It was like a vigorous Indian head massage.
A head massage in which the vertical strikes of the palm make your head spin in a tempestuous frenzy and your senses lose direction.
The drums of the schoolboy, Santrupth, in the Indian Cultural Show at the PDO Club last weekend had this effect on the audience. Towards the end of his performance, our hearts thumped and our feet tapped as if they had a mind of their own. We rose up to give him a big applause.
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The show began with a Fusion Orchestra which invoked a divine medley with a salutation to Lord Ganesh and the soulful rendition of ‘Bismillah’.
The singers sang some of our favourite Bollywood numbers like ‘Disco Deewane’, ‘Deewana Hua Badal’, ‘Jaaneman Jaaneman’ and the evergreen hit ‘Dama dum mast kalandar’. They set the rhythm for an evening filled with music and dance.
The Carnatic classical and Instrumental Fusion was a treat to ears trained to the subtleties of Indian classical music.
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A dramatic display by children in various yoga positions inspired the youngest members in the audience to clap in admiration. As they balanced their bodies on their hands and heads, we watched with awe and wondered how long they must have practised to perfect these postures and to present the show as a synchronised whole. One curly-haired little girl smiled sweetly throughout the performance while she did the most difficult postures with ease.
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Most Indians love to dance. Perhaps that’s the reason why we have so many regional folk dances.
The dolls who presented the Punjabi folk dance, Bhangra, danced with gay abandon. A young girl, Rewa, gyrated in her multicoloured skirt and filled up the stage while enthralling us with her facial expressions. Lavni, a folk dance form from Maharashtra, was performed gracefully by ladies in nine-yard sarees. A group of school girls in glittery costumes punched freshness into the show with their Bollywood medley performance. A Kathakali dancer displayed emotions with the help of her gestures and expressions.
The grand finale of the show was a Gujarati folk dance called Garba. As the dancers flitted about in their bright mirrorwork skirts, and matched the pace of the quickening drum beat, we had the feeling of a vigorous head massage again!
Well done, friends!
Kya baat!
(The Indian Section of the RAHRC, Muscat, presented the Indian Cultural Show on 17th and 18th May, 2014.)
