*CHWEETI @BhIjeeT’s fc 2*.. - Page 15

Navratri is just around the corner. This nine-day Gujarati festival is made famous by the Dandiya raas that takes place in the nights. And the preparations for Dandiya nights have already started in the city. The organisers of Dandiya mandals in the city are busy booking venues, fixing prices of tickets, setting up the stage, placing loudspeakers, beefing up security and getting their singers and band members to come together and start practising.
The Dandiya enthusiasts (especially women) have already started selecting their outfits for the nine nights. Starting on the 23rd of this month, this time Navaratri has two weekends within a span of these nine days. During these days, men will be seen in kurtas and women in their very colourful backless ghagra cholis, complete with jumkas in their ears and payals on their ankles. Nowadays it is a trend for most teenagers to don cholis over jeans, but they do not miss the payals and the jhumkas.
At the crowded and much lit Dandiya mandals, these enthusiasts will be twirling around in circles to the beats of the music and the melodious voice of singers (blaring from loudspeakers till 10.30 pm). As Dandiyas clash and with the vigorous dancing, the mirrors on bright coloured clothes will catch the light and shine away to glory.

'I pray to Mata all goes well'
During Navratri, a few Dandiya mandals are very famous for being high-tech and for their singers. One of them is Sankalp ' better known as the Falguni Pathak mandal. This dancing queen has made it big in the music world much thanks to the Dandiya mandals she has sung in for so many years. However, she says that she is nervous at her every performance. 'Before performing, every night I pray to Mata that everything goes well,' says Falguni.
This singer started singing, while watching and participating in the Dandiya mandals in her building. 'I thank the Dandiya festivities in my building to build my interest to sing Dandiya songs,' said Falguni, informing us that her favorite song is 'Maa Kaali ne Katyani Maa'. 'But the public demand is for 'Pari hu me' and 'Radhe radhe',' said Falguni.
This lady has performed for Dandiya mandals all over the world, and feels that those abroad are more traditional than those in Mumbai. 'The Indians staying abroad prefer the traditional and authentic Dandiya songs, whereas the people in Mumbai prefer the filmi and pop numbers,' said Falguni.
Sankalp has been in the business for the last thirteen years. Says Devendra Jhoshi, president of Sankalp, 'This time round the stage and the sets are designed so, that there is a lot of light on the stage.' The performance will be held at the Goregaon sports complex, which has the capacity to accommodate 25, 000 people every day. In addition, the Dandiya sticks will be provided at the venue.
'We have tied up with the television show, 'Nach Baliye'. We will have the celebrity couples coming and dancing with us on each of the nine days. We are also running a best dancer's contest, and the winners will get a tourist package for US or Europe,' said Devendra.
In addition, after the 10.30 pm deadline for loudspeakers, Sankalp will be shifting indoors to Intercontinental. However, this indoor venue only has the capacity to accommodate 1500 people. 'The price for tickets on weekdays is Rs. 250, the price for the weekend tickets is Rs. 350, and for those who will be joining us indoors, the tickets are priced at Rs. 750,' said Devendra.
Sankalp has also beefed up its security. 'The sniffer dogs will check out the venue before the people enter. There will be metal detectors put up in various places. And there will be 150 uniformed guards and 100 plainclothes guards at the venue,' said Devendra.

'There is a lot of emotion in traditional songs'
Making people dance to their tunes are singers Preeti and Pinky. This musical duo who dress in colour-coordinated outfits complement each other, with their similar voices.
Says Preeti, 'We are Ahmedabadis and since Dandiya is celebrated in a big way, we have always been familiar with the Dandiya songs. Also, our father and grandfather have studied classical music, so we have been encouraged to sing.'
This duo gave their first live performance at age seven and five. 'Once when we had gone to a Dandiya function, the singer had not come. It was my father's friend who had organised it, and he knew that Pinky and me sang dandiya songs at home. Therefore, he made us sing on stage. We were very young, so I do not remember much. But since then we have always sung at Ganesh mandals,' said Preeti.
In 1999, the sisters came to Mumbai and gave their first performance in the city. 'It was at Fantasyland with the 'Boogie Woogie' show,' recalls Preeti.
Her favourite songs are the traditional Amba Mata songs, like 'Mari tara madariyama'. 'There is a lot of emotion in these traditional songs. I get to perform the Mata ki arti and a lot of traditional songs when I am at the Dandiya rass in US and Kenya. In India, people like to dance to pop music,' said Preeti.
This year, all nine days, Preeti will be performing at Kandivali, at the Raghuleela mall. Says organiser Jignesh Bhuta, 'The Dandiya raas will be indoors, in a sound-proof hall. With the government rules for no loudspeakers beyond 10.30 pm, this arrangement is much better. Also the hall has the capacity to accommodate 4,500 people,' said Jignesh who has been working with Preeti and Pinky for the last eight years. The mandal's ticket rates have not been decided yet.

'People love dancing to disco Dandiya'
Another famous mandal that Dandiya enthusiasts attend is the Ganesh Naidu mandal. This mandal has been organising the dandiya mandals since seven years. This time, the mandal will be placed at the Karekandra ground in Borivali. 'This ground has the capacity to accommodate 20,000 people. We haven't decided the price of the tickets, but they will be priced above Rs. 200,' said Naidu.
Naidu has roped in the Indian Idol winners, Abhijeet Sawant, Amit Sana and Rahul Vaidya to perform at the mandal, along with the Beater's group. 'Each Indian idol will perform on separate days,' said Naidu.
Rahul Vaidya fondly remembers the Navatris he has spent dancing away with his friends. 'When I was a little younger, I used to go, to check out the good-looking girls who used to dance at Dandiya raas.'
This is the second year that Rahul will be singing at Navaratri. 'Last year I had performed in Ahmedabad and Ghatkopar. And I loved the experience. I found that it was fun to sing and make people dance to the beats of your voice. It is great to perform live and interact with the audience,' said Rahul.
The Indian Idol runner-up loves to sing Gujrati songs. 'I like the rhythm and the emotions behind the traditional songs of Mata. My favourite song to perform on is 'Taravina shyam mane ekladu lage',' sang Rahul.
However, says Rahul, presently the Dandiya enthusiasts love to dance the disco Dandiya. 'So I am singing songs like 'Gajrare' and 'Ashik Banaya Aapne'.