Friday, October 22, 2004
Wish you all a Happy Dushhera
Dandiya Dances
Once again it's that time of the year when night turns into day and the city reverberates to the beat of countless drums. It’s Navratri time as we all know. It was Narasimha who met Sanjay and had an invitation to join the Desi group to discuss the plans for one Dandiya night in Grenoble.
But in a land where food, finance and fun have held sway there is a small population of likeminded people who are hell bent on stemming the rot and preserving the cultural heritage. So went of to discuss on what we should be doing for eating on that day during the get together and on for the event. Let me explain how this dance evolved.
Among all the dance forms, Raas Garba is the most well known outside Gujarat and is the most ancient one too. The lasya nritya performed by Krishna approximately 5,000 years ago is still intact. The love of Radha for Krishna has become immortal and the dance performed by Krishna with the gopis was Raas which is the all-time favourite dance style of Gujarat.
Ideally, two circles formed by men and women move in clockwise and anti-clockwise directions with two sticks called dandiyas held in their hands. The song sung on the occasion is essentially an amorous one. Raas is a very energetic, colourful and playful dance providing opportunity for acting and exchanging messages through eye contact. It is no wonder that many romances bloom during Navratri and hence the popularity of the dance among the younger generation. I’m missing this fun in Grenoble and going to Paris. We had just been to the practice session last Sunday. I wish the function a grand success.
