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Journalism of Courage
As Navratri is being observed in many parts of India, people are getting ready in their dandiya outfits to celebrate the nine-day festival with merriment. Dandiya and garba are folk dances that originated in Gujarat.
Recently, MP Shashi Tharoor shared a video of a folk dance from Kerala that looked a lot like dandiya-garba.
The video shows a group of women dressed in Kasavu sarees and dancing with each other using sticks. It appears that the clip was taken during a public procession as people are seen watching the dancers from the sidelines of the road.
While sharing this clip, Tharoor wrote, “Attention Gujarati sisters! This Navaratri, check out dandiya Kerala style!”. This post on X has gathered over 1.4 lakh views so far and thousands of likes.
An X user commented on it: “It’s same, only our sticks are smaller, grace is same, fun is same :)”. Another person remarked, “Thanks for sharing I never knew Kerala had Navaratri and Kerala style dandiya just loving it.” An X user joked, “no wonder they’re taking revenge from Gujarati people for inventing chocolate dosa”.
In Kerala, the Kolkali dance form and its many variations are performed using small sticks. These group dance forms are popular in the Malabar region of the southern state. The women’s version of Kolkali dance is called Kolattam. As per a blog posted on the Kerala Tourism website, the origin of the Kolkali dance can be traced to the “ancient days when Kalarippayattu, a martial art of Kerala, was in vogue”.
