SATURDAY, 19TH SEPTEMBER - NAVRATRI

They dance for 9 nights - it all began at about 9 p.m. Area had been cordoned off and the sand sprinkled with water. A platform arranged in the centre for the musicians. People selling drinks, sweet lime, tea and coffee were on hand and crowds began to drift in. Passed some girls dressed for the dancing - I liked the way they had co-ordinated their skirts and tops in different colours and then the colourful and glittering dupatta draped gracefully over the shoulder and tucked into the waistband of the skirt. What I was unprepared for was the nudity !! Most wore backless tops down to just below the waist. The men wore a variety of different things with colourful shirts.

At first a few people drifted into the arena and began dancing the garba slowly - the line became progressively longer as more and more people joined in - the musicians were beating out the rhythm slowly at first and then louder and faster, joined by percussion instruments and the dancers, perspiring and girating began shouting and clapping their hands in time to the music as they danced. Sequins and mirrors on the costumes glinted in the light and the whole scene glowed like something out of Bollywood. All were bare foot because it is a religious dance - the first three days you shed your impurities, the next three you gain in spirit and the next three in wealth.

Seeing the girls with their backless tops, was such a contrast to the way they dress when they are on their mopeds - there they wear scarves completely covering their heads and faces so only their eyes show - this has become a fashion but is also to protect their skin from the sun. I couldn't help thinking how much control they were demonstrating - revealing themselves or covering themselves completely, as and when they wished. Surely a sign of emancipation ! Open to the peer group but closed to the world at large.