By THERESA MICHEAL : DANCING TO THE DANDIYA BEAT : October is a very special month for the Angel Rangers who have been harmonizing the neighborhood with the taste of community development through traditional and cultural programs like Navaratri, Diwali, Christmas, etc. To celebrate the essence of tradition, the founders of the Angel Rangers, a group created by the kids, for the kids, and of the kids, will be organizing Colorful Dandiya Nights, where they will invite their neighbors, friends and relatives to come together to do the Circle Dance of Dandiya. From making the decorations to designing the traditional coustumes the kids will be incharge for making their own little success stories. Theresa Micheal, Maninder Nagi, Vandana Singh, Shanta Devi, who have been supporting the kids with the art and direction of the culture and traditions. It is wonderful to see where generally people would like to come back after a hard days of work to get refreshed in this form of dancing.
The Angel Rangers is a group of children from different schools who come together to flock they wings of friendship. The group has been started by the brother and sister Shania and Kabir who came into the city three years ago, to make friends for a life time, soon the chain of friendship became a chain of events they host for an entire year to make all the days memorable. They promote, “Children who play together, live happily ever after.” The other kids who make the team spirit better are Vatsal age 7 an icon of obedience, Pahul age 9 an icon of dedication, Nandini Bharadwaj age 4, an icon of good manners is always good, Ruhani Babbar age 7, an icon of sharing is caring, Aarthi Shriram age 8, an icon of grace is beautiful, and Lavanya age 4, an icon who will never stop till it is completed.
It is evening of event where everyone wants to dance and making pairs of new friendship, withtraditional attires, equipped with the Dandiya sticks, followed the rhythms of the playing band, and the kids DJ’s the music to spring into the action mode of dancing till you drop. As the music unfolds slow steps to get into the groove, soon will be taking a faster rhythm and faster footsteps along with the dandiyas to be played with their partners, in a synchronized manner.
The first day begins with the sowing of barley seeds, which will be potted and be measure us for our strength of faith, hope and love. The tradition and culture, will enable us to each respect other by wearing the ghagras, cholis, kurtas and other accessories, the one who is dressed for the occasion and wears all the accessories will be declared the winners. Children will be given workshops on healthy snacking and will be introduced to the Gujarati Thali, a menu of traditionally made home cooked meals, the dhokla is the favorite snack for kids and elders, but there is more than the dhokla, which are still unknown to most people will be the lime to add light to the Gujarati gastro delights.
The participants get engrossed in just trying to get all the things right, from taking the first step of dancing to dancing into the next level. They will begin with learning the art of renewing the decoration from unused gift wrapping paper, using of recyclable dandiya sticks to save trees, using of natural lights to save power, using of traditional dhols to avoid noise pollution, and to sing their own songs to fill the event with the inborn gifts talent such as songs and dances.
It is truly an event designed to harmonies the community to unite and to create some memorable moments. This year, Theresa Micheal will introduce the chief guest will be a ten year old boy who will showcase his art of living talent through his mehendi designs, which he does better than all professional designers just for a living.
The event will be graced by the well known Physician, Cardiologist, Kindergarten to Corporate Trainer and Author of the Best Seller of ” Please Mom, It’s My Life Dr Jaideep Singh Chadha.