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Journalism of Courage
Nisha Bubna won the Best Married Lady Dancer title at a Navratri festival two years ago. The itch to click sticks still hasn8217;t left her. So thrice a week, the 31-year-old attends a private tuition class in Mumbai8217;s Jogeshwari for married women who want to learn the garba and dandiya.
Finding the time to hotstep isn8217;t easy for the mother of a five-year-old son who also works for a well-known publishing house. But Bubna manages to squeeze in those two-hour sessions with her 8216;8216;dandiya guru8217;8217;.
8216;8216;I can8217;t bear to be an overweight and boring woman just because I am a mother,8217;8217; she says. 8216;8216;The Navratri festival is a big deal for us Gujjus, and I want to be there in all my finery, looking better than the other women.8217;8217;
What8217;s her song of choice this season? 8216;8216;Recently, we did a great mix of Eminem8217;s My Band and Odhni Odhu, a Rajasthani folk song,8217;8217; says Bubna.
Another groovy couple are the Shahs. Mehul, 31, and Kajal, 22, who call themselves the Masti Makers, coach the bejewelled ladies of Kemps Corner and Napean Sea Road. For Rs 800 a pop, the power couple train their students to come out tops at family functions, weddings and festivals.
Come October, and preparations begin for dandiya competitions. 8216;8216;The trend is mixing numbers like Mahi Ve with traditional garba steps,8217;8217; says Kajal.
Vasundhara Shastri, 42, grooves to Dhoom Machale from the just-out Dhoom. Does she know that the film is about brawny bikers and that it might just be a tad difficult to do the raas leela to this beat?
8216;8216;Arre, but the song has a dholak beat,8217;8217; she laughs. And is Mr Shastri her partner on the dance floor, too?
8216;8216;Oh, he can8217;t dance. He has a business to look after and doesn8217;t have much time. But my nephews are very sweet, they dance with me at Navratri.8217;8217;
Is the training really important? An incredulous look. 8216;8216;You mean there are ladies who do not learn how to dance?8217;8217;
Aanchal Gupta, 25, who organises workshops for aspiring social performers at her swank studio in centrally located Sion, has students of all ages seeking to learn to mix hip hop steps with traditional raas garba music.
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TOP OF THE TUNES
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| 8226; Shakira8217;s Whenever, Wherever 8226; Eminem8217;s My Band 8226; Lou Bega8217;s Mambo Number 5 8226; Blue8217;s One Love 8226; Falguni Pathak8217;s Yaad Piya Ki Aane Lagi 8226; Asha Bhosle8217;s Sharara Sharara 8226; Daler Mehndi8217;s Hamne Pakad Li Hai 8226; Shubha Mudgal8217;s Ayo Re Maaro Dholna 8226; Lagan Lagi from Tere Naam |
Gupta has even arranged for a professional dancer from London to organise a workshop on what she calls 8216;masala dandiya8217;. Shell out Rs 1,200 for eight one-hour sessions twice a week for a month, and the stage is set. The music is traditional but the dance steps will be zingier.
Vinti Awasthi also adores the masala variety of garba. She began informally with pals, practising a few steps just before Navratri. Five years ago, as she was horsing around with them at a Falguni Pathak concert in Goregaon, Pathak herself walked up and told her she was good.
8216;8216;Three years after that incident, I set up a class for men and women who wanted to brush up on their dandiya skills,8217;8217; she says.
There8217;s been no looking back. In her tiny box-like flat in Santacruz, Awasthi takes four women through the motions8212;from garba to the Yana Gupta item Oh! What a Babe from Rakht.
8216;8216;My brother has put in some special effects into the song, so the fast bits in the song are a bit slower to suit the pace of garba.8217;8217; Easy does it.
