By IANS,
Mumbai : Barely three weeks after the 12-day Ganpati festival, Mumbai will be decked up again for 10 days of Navratri celebrations that start Saturday. Nearly 2 million revellers are expected to participate in the festivities in 10,000 ‘mandals’ (groups) across the city and its suburbs.
Mumbai Navratra Utsav Mandal (MNUM) spokesman Manoj Kotak said the organisers are taking extra precautions this year in the wake of last year’s Mumbai terror attacks and the swine flu scare this year.
“The big ‘mandals’ (organisers) shall have their own private security, metal detectors at entrances and parking areas. Dog squads, closed circuit television cameras and strict entry norms will supplement the efforts of police at all venues,” Kotak said.
This year, on account of swine-flu, additional precautions shall be taken to screen people at the entry points.
“As during Ganeshotsav, those people found sneezing or coughing shall not be permitted to enter the venues as a precautionary measure,” he added.
The biggest events of the season are Falguni Pathak Navratri held in Goregaon east, followed by Priti-Pinki duo at Andheri west and Musa Paike at Kandivli west.
Besides these three, the other major events scheduled are Kishore Manraja at Mulund, Kora Kendra at Borivli, Bollywood music director Aadesh Shrivastava at Hotel Tulip Star, and Neeta Gala at Dadar.
One of the biggest in the eastern suburbs, the Jain Jagruti mandal will hold the event for only the last three days of the festival on account of the time limit of 10 p.m. imposed on festivities.
Another major group, the Ghatkopar Gujarati Samaj has opted out of the celebrations this year on account of the Maharashtra assembly elections, Kotak said.
On their part, the Mumbai youth are all set to make the best of the festival of dance, music and lights spread over nine nights.
“I shall be going to the Falguni Pathak nite and to some different local mandals along with my friends,” said Sejal N. Sheth, a public relations executive and a Navratri enthusiast.
Others, who are die-hard Navratri revellers, shall also take part in various competitions that are slated at various mandals. These range from best male and female dancers, best costumes, best new steps, etc for which prizes are given.
“Enthusiasts travel to Gujarat weeks before the festival to buy the costumes and jewellery worth anything from Rs.10,000 to Rs.100,000 for the season,” said Jyoti Sagar, an organizer with the Kamla Vihar Society in Kandivli west.
“That’s not all, they also attend special pre-Navratri dance classes to hone up their dancing skills, practice yoga and aerobics, take extra health and diet care, appoint a beautician for make-up to ensure they have an edge over others at the competitions,” Sagar said.
Apart from these commercial and competitive Navratri celebrations, there are others which are purely traditional, said senior mediaperson Dharmesh Bhatt.
“For instance, Musa Paike – a Muslim – is the city’s top singer for traditional navratri songs. At most mandals, the musicians, especially those who play the �dhol’ and �shehnai’ and string instruments are Muslims,” according to Bhatt.
Though signs of recession are evident – in the form of subdued publicity, decorations and hoardings, the entry point collections are doing well for the daily tickets (Rs.300 and above) and season tickets (between Rs.1,200 and Rs.3,000) at different venues.