Take 9 - Rajesh Srivastava
My fondest memories of Navratri or Durga Puja are those of
the Garba Dance festival when I was in Baroda, my first posting back in 1994.
Those 9-days or rather nights I experienced the highest
level of aesthetics ever. Every evening, the entire city, as One, would
earnestly wait around 8pm for the air to be soon filled with soul enchanting
devotional songs of Maa Durga, sung typically in Gujarati Garbo style.
People, absolutely loving people, boys, girls, uncles, aunties, grandpas and
grandmas (with the highest standards of civic sense I have found anywhere
across the Indian subcontinent) in thousands, all dressed up in traditional Garbo
attire would slowly join in, barefoot, with or without Garba dancing sticks,
swaying together in concentric circles on the open, cleaned mud-prepared ground
like under a common hypnotic spell in complete Unison to Spiritual Harmony. We,
bunch of young officers, would at times hop from one Mela 'ground' to another
spread across the city on our bikes until morning. As each night transcended
into wee hours, there was no sign of tiredness but only the longing for one
more song. On the last three nights, as the feeling sunk in that Garba festival
will soon end, you could see people having wet eyes as the last mornings
dawned, until next year!
Not one untoward incident took place those days, as young
girls and boys roamed freely throughout the city, clad in jewelry, all night. I
often murmured to myself, this is Heavenly India!
We, IAF spoilt brats, would quite often leave behind our
bikes somewhere in the city, only for the police to decently return them back
to us next morning in the Officers Mess, Makarpura Palace. We took that as our
right, like we trust our parents.
I also see Durga Puja as a precursor to Deepawali and my
annual bonafide licence to splurge and indulge in all sorts of enviable but
harmless sins. 😉
Good memoir!
ReplyDeleteI had once visited Ahmedabad on an official visit during the Navratri time sometime in 1993 and though it was a short stay of just two nights, but yes i was mesmerized by the musical activities on the streets and parks and housing societies.. and i recollect i did not get to sleep for nearly sixty hours from the moment i stepped in to the Ahmd station until my exit and every moment was fun-filled in the company of my cheerful dealers who would take turns to take me around the vast and most clean city in India. Music with enchanting dances and food was all i loaded myself with. The memory often brings just a big smile. I just loved those two & a half days there
ReplyDeleteThat sounds exhilarating Tariq! 60 hours of no sleep! Really??!!
DeleteMy goodness, Rajesh!! You took us into those concentric never-ending circles! Enjoyed reading this! And, yes, Diwali is around the corner - indulge us in your memories of your enviable, but harmless sins - The Watering Hole awaits!
ReplyDeleteHeavenly India it is, especially during Navratri, and in the western parts. You’ve expressed the events really well in your unique style, just as you’ve honed your dandiya and garba dance skills!
ReplyDeleteI had participated in the garba in Ahmedabad cant. Vadodara garbas are massive things.Has to seen to be believed. Your account awakened many of mine.
ReplyDelete