In continuation with its theme the second day of the Folk Festival, Kamala Nehru College witnessed some more performances from the various corners of India.
The one-man puppet show in the early half of the festival was a a crowd gatherer. A hit with the audience, this Rajasthani culture set the mood for the rest of the day. This was followed by Bihu, an Assamese dance form. The girls performing Bihu were all still in school and had come all the way for the festival. The dance which literally made the crowd dance to its tune was Bhangra. A highly energetic dance, this folk performance from Punjab had the dancers and audience dancing together off the stage. Manipur’s Stick Dance or Pung Cholom was an exhilarating one where the solo dancer balanced an hour glass shaped stick while performing stunts throughout.
Shri Prem Singh Dehati, a well known theater and folk artist and recipient of numerous awards including the Saneet Natak Akademi Award entertained the audience with his rendition of Bollywood lifting songs from Haryanvi folk and jokes on the culture differences while performing his folklore. This was followed by a Kashmiri dance and a tribal dance from Madhya Pradesh. The tribe people had come all the way from near the border of Chhatisgarh. While thanking the audience and the performers, the Principal of the College, Ms. Minoti Chatterjee called the festival an effort made by the college teachers for the students, “This all was done so that you urban women can see and understand the rest of India,” she said.
The food at the festival was a treat for the taste buds, to say the least. The Nagaland Chicken Thali, had chicken cooked with sesame seeds and the local yellow dal. The most popular stall was perhaps Puchka or Pani Puri stall. The Rajasthan stall was soon over with their Pyaaz ki Kachori, Jalebi and Kulhad wali chai. The Bihar stall served Lithi Choka and Papaya shake while the Punjab stall had the delicious Pav Bhaji. Maharashtra and Gujarat also had a stall serving Vada Pao and Bhujia.
The final performance of the day was by the college students who created a fashion show with the students dressed up in their local state dress. This was a method to make the college body aware of the diversity that existed in all of them and to appreciate and respect this difference. This was followed by a vote of thanks by the Teacher Coordinators.
Images: Yashika Sunaria, Kamala Nehru College
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