Dandiya in the West
This year Melbourne celebrated Navratri like never before, with at least eight different groups vying to put on the best show in town. Sangam Community Association lead the way in hoisting its first major ‘Dandiya in the West’ event with great pomp and show on October 9.
The event was planned to suit families with children and the organisers were ready to welcome everyone at 5pm with funky and traditional Garba/Raas tunes. Patrons were treated with a complementary pair of ‘dandiya‘ sticks on arrival. The bright colours of these dandiya with small metallic bells embellishing each pair delighted patrons, as was evident from the smiles on their faces and sparkles in their eyes. A beautifully adorned photo of the deity ‘Maa Durga’ in the middle of the ground was surrounded by the typical fragrance of incense sticks throughout the hall. The scene instantly connected all to the religious aura around the celebration of Navratri, symbolising prosperity and victory of good over evil.
The indoor sports ground of Caranballac college in Point Cook was transformed into a colourful village from Gujarat in India, as ladies walked about in bright chaniya cholis with beautiful embroidery, decorative mirrors or shells, and variations of lehenga sarees. The men wore traditional kurtas with various modern designs. Everyone seemed to have come with a determination to impress the crowd with their glittering trinkets and to showcase the best of the garba/raas dance.
Dignitaries Jill Hennessey, MP Member for Altona; Andrew Elsbury, Liberal Candidate for the western metropolitan region and Wesa Chau, recipient of the Young Victorian of the Year 2010 award were well received. They soon found themselves learning the steps of this traditional dance and couldn’t resist getting in sync with the colourful crowd, which had by now completely immersed itself in the rhythm of popular and funky tunes. The organisers continually did their best to get everyone involved by providing quick lessons to anyone who chose to hit the dance floor.
After about two hours of non-stop garba/raas, patrons were treated to a sumptuous Indian buffet dinner, and people could be heard sharing nostalgic moments of similar celebrations back in their homeland. Usually a heavy Indian meal leads to drowsiness, but amazingly, the crowd was back on the floor with a vengeance for more and they kept dancing to their heart’s content.
Traditional Aarti was performed and everyone went into a religious mood to receive blessings from deity ‘Maa Durga’ to conclude the Garba/Raas programme. Many in the crowd were eagerly waiting to shake their legs, hands and body for the next session of the evening to hit the dance floor with ‘Bhangra’ – one of the most popular dance forms from the North Indian state of ‘Punjab’; which has become an iconic dance forms representing Indians around the world.
The traditional tunes gave way to the funky tunes of ‘Bhangra’ with Bollywood remixes done beautifully by the live DJ and colourful laser lights adding beauty and style. The streaks of colours from the lasers and the smoke to rave up the party mood of patrons didn’t help those patrons who till now tried to resist hitting the dance floor, and now the party was in full swing. As the clock ticked towards the end, patrons felt a sense of complete satisfaction to have celebrated the event with full fervour.
Throughout the event and especially towards the end, the organisers were flooded with patrons praising the professionalism with which each and every aspect of the event was take care of and also increased membership enquiries for Sangam Community Association.
The event concluded by thanking a list of volunteers and sponsors Bright Home Constructions, Keen to Clean, Stockdale & Leggo, Sweet India, judges awarding prizes for the best dancers/costumes and the organisers requesting support from anyone interested in joining Sangam Community Association to volunteer support and to do their bit to engage with our Communities.
Sangam Community Association, a not-for-profit organisation (Reg. No. – A0041850R), has been serving the community for nearly a decade. Formed in 2001, Sangam has organized variety of events such as “World on Stage” – multicultural dance, Valentine’s dinner and dance, Trip on Yarra, Diwali Mela, snow trip to Mt Buller and many more.. to bring together the community to celebrate heritage, culture and tradition.
For any enquiries on membership, upcoming events or volunteering support to Sangam Community Association, email at sangamassociation@yahoo.com.au
This prepaid event was ‘Sold Out’ before the event and the phones kept ringing on the day of the event from wannabe patrons checking out for any unsold tickets to organisers delight.
