Navratri Night with celebrations — Food and Dandiya
Blessings of Mighty Durga Mata ringing the Navratri bells
Durga Ma’s Blessings in the auspicious occasion of Navratri
Navratri bells rang now as there was Navratri celebration day this Saturday for our resident community. Navratri holds its relevance for me as a lady because it celebrates Lady Goddess — Durga Ma.
There is a striking way Durga Goddess was portrayed with her seated on a tiger.
This struck me because things are opposite for me as my cat Garu sits on my lap.
My cat Garu — he sits on my lap, while Durga Ma sits on her tiger cat!
Yet, I appreciate that a women goddess is given reverence — she has earned it with her stories of brave deeds where through her might she vanquished demons and evil.
Definitely, stories of women heroes both human and gods should be told and celebrated to inspire girls to believe in their strength and apply them — to pursue daring activities, live adventures, pursue challenges and live freely without restrictions and without being bound by fear that still paralyzes life of us women.
Be that as it may — this celebration was open for all of us to enjoy Navratri celebration but this year I found one reason to cherish Navratri– because it’s a festival that celebrates a goddess’s strength and might.
Flavors illuminating the background for the upcoming Navratri celebrations
What caught my attention in the beginning was this card put on WhatsApp that announced celebration of Navratri with the dinner menu already laid out.
Navratri Dinner with Dandiya celebrations card
Of course — I had to wait for the day to taste these dishes, but the prospect of trying out these dishes was exciting for me.
Generally, our apartment committee arranges great food for all occasions — so was looking forward to the experience of devouring these dishes.
This time, for the first time our apartment community will have celebrations with Dandiya dance night.
There were messages inviting our community folks who want to practice Dandiya to gather down in the evening.
My chief interest in this event was dinner but it turned out there was a lot more in Saturday’s Navratri celebration that enriched my overall experience.
Buzz of Warmth: Community Camaraderie Embracing Visitors!
Saturday arrived with rain adding some thrill to the occasion. The rain downpour danced its dandiya and ignited the night’s charm making it chill, fresh and clear. The surroundings were ignited with lights, and the rain’s freshness to the atmosphere added to the vibrancy.
The first thing that wrapped me before even the food was the camaraderie of people. All were looking forward to share enjoyable vibes together and I was welcome to join on too.
This time food organization process was improved — as there was no food coupon for those who paid for dinner buffet. We were instead given paper wrist bands on which our flat no. was written to wear.
Somebody volunteered to tie the band around my wrist, much appreciated warm gesture.
Meanwhile, there was a section for Dandiya dancers. Ladies had already begun their session, much before I arrived to have dinner. Photos were already put out on WhatsApp.
A tiny food court was all set up which ended up providing a wholesome outdoor eating experience.
My Tasty Food Court Experience
This time the server at the counter saw that I had the band and obliged to serve me. The snack and juice section was open.
I went for the pani-puri.
The server put a potato stuffing in it and dipped it in the spice water and put it on my bowl.
One has to bite and eat it immediately. This is always an exciting experience — the crunch and the flavors pouring overwhelming the tastebuds all at once.
This was a good opener for my food session ahead.
Next was the samosa — warm with sweet and green chutney sauce. Aside from the taste I also liked it because it was small and light to my tummy, there was room to have other stuff.
However, the main course, the chole Batura and Pav Bhajji was in preparation.
The Jal jeera juice was around. I had two, one was the juice itself and one was the juice with added soda. Sweet but flavorful. A nice welcome drink.
Later, even though the Bhajji and channa were warmed up, the first choles took their time to make their appearance.
I took one chole puri served with channa. I was free to add on onions and pickle separately.
They were fresh, soft, hot chole puri with tasty chana gravy that was not spicy with excess masala, and it went well with onions and a pinch of pickle.
It was well made and there was room to taste the bhajji. The Bhajji was good too — not masala spicy, I did not take the buns because I try to avoid milk stuff and the buns were fried with little butter.
Overall — the meal was very satisfactory, much more than I expected.
I was open to expect food that was not tasteful being too oily or spicy with excess masalas, that can be heavy on my stomach.
But nothing of that sort! The dishes were well-balanced in flavour and was friendly with my digestive system.
Lovely!
Lovely!
Exploring other quitter parts of the Navratri scene
After this as everyone frolicked where ever the buzz was I went to the sidelines and even there I noticed interesting things.
I noticed Ma Durga, her picture was in our little temple enclosure. Today rightfully she was the chief guest of that temple enclosure that housed deities — mostly Sai Baba.
Rat hanging out with Ma Durga in our temple enclosure
There was music in the background, Nature pleasantness was ripe as the enclosure was under our huge banyan tree
In the picture frame — at the middle spotlight was Ma Durga on tiger but there were 8 more versions of Durga on other animals, which I did not note very well.
Maybe this was why, an energetic rat was easy around her . It had been exploring the enclosure when I came and climbed up using its paws, but the bright plate of Durga Ma’s prasada offering was left untouched. That orange prasada were the jalibes.
Jalibes were served at the food court but I skipped it as I was not fond of jelebes, they were too sweet for my taste.
I don’t know why the rat did not touch them. There was an empty plate below though and he often stood there. This rat was not alone, it had a pal equally energetic in the sidelines.
This rat looked cute in its natural free behavior of exploring using his paws to climb up.
It appears this creature too enjoyed the festive surroundings — the wet chill bright night after the rains, the lights and maybe the music.
Chole Action happening quietly with movements of people at the food court
Then I took a little walk to the back side of the food court. There was a outdoor Chole Kitchen what elseto call it? There were caterers busy cooking making the chole puris.
This food buzz movement was a pleasant sight.
People were coming to food counters, and the choles were being made behind the scenes.
The set up was neat and clean, and alive with a natural busy buzz.
Just like a steam engine train emits a puff of smoke, so was there a puff of smoke visible as the choles were prepared. Charming.
This Open Live cooking scene was an entertaining spectacle for me.
These were my Navratri movements.
I came to relish the food but I ended up deriving a lot more enjoyment from the event.
Be your mighty self Ladies : Rock and Roll!
I imagine this is Durga Ma’s message to me — believe in your strength and use your power.
Don’t keep the switch of your power off out of fear or restraint.
On it and exercise your might. Take your sword and play your moves pretty Gals!
Keep cultivating your strength and power. When time comes the Durga power within you will shine — to fight challenges, face what life throws at you and free you to live unconstrainted.
Most of the dancing energy on stage was of women.
Dandiya Night Lit Up by the Ladies!
So, free your self to be wild your way and make your moves. Don’t hesitate, flow with required movement and action.
Women have to stand by each other and support each other as well, and in tune with this solidarity, I hold my regards for Durga Mata.
We are all inside a womenhood fellowship sharing a bond to empower each other!
So we inspire each other, hold each other, lift each other up and grow together, whatever our individual strengths and weaknesses.
Ma Durga’s Blessings to all!
Image Credits -:
Banner image generated by ChatGpt
Rest of the photos and videos are of my own.
