Devang Patel’s Dandiya Night a hit! PUNEET ANAND reports
A fabulous crowd gathered at the Macedonian Community Centre, North Perth, in late September to dance to the tunes of the King of Dandiya, Devang Patel.
Organised by Amin Events, the atmosphere inside completely took everyone back to their Gujarati roots.
Young people dressed in traditional attire, with girls in chaniya cholis, graced with beads and mirror work, ranging from the traditional to modern incarnations, beaming with their bindis, sparkling bangles, jhumkas, bajubandh and kangans.
The boys looked dashing in kurta pyjamas and bandhinis with a few even donning turbans.
Gradually the hall began to fill up and in some time the radiant Badshah himself captured the mood of Navratra and made everyone spin to his famous Gujarati numbers.
Shuchita Vyas and Jay Chavda accompanied him with their equally magical voices. They amalgamated Gujarati and Bollywood songs superbly to lift the audience’s level of excitement. They even sang Falguni Pathak’s famous tune ‘meri chunar udd udd jaye’.
Out on the dancefloor, there was a statue of Goddess Shakti and a glowing lamp which the audience danced around in circular patterns. This dance is traditional in the Indian state of Gujarat and it symbolises the cyclical journey of life, from birth to life, to death and rebirth.
Heni Khambhati popped in to say that her husband was at work, but she came all the way alone as she did not want to miss this grand show.
Leena Joshi, a stall holder, said she received very few visitors to her lehengas stall as everyone was too busy dancing. Margaret who attended the evening after her close friend insisted, and she was very happy to have come.
A young girl named Ayushi Shah from Sydney danced with her sister. Along with her group of dynamic friends, they came to enjoy the night and were all having a blast. Their faces revealed their hearts.
Not only Gujaratis but Punjabis also were trying their hands at Dandiya and Garba. New mums were shaking their legs while dadis and nanis took care of the tiny ones at home.
To keep everyone’s energy up, there were splendid food stalls serving lip smacking pani puris, samosas, vada pav, rose falooda, tea and coffee.
The night definitely stood up to the Gujarati diaspora’s expectations.
Surely the people are going to feel high spirited for next few weeks!
