Holiday season in India is marked with lights, folk dances, fares, shopping, sweets, handicrafts and rangoli’s – which makes everyone from college hip-hop kids to professionals taking to large event arenas during the festival. It starts with Navratri (celebrating various moods and forms of Goddess Durga), thus heralding a season of upcoming Hindu festivals from Dussehra to Diwali.
Must-Read because Garba is:
- A dance form
- Performed during Navratri
- Layered with the symbolism of feminine divine (Maa Durga)
- Often referred to as “Garba-Raas”
- It is both meditative and a workout
- Lyrics and percussion make for great music
- Traditional attire involves flowing “skirts” for both men and women
- If we hear fun, our candle burns at both ends!
Garba dance, performed with help of dandiya sticks is a ‘socio-religious’ folk dance originating from Indian state Gujarat and popularly performed/played across all states of India by men and women in groups. Wooden sticks are beautifully decorated to match up with colorful attire that always has a scope for innovation, improvisation and lots of creativity.
At Konstant, we motivate our employees to express who they are and change how people feel about them. Through the language of feeling, creative problem solving and inspiring activities we go beyond the purely visual to create identity, authenticity, and meaning. On the first Saturday of every month, we strive to bring authenticity and feeling good into the Monday to Friday (of coming weeks) agendas of all our stakeholders.
We conducted a Dandiya Evening on the first Saturday of October. Program Highlights included Games, Ramp walk, Mr. Dandiya Eve and Ms. Dandiya Eve (Prizes for best traditional dress up) and Dandiya Group Dance.
As the drums rolled, participants were called up on stage to showcase their talent and perform as instructed. As the sticks of the dandiyas, struck together in a rhythm it produced foot-tapping musical waves.
Watching all participants dance was like listening to their hearts speak. All that was important in that one moment were colors, music, and movement. The clanking of dandiya sticks made the grooves ever more ecstatic.
Dance is a very energetic and fast-paced activity that leaves no scope for lethargy. The person at the music player corner acted as ‘meddale’ or the drummer, who lead the dancers with his beats. The site of hundreds of people swaying on the beats of folk music was awe-inspiring. Games were followed by ramp walk and group dance. As the colors of Navratri spread the message of joy and harmony, best-dressed performers were announced:
- Mr. Dandiya Eve: Leeladhar Sharma
- Ms. Dandiya Eve: Neeti Kotia
Garba is a participatory type of folk art that is beyond learning and tenets. As it marks the incumbency of good times, it is a very meaningful ritual for females because it honors the Goddess Durga (Shakti) and also their ability for creation. The event concluded with the distribution of movie vouchers for two lucky winners:
- Mr. Sumant Kumar Shrivastav
- Mr. Ravi Chomal
How we wish to have a word that describes what we feel, but we look forward to constant participation and never stop having fun!