The garba evening

 After a very hectic college week (with no gap on Sunday too), finally our Dussehra vacation was going to start. I was extremely excited as we would be getting our much-needed break from a very stressful week. In order to kickstart our vacation with a bang, on the evening, post the last day of college, my mom and I accompanied by our family friends went to a dandiya night. We were completely decked up to own the evening and were pumped up to dance our way into the holidays.

Our excitement was ruined even before we reached the venue as reaching there took us 2.5 hours due to heavy traffic. (A place which can normally be reached within 45 mins took us this much time). This was the first setback. But then, the anticipation of how the evening would go overpowered us. We brushed the negative thoughts aside and were eagerly waiting for our first ever garba evening to unfurl its true colors.

Post reaching the venue, the second setback was with respect to getting inside. There were no clear signboards anywhere and the only entry point was a crammed space that was set up near a puddle of water. We had to wade our way in to collect our passes- people were pushing each other and there was a frenzy to get in. We somehow managed to gather ourselves and get in without a scratch- but the way the event was organized left us disappointed. Clear sign boards, more entry points and people to help in crowd management could have made the entry smoother. Once again, we brushed this aside and told ourselves that the evening hasn't started yet and that we would dance to the fullest to forget both these setbacks.

Then came the biggest setback which was the shock of our lives. The songs that were played were not at all relevant to the theme of the evening! Most of the time Telugu and Hindi item songs were played. The background used while these songs were played was obnoxious. English popular hits were played too. At this point, it felt more like a DJ night in a pub than a garba night.

My mom and I didn't like the way things were going on, so we went to the visitors' gallery (which was essentially a stage like setup for people who want to enjoy the evening from afar). From there, the visuals we got to see was absolutely horrific. As the evening progressed, the number of people who were trying to enter the ground increased multifold, so much so, that the organisers had to ask the existing crowd to get down the stage and make way for the people coming in. The ground got filled and all we could see was only people's hands in the air while dancing (not even anyone's face). We were so worried that there might be a stampede, but we were lucky enough to come out of the venue and cross the entry chokepoint without a hassle. 

Honestly, that evening was one of our worst ones and it left me with several questions.

How can the organisers disrespect the festival by planning something so horrendous? I couldn't digest that at all. At one point, I even told my mom that we dancing at home to garba songs would give us more enjoyment than going to a place like this.

I am not against item songs or DJ nights. They are absolutely fun, people really get to relieve their stress, and they can completely enjoy. My question is very simple- why name an event as dandiya/garba night when you can't even respect the tradition? Instead, name it a DJ night and celebrate however you want with any kind of songs. Nobody is going to restrict you. Why bring in something in the first place when you can't even honor its significance properly? 

It feels like calling an event 'garba night' and integrating all vulgar aspects is an easy way to cash grab. Dancing for such cheap songs and getting scantily clad for attention in such festive events is such a disgrace. I might be sounding like a boomer, but I believe there is an appropriate place for everything- doing something that doesn't fit right in a place that is revered by many is a huge disrespect. Sexualising everything just for a few pennies isn't going to fetch anything- it is instead ruining the beauty of our Indian festivals. 

What can we do if we want to stop this rampant cash-grab that is happening under the name of our Indian festivals? We need to be more proactive and do a little bit of our own research before going to any cultural event like this. Check either through word of mouth or through the internet if the event is fitting the bill or not. In case the same organisers have conducted an event in the past, go through the pictures, have a look at the venue, the feasibility of travel (because there is a possibility of the event running late) and enquire about how the event is going to be conducted. Only if all of us step in together proactively and encourage those organisers who are both respecting the tradition as well as integrating fun into the event in a non-demeaning manner, we will be able to stop this travesty that is happening under the guise of tradition.

Wishing everyone a happy Dusshera! Hope Mata Rani's blessings are always bestowed on us and all of us come together to celebrate the festival in its true sense without any form of defilement.

                                         

                                                             - Anusha Sridhar