Nayan Mongia has a date with Kanpurites

kanpur: boys and girls, young and old, all enthusiastically celebrated the navratri dandiya with nain mongia, the former indian wicket keeper and his wife tanu at sprawling pragati plaza. the presence of former miss india mehar bhasin, sweta menon, anchal gulati and ten other beauty queens added colour to the show. mongia described the show as one of the best he has attended in the state.he said through these celebrations people visualise the magic of mythological power. it's not only from east to west but also from north to south right from kashmir to kanyakumari everybody celebrate dandiya with fun and frolic. as against the general perception, the dandiya is also very much for the middle aged and elderly people. it's not always that you have to be a part of that latkas and jhatkas. but some like to enjoy themselves by just sitting back, relaxing and watching the teenagers and the youth participating in this colourful masti, music and dance mania with all vigour and joy. though dandiya has its roots in gujarat, the dance form is organised in all corners of the country. the preparation for this mega celebration begins months before navratri. be it booking of venues or buying of dresses, the tempo starts building right from the month of july and continues even weeks after the vijaydashmi. come october and kanpur city swings into the navratri mood. the 8,000 sq. ft. pragati plaza where this program was organised, for a moment seemed to have come to life when numerous colourful, dancing lights fell on it. this glaring event continued till late night where people of every age group were singing, dancing and enjoying. girls in traditional gujarati attire and their counterpart in kurta-pajama were having a whale of a time. with initial hiccups even elderly couldn't control themselves and moved on to shake their legs.