Navratri concluded just a few days back. It came and went without a ripple in my routine. I didn't go out for Dandia Raas or Garba even one night. But of course, this is the US of A and you have to plan the "night", buy tickets, the outfits, accessories, organise a group of friends who also like to dance to go with you....Just too much trouble for me these days..So I just didn't go...Do I regret it? Of course I do, I wish I had more energy and enthusiasm to do that. So maybe next year I will. For now, I want to reminisce about the simpler days of my childhood when everything was celebrated with so much joy and vigor!
I grew up in a small town called Veraval on the coast on Gujarat. Navratri---the Nine Nights--- was really celebrated in a BIG way there. Big, not in terms of having grand decorations, flashy music, glamorous guests etc. but Big meaning a lot of effort was put into planning the program for each night. There was the song selection, the choreography, the costumes, the accessories....
Throughout the town, there would be many "Garbi Mandals" or groups which would organise their raas-garba each in their own neighborhood. So in an open space a mandap would be built, with the Maa Durga shrine in the center and a circular track around it for the dancers to dance.
Where I used to dance, the registrations would begin almost a couple of months prior to the start of Navratri. There would be 2 groups into which the girls would be sorted based on their ages-- Junior and Senior. Then the practice sessions would start. we would have practice after school.
The garba songs would be chosen. All of them would be original, traditional songs praising the Goddess Durga or Lord Krishna. (Only much later did the songs start getting the Bollywood flavor with songs set on hit Hindi songs' tunes). For the practice sessions there would be only one singer to sing for us but on the actual performance nights, there would be more singers to accompany the lead singer, as well as the musicians---the harmonium player, the tabla player, the flautist etc.
Once the songs were decided, the choreography would begin, our "teacher" would show us the steps and we had to follow. There were numerous songs with a unique sequence of steps for each song. As if the variety was not enough, apart from just plain garba, i.e. dance with footwork and hand movements, there would also be dances with props, like with "Khanjaris" (Tambourines), "Manjiras" (cymbals), "Bedas" (Metal pots) and of course, "Dandiyas" (Sticks)!
Now to the costumes!! It was very simple. We all wore "half Sarees", which meant that the normal 6 yards Saree was folded in half, width-wise and draped in the usual way but not all the way to our ankles, just halfway down our calves. The only rule was that all girls in the group had to wear the same color on any given day. So day one would be "green Saree day", two would be "yellow" and so on. Now, ours was a typically middle class neighborhood where most women didn't own Sarees in all colours of the rainbow! So we girls would "canvass" the neighborhood, knocking on doors and asking the "aunties", "Auntie, do you have a yellow/dark blue/maroon Saree"? And mostly, we did find what we needed! God bless all those aunties!! Then my mother would alter her own blouses to fit me.
Finally when Navratri actually started, we would begin each evening with the Aarati and then dance till late...Parents would be there watching with pride and joy and we would all feel very pretty and important!!
Of course all this was a long time ago.... I don't know if it still works this way, even in small towns like Veraval. When I think about those days, I marvel at how much time and effort we spent on such creative exercises without even realising it. I just thought of it as having Fun!!!
I grew up in a small town called Veraval on the coast on Gujarat. Navratri---the Nine Nights--- was really celebrated in a BIG way there. Big, not in terms of having grand decorations, flashy music, glamorous guests etc. but Big meaning a lot of effort was put into planning the program for each night. There was the song selection, the choreography, the costumes, the accessories....
Throughout the town, there would be many "Garbi Mandals" or groups which would organise their raas-garba each in their own neighborhood. So in an open space a mandap would be built, with the Maa Durga shrine in the center and a circular track around it for the dancers to dance.
Where I used to dance, the registrations would begin almost a couple of months prior to the start of Navratri. There would be 2 groups into which the girls would be sorted based on their ages-- Junior and Senior. Then the practice sessions would start. we would have practice after school.
The garba songs would be chosen. All of them would be original, traditional songs praising the Goddess Durga or Lord Krishna. (Only much later did the songs start getting the Bollywood flavor with songs set on hit Hindi songs' tunes). For the practice sessions there would be only one singer to sing for us but on the actual performance nights, there would be more singers to accompany the lead singer, as well as the musicians---the harmonium player, the tabla player, the flautist etc.
Once the songs were decided, the choreography would begin, our "teacher" would show us the steps and we had to follow. There were numerous songs with a unique sequence of steps for each song. As if the variety was not enough, apart from just plain garba, i.e. dance with footwork and hand movements, there would also be dances with props, like with "Khanjaris" (Tambourines), "Manjiras" (cymbals), "Bedas" (Metal pots) and of course, "Dandiyas" (Sticks)!
Now to the costumes!! It was very simple. We all wore "half Sarees", which meant that the normal 6 yards Saree was folded in half, width-wise and draped in the usual way but not all the way to our ankles, just halfway down our calves. The only rule was that all girls in the group had to wear the same color on any given day. So day one would be "green Saree day", two would be "yellow" and so on. Now, ours was a typically middle class neighborhood where most women didn't own Sarees in all colours of the rainbow! So we girls would "canvass" the neighborhood, knocking on doors and asking the "aunties", "Auntie, do you have a yellow/dark blue/maroon Saree"? And mostly, we did find what we needed! God bless all those aunties!! Then my mother would alter her own blouses to fit me.
Finally when Navratri actually started, we would begin each evening with the Aarati and then dance till late...Parents would be there watching with pride and joy and we would all feel very pretty and important!!
Of course all this was a long time ago.... I don't know if it still works this way, even in small towns like Veraval. When I think about those days, I marvel at how much time and effort we spent on such creative exercises without even realising it. I just thought of it as having Fun!!!
