The Hindu Business Line : Gujarat wakes up to <I>Garba</I> nights

SUDDENLY the sleep cycle of Gujarat has changed. People in the State are now trying to wind up work early, go home and take a short nap before waking up fresh for night-long festivities.

The Garba season is on. The nine-day festival is the time to make new friends, develop relationships and let loose completely.

As the State comes alive at night, a virtual riot of colours explodes at the Garba venues. Most gatherings have a strict dress code and you cannot hit the dance floor unless you are in traditional chania-choli (skirt-blouse for girls) or kurtas (for boys).

It is also the time when handicraft artists from Kutchch and other parts of the State make a killing while meeting the demand for traditional outfits. The artists are estimated to do a business of nearly Rs 30 crore in the run-up to the festival.

Although exact figures of spending across the State for the festivities are difficult to compile, estimates put the amount at nearly Rs 350 crore.

While Gujarat dances through the nights for the next nine days during Navaratri, purists in Gujarat are questioning the crass commercialisation of the festival, meant to invoke the different manifestations of Shakti, the goddess of power.

Corporate India looks at the dance festival as a marketing opportunity and most festivities form a vehicle for displaying brands.

Not to be left behind, the Gujarat Government is using the event to showcase the State and has invited investors to sample the "longest dance festival in the world." "What you see in Ahmedabad is not the real Navaratri. For that, one has to travel to smaller towns. In cities, the festival has got so commercialised that it has completely lost its purity and character. Most people do not even understand its significance," laments the Chief Executive of a Gujarat-based company who did not wish to be identified as his company itself had been "forced" to sponsor some events.

The head honcho said a fair amount of moral corruption has also crept into the festivities. "Parents become more liberal about the deadlines for their children to return home. With the youth being given the freedom to stay out well past midnight, many youngsters misuse the opportunity. That explains a sudden spurt in the illegal sale of alcohol before Navaratri and a high rate of teenage abortion in the weeks following the festival," he said.

But the chief of an event management firm thinks otherwise. "We have to respect contemporary culture and welcome change instead of trying to cling on to the past. Sponsorships have brought a fair amount of glamour to the festivities and people go there to get entertained. If the companies are able to derive some mileage in the bargain, there is no harm in it. After all, this is the peak buying season across the country," he said.

Gujarat's youth clearly support the latter view as they head for the dance floors. As youngsters hop between garba venues and haggle for passes for favourite hotspots, do not be surprised to find young ladies in back-less blouses floating on the streets in the dead of the night!