Campaigning

 

Today is election day in Maharashtra. This is a photo of the campaigning by a political party that went on in Bandra in my corner of the world on the day before. Am off to vote now!

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Khand lake

As and when the travel restrictions are lifted the 1st place I will ride to is Khand lake on the outskirts of Mumbai. Do visit my travel blog at Travel Magic to check out my love for travel.

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The Hapoos Mango

 It's the mango season and the Hapoos mango is here! Hapoos is the Indianised name of the delicious Alphonso mango. 

The 'Alphonso' mango is a named mango cultivar that originated in India. The variety is named after Afonso de Albuquerque, a Portuguese general and military expert who helped establish Portuguese colonies in India. The Portuguese introduced grafting on mango trees to produce varieties like Alphonso. The Alphonso is also one of the most expensive varieties of mango, and is grown mainly in western India. Wikipedia

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Work in progress

The Ganesha festival is approaching hence work on the idols is in full swing at the studios all over Maharashtra. This one is in Parel, Mumbai.

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Crossover

During peak hours one has to crossover from one boat to another to step on land while going to Elephanta caves in Mumbai.

Thursday Challenge - Simple

Simple beauty in Maharashtra Nature Park in Mahim.

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Our World - Lavani

Lavani is a combination of traditional song and dance in Maharashtra, which is performed to the beats of 

Dholak and Tabla. It is noted for its powerful rhythm and erotic sentiment and has contributed substantially 

to the development of Marathi folk theatre.  

Traditionally, the word Lavani is derived from the word lavanya which means beauty and is performed by 

women wearing nine-yard long saris and adorned with jewelery.

This genre of folk dance deals with different subject matters like religion, politics and romance. The songs in 

'Lavani' are mostly erotic and the dialogues tend to be risque in socio-political satire.

Originally, it was used as a form of entertainment and morale booster to the tired soldiers. Although the origins of Lavani can be traced back to 1560s, it came into prominence during the later days of Peshwa rule.

Honaji Bala introduced tabla in place of the traditional dholki and developed the baithakichi Lavani, a sub-genre, which is presented by the singer in the seated position.

Mohanabai Mahalangrekar, daughter of a nomadic harmonium player grew up performing the suggestive 

songs and dance moves of lavani in villages across Maharashtra. She never went to school, and the traditional Maharashtrian folk dance has been her bread and butter for 40 years now.

Mumbai-based Akanksha Kadam, on the other hand, was introduced to lavani 12 years ago and the 27-

year-old is now popular for the fast-paced, Bollywood-style lavani that she performs in stage shows.

Both of them have their own bands of dancers and musicians and perform this wonderful form of dance in various places throughout the country and sincerely hope that it is not looked down upon but given a stamp of respectability and honour that it deserves as a dance form.
The dance form had acquired such a bad reputation that there was a time when there no women ready to get into it and males had to dress as women and perform. There are 2 real good male performers even today. They are

Anand Satam

and Anil Hankare.
Do check out the slide show below of Lavani - the dance and the dancers! Click on it to see it enlarged in a new window.

All these pictures were taken at a show in Mumbai presented by Bhushan Korgaonkar.

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Thursday challenge - Music

 

Making music in the Mahim Nature Park.

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