Page 34 - SeniorsToday October

with an Aarti. As more and more people much ahead of the festival. Some boast
joined in the dancers started moving
through the streets going round and
returning to the central area.
Slowly the music, singing and
instruments became more organised. The
most popular are the songs written by
the poet Javerchand Meghani. Other folk
songs joined the list as time went by. Saint
Narsinh Mehta is credited to have travelled
from place to place listening to various
songs and document them, especially the
ones which celebrate Radha and Krishna
dances like the Raslila…. Overtime more
and more songs have been added. These
days’ people write songs for this purpose.
Last year a song written by Shri Narendra
Modi also became popular.
Knowing human nature of one up man
ship these community programs became
competitive, each one wanted to be bigger
and better and draw a larger crowd. The
singing became better and bigger groups
of musicians came together. The music
got louder, the lighting became fancier the
decorations more colourful and exotic. The
number of dancers increased. More boys
and girls joined in with practiced, well-
coordinated dance steps in gorgeous and
enchanting dresses. The scene has changed
completely in the last couple of years. Now
it’s big money too.
The Current Scenario
In Gujarat hardly anyone dances to
Falguni Pathak and her Disco Dandiya
tunes. Dandiya played or danced with
two small sticks is reserved only for the
last if at all. The singing is very melodious
and professional. Each group tries to
have its signature songs apart from the
very popular ones. The bigger organisers
start selling dancer and viewers passes
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of more than 40000 people dancing at
a time! In the centre is a raised pandal
for the musicians and singers which is
often a team of 15 to 20 people if not more.
Male and female lead singers and other
orchestra. The deity is given a prominent
mandir like pandal on the outer periphery
of the huge circle.
Business houses are roped in for donations
in lieu of which they are invited to do
the day’s Aarti which is considered a big
honour. There are competitions every
day and big prizes given to best dancers
and best dressed dancers in different
categories. The prices of viewers’ seasonal
passes can range from Rs.4000/- to
Rs.12000/-
ARIEL VIEW OF A GARBA GROUND
Garba continues to be a vibrant
living tradition in addition to being an
annual religious ritual. It’s a festival,
it’s a celebration like none other. Many
foreigners also plan a trip to Gujarat
during this period so they can participate
and enjoy as much as possible. In recent
years it has become a tourist attraction
too. People buy and wear different
outfits for all days in gorgeous colours
with fancy accessories. Even the male
dancers are decked up from head to toe in
colourful turbans and magnificent outfits