Dancing With The Enemy

Chandrakanth Shah is taking no chances this time. The Ahmedabad-based businessman has given his cellphone to his college-going daughter Shreya when she goes out celebrating Navratri, the festival of nine nights that normally brings a major season of revelry in Gujarat. "At least, she will be able to contact us in case of any trouble during her night out," says Shah. Shreya herself is not too upbeat about dancing the nights to folk garba tunes, thanks to the Gujarat government implementing the 10 pm loudspeakers-off deadline set by the Supreme Court to curb noise pollution. Then there's the stifling security to ward off possible terrorist attacks in a riot-scarred state. "At the parking lot outside the garba venue, the cops ask for your licence. Then you are frisked by metal detectors before entry. And at 10 pm, they tell you to go home," cribs Shreya. Adds another unhappy college-goer, Punita Ojha, who lives in Vadodara, the state's garba 'capital': "It takes more than an hour to dress up for the garba everyday, and you have only as much time to dance. What's the point?"

Good question. There is fear over Gujarat after the communal riots earlier this year and the terrorist attack on the Akshardham temple recently. Add to this the 10 pm deadline, and it has effectively put a dampener on the Navratri festivities in Gujarat. This is the time when young boys and girls, togged out in backless cholis and sporting tattoos, let their hair down and dance their blues away to folk and disco music. But this year, prying cops, tense parents and a court order have made Gujarat's most colourful festival a tame affair.

There have been a few exceptions to the rule though: at some venues in Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot, revellers have openly violated the 10 pm deadline, and danced till midnight, after lowering the volume. But for most locals, this year's Navratri is a flop show. "Real garba, as every year, should start around 11.30 pm and then pick up to end in the wee hours," says Surat's Viral Jariwala. "There is no fun. It has all been very dull and irritating this year," adds Jaishree Vyas in Rajkot.

The dark shadow of communal violence and terrorism is certainly playing a major spoilsport this year. People live in fear of the next attack, and many have decided to stay away from the festival. "Anything can happen in Gujarat these days. Who knows what will happen if somebody plays a prank during the garba?" asks Chetna Vashi of Ahmedabad. It is this fear that has kept 16-year-old Isha Dave indoors this year. "My parents told me we can't take any risk. And they are not wrong," she says.

A number of impresarios and organisations who put up hugely profit-making events in the past have also cancelled their shows this year because of the security paranoia. One of them is Bhawan Bharwad, who hosts garba at his sprawling garden restaurant on the Gandhinagar-Ahmedabad highway. He fumes: "First the government asked me to submit the names and addresses of security personnel I would employ at the venue. I did. Then they told me to engage women guards and give their names and addresses. I complied. Then they told me to give a list of the people who would participate in the event. This was too much! We receive about 10,000 people every night during Navratri. When I issue tickets to people, how do I know who will come and who won't? I cancelled the event, even though it meant a loss of Rs 5 lakh for the stage, singers and other things that had been fixed well in advance." The ymca, who usually organise one of the biggest and most happening garbas in Ahmedabad, has also cancelled it this time. Says John Geevarghese, ymca chairman: "We dropped the idea after the court deadline diktat and the fear among the people after the Akshardham incident.Security is a concern."

Other organisers like soi, an advertising agency, gambled and took up 10 lakh sq ft space for garba this year, up from 4 lakh sq ft last year. Now Himanshu Shah of the agency admits that the agency gave away some 1,000 free tickets to students of an Ahmedabad college because of poor turnout. soi was also forced to float an incentive scheme, offering dinner to those who came to the venue and bought tickets. The Wide Angle multiplex, another garba organiser, resorted to similar freebies to pull in the crowds. Now Shah is desperate to draw the crowds: "We have decided to flout the 10 pm deadline. All the organisers have decided to do this now." As the week ended, some organisers reported higher turnouts after they kept the loudspeakers blaring well after ten in the night.

But for a true picture of Navratri in a time of fear, head to the famous 'United Arkee' garba, Vadodara's largest event at the city's Laxmi Palace grounds. "There was almost no response for the first couple of days, but it's now picking up," says Yogesh Akolkar who organises the garba. He reckons some 50,000 people were attending it during the weekend nights. But Akolkar, like businessman Shah, isn't taking any chances: his garba ground looks like a veritable fortress with 150 security guards, 500 volunteers with metal detectors and 400 policemen keeping guard. When fear is the key, it takes a lot of effort and money to keep the festive spirit going.