Bollywood Dandiya Night

The excitement and delight for the Saturday Dandiya Night owed to several reasons- reminiscing the navratri in Gujarat, dancing our hearts out to the garba songs, spending an evening with friends- all of which were fulfilled to an overwhelming extent by the end of the day.. The preparations commenced post lunch with Mrinal, Ekta and I learning, rehearsing and synchronizing simple and most popular garba steps.  After reaching a level of confidence, we started sprucing up- a process which could potentially have been longer than the dandiya night itself. Mrinal wore a traditional maroon Chaniya Choli embellished with brilliantly shining mirror stones, whereas Ekta and I chose to wear sarees tucked in typical Gujarati style, doing justice to the “ben” look. Devika joined us later, and just like Falguni Pathak’s “Yaad piya ke” girls, we spent ample time mix matching accessories and preening ourselves in front of the wardrobed mirror until satisfied and certified by each other.

At the stroke of 7:30 PM, we rushed out to a restless wait, after which we hailed a cab to the venue at Goodman Road, in proximity to the East coast of Singapore, where we were met by the rest of our gang. The huge hall albeit inadequate, was flocked by multicultural Indians decked up in ethnic attire and shaking their legs to the not-so-garba music. Complying to the high entropy with people spread randomly making their own groups, we took possession of and reserved one of the last vacant attainable spaces and started dancing to the music being played. The music spanned contemporary danceable fast beat numbers like “Rangeelo Maaro Dholna”, “Beedi Jalaile”, with minimal Gujarati/Garba songs- surprisingly contrary to the purpose of celebration. We let ourselves loose and broke sweat to the intoxicating music, with intermittent breaks for gulping chilled water slaking our thirst. While we managed to fit in the Garba steps in every song, Pratik and Dhiren shook their bodies harder, neatly blending multiple dance styles to lead our group. Ronak, shy by nature and new to our group, joined us enthusiastically too, enjoying being in his own world of music.  A pro Odissi dancer, Lavanya left all amazed with her elegant and graceful dance moves, with us following only the few doable ones. We made a train, dancing and shoving our way through the lively and energetic crowd, spreading the hall, and continued the garba dancing till we were short of breath and sapped out.

 

Obeying the commands of our rumbling stomachs starving to be fed, we headed straight to the food coupon counter. Impatient with a long sluggish queue ahead, Pratik and I started swinging our shoulders to a dancy number in the background, with Ekta and Mrinal joining us dancing in the mirror, all of us conveniently avoiding the amused stares by the people around. We grabbed our food quickly, with desi chat and fast food constituting most of it, and managed to save a table big enough for a bunch of ten plus to fit in. After going bellyful, Utkarsh and Bassi rendered a famous heart wrenching song “Tadap Tadap” in their impeccably toned voices, stimulating us to accompany them, Ekta and Dhiren tapping the table in rhythm to the songs that followed.. The enthusiastic organizers comprising of a few middle aged couples challenged us for Antakshari, which we graciously accepted, and  thoroughly enjoyed singing some old and beautiful hindi music, until it was the time to wrap up the event, our gang being the last to step foot out.

Undecided what next and knowing its early to call it a day, we did the first thing that came to someone’s mind- went to the East Coast Park beach at night 12 clock. With most of the café’s and restaurants around being closed, and majority of the camping crowd asleep in their cozy tents, the beach gave a serene and peaceful look. The stars and sky view was marred by the natural Singapore light pollution and clouds hovering over. Ensconced on the rocks abutting the beach, and watching the sea waves hitting it, looked like the perfect way to unwind and revitalize ourselves after the eventful evening. Giving in to the irresistible urge of music, we all sang our favorite numbers, with Lavanya and I, being loyal followers, tried to include many of Sonu Nigam ones- woe betide anyone who’s against him! After singing to our satisfaction, we thought it was time to conclude the fun filled day, and waved a sleepish goodbye to each other at three, dispersing in different directions to hit our respective destinations…