Meet the ‘dancing queen’ of Navrathri

If you’ve watched any American high school romcom, you would have come across a prom scene. The most popular boy and girl win the Prom King and Queen title… what if we told you there was one such queen in our midst, who won her crown during Navrathri and not in high school?

Meet Manasi Mehta, a Chennai-based student pursuing architecture. She’s somewhat a local celebrity among her family and friends for she has won the title of best performer at so many dandiya and garba competitions that she’s lost count. The 21-year-old took to dancing when she could just about walk — “I’ve been participating in Navrathri competitions since I was four or five years old I think,” says the jovial youngster.

This year too, she’ll be showing off her steps at dandiya and garba competitions and it all began thanks to her mom, she says. “Since I was very young, my mom would take me for all such competitions. I didn’t really have to go for classes because I picked up the steps watching her. She loves dancing and she is the reason I love it,” says Manasi, recalling how much fun she has while playing dress up with her mom and going dancing through the night.

“It’s a tradition in the Gujarati and Rajasthani communities to dance through the night during Navrathri. On the tenth day after the festival, the best dancer is awarded. On each of the nine days, one performer is picked and the ultimate competition is held among them for the grand finale prize,” explains the youngster, who has won the best performer title on one of the nine days almost every single time she’s taken part since childhood. She has won the overall ‘queen’ title twice so far.

Manasi has trained in Bharatanatyam too for the past 15 years, and she says the classical dance form, dandiya and garba complement each other. She feels, “Each form helps during performances of the other in terms of stamina. It also helps understand rhythm and beat better — I’ve noticed that Bharatanatyam makes picking up any other style easier, even salsa and hip hop.”

Does she have any tips for first-time dandiya and garba aspirants? “The event venues are the perfect place to discover new fashion trends — for example, last year, some groups wore one common colour on each of the nine days. Sporting turbans and sunglasses along with the kediyus (traditional dancing attire worn by the men) is a new trend,” she says. “As for the girls, some of them have ditched the ankle-length chaniya cholis for kediyus too!” she adds.