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'We are here to promote authentic Gujarati culture'
October 6, 2008
Backstage, an exhausted and sweat soaked Falguni retires to her dressing room, virtually spent from her demanding performance. Still, she stops to talk for a few seconds, mentioning that the crowd is excellent this year, that it's an honour to sing devotional songs and that Navratri is her favourite time of year. She also explains that, for her, "Navrati is the festival of my Goddess, first of all. Secondly, it is a festival of music."
Out on the main platform, with Falguni now offstage and the cleaning staff beginning their work, a few lone hanger-ons sit in a semi-circle, chatting as a family. From an elderly uncle down to a two-year-old boy, the whole spectrum of age is on display. Though their interests certainly differ, with the clear generation gaps between them, celebrating Navatri remains a positive, family-building experience, much like it is for Nandini and the Shah family.
"During Navratri, people do the garba," one of the family members explains. "And garba is a folk dance of Gujarat. So we are here to promote authentic Gujarati culture, along with the traditional costumes… In the recent past, people have been blaming Navratri, (saying) that youngsters use this as a getaway from their parents and for flirting and everything. We are strongly against that. I'm here with my whole family and we strongly promote the Indian culture, the Gujarati culture... And this is one of the best places to be (for Navratri); that's why we are here."
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