Navratri & Garba....etc

So, the biggest annual gujju fest is going on in full tandem.... Ya... thats some heavy garba dancing till midnight in many small/ big places organised by society wallas, club-houses, educational institutions, mohalla wallas...etc etc.

As a first timer during last year, when I visited some of the garba dancing venues like United club & the MSU fine Arts , I enjoyed seeing the dance festival which they conduct for a whole period of nine days. Almost everywhere, you get to see the females decked up in their chaniya-cholis & dazzling like 100Watt light bulb swaying to the groove of some gujarati folk songs rendered live or recorded. Comparatively the menfolks are fewer and they donot cut so much impressive figure even if they are decked up in their small frock-like shirts or multicoloured turbans.

Among all the dancing venues, I enjoyed the one conducted by MSU (Maharaja Sayaji Rao University) Fine Arts faculty. Their garba is unique in the sense that their garba dancing is pretty impressive & almost in rhythm with the music. Their music is again ofcourse not vocals but instrument based. They dance to the tunes of the folk musical instruments like dholaks, dhols, etc.

However, shopping in the old city during this time of the year is a big headache..... more so if you want to buy clothes for small kids. Believe me... I had a nice experience when I went for shopping for my nephews, kid sisters last year. I was nearly blinded by the array of the "Chaniya-cholis", "ghagra-cholis" in almost each and every shop of the market area. Add to it the light reflected by the moirror/ sequin works of the chaniya-cholis:).... U get the picture!!!! The shopkeeper donot stock any other clothes except chaniya-cholis this time of the year..... But ofcourse there are this westside, pantaloons & other malls which saves your shopping sojourn albiet making your wallet lighter:)

Nearby, there is a garba organised by our very own Township even though only the outsiders (Bajwa party) turns up. There is 2 more garba organised by our "next door neighbour" IPCL. The one they conduct in their township is more in the line of the village mela with merry go rounds, air-gun shootings, throw-a-ring alongwith a wide array of those ubiquitous stalls of oil fries/ bhajjias, samosas....etc etc. This mela is also mostly crowded with again outsiders (Bajwa party). The garba dancing is done in the middle of the ground with a makeshift temple like structure of Ambe mata. The musicians/ artists renders some flat pitched folk songs & sets the dancers in the groove. The other garba is organised in the temple premises of IPCL which attracts a decent crowd of mostly the IPCL & IOCl employees and their wards.

This time I went to United (last night) courtesy the free passes given by one of my generous colleague ,AS. We (me & my kid bro) went at around 11pm & returned from the venue by 12.30pm. The crowd was full and so were the dancers. Among the melee of the dancing crowd I caught a glimpse of a guy wearing those "Alexander" type of headgear and dancing garba away to glory:)

Some more updates

Couldn't finish K Desai's " Inheritance of Loss"..... Gawd its such a boring peice of ****. Instead I diverted my attention to this year's "Anonda mela" Pujo barshiki (which I got it from Agartala during my recent visit). It was worthsome than getting stuck up with K Desai!!! Also meanwhile read the latest & final saga of the Potter series & "Memoirs of Geisha".

The last Potter book (Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows) is truly a tribute to the whole Potter series. Will write about it in detail some other time.

"Memoirs of Geisha" is about the trials & tribulations of a young girl "Chiyo" a.k.a. "Sayuri". It gives us an insight to the life style of the geishas of Japan in the early thirties. Its the journey of the "gray eyed" Sayuri from her "tipsy home" at a small poverty ridden fishing village to the grandeur of the Geisha Life, the intrinsic relation she shared with her friend-turned foe "Pumpkin", her tormentor "Hatsumomo", her mentor "Mameha" & her guardian angels "Nobu", "The Chairman"....etc.

Of late joined night Salsa classes. So been busy shaking my legs and getting dizzy with all the innumerable twirls, turns & twists that we are made to undergo in our classes:) Moreover, since both me & my partner are novices, our dance tends to toe the "Disaster" line than fall in the "Salsa dance" category:)

Have also started doing some pencil sketching. Since, I started sketching after a long long time, I was very enthusiastic and didnot mind all the dark smudges on my fingers & hands during my first day tryst with my sketching. But on the second day, I noticed it & also had a relatively tough time to wipe it off from my fingers..Ahem, Ahem.... so thought maybe I need to give it a break. Sounds sheepish even to me but lets see.