenge was commanding the room. “I had never done public speaking and my voice is generally soft, so talking to a crowd was the hardest bit,” Tanya adds.

In fact, today the spin instructor’s favourite compliment is when people say they can’t believe she was once a shy girl. As someone who attends her classes, I can’t imagine this quiet side. It’s probably because Tanya doesn’t just spin, she commits to the character. For Halloween, she brought in glow-in-the-dark pumpkins and wore bunny ears. For Christmas, there was tinsel around the studio and a red and green fit with matching reindeer hats.

It’s also hard to believe that at work Tanya’s wardrobe is still consciously uniform. On office days, she pairs her trousers or wide-leg pants with a plain blouse and a cardigan. Just your average, uninterested corporate worker. But her poppy athleisure collection is worlds apart. When she built a playlist for Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl album, the instructor bought an orange-and-teal sports bra to match the cover art. That’s not all: she has a wide collection of hair clips to match her 30 sports bras and even wears glitter and face stickers for themed classes.

At this point, Tanya may as well have a Hannah Montana-coded walk-in closet for her spin girl persona. The office clothes can stay on a sad shelf up front with the sparkly, colourful workout clothes (primarily from Bird Eye and Cava) stacked rockstar-like in a room of their own. We just need a hype best friend to play Lilly and we’re good to go.

Well, almost. To be clear, as exciting as it would be for the plot, Tanya’s workout-chic identity isn’t really a secret. “My colleagues discovered I teach spin on Instagram. My manager even came for one class but never again,” she laughs. “No one really has an issue. I think they’re excited that I’m able to do both.” But this balancing act doesn’t come easy. The health consulting role was her first job straight out of college, and six years later she holds on to it for sustenance. “Spin is for the soul, but my day job is to support my living,” she confesses.

Often moments before Tanya gets up on the bike at Chakra, you will find her scrunched up with a laptop, trying to wrap up meetings. “Some of my weekday classes are at 7 pm and that’s peak consulting time because it’s when the US team logs in,” she explains. On office days, every now and then she hides in a quiet corner with her headphones on, making her spin playlists for the month. (Dear manager, if you’re reading this, please let a girl live.)

For Tanya, the extra effort is worth it. “In any room, when people call me Harshali I still become a quieter person,” she says. “At spin my biggest win is that every day I’m able to do something and grow into someone I never thought I’d be. The payoff makes the hustle worth it.”

No one gets this feeling of thriving in double worlds better than Hannah Montana fans. We’ve all dreamt of imaginary second lives where we could be whoever we want to be. Tanya’s found a way to live the life. Instead of a teen pop star on stage, she’s a Gen Z spin instructor on the bike. It’s not that different, really.