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Mumbai: Ghatkopar's Navratri spirit dampened due to inflation

Since the last 25 years, people from across Mumbai have been flocking to the several Navratri events in Ghatkopar.

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This year, college student Shivangi Desai has not been able to enjoy Navratri celebrations in Mumbai like she has in the past. The reason? The mood in Ghatkopar, a suburb in Mumbai which has a large Gujaratis population, has been lacklustre, to say the least. 

"There is no group organising Navratri in Ghatkopar this year, so festivities were muted. It isn't feasible for me travel all the way to a venue two hours away, just to enjoy the celebrations for an hour and get back home late," she says.

Since the last 25 years, people from across Mumbai have been flocking to the several Navratri events in the area. And in the last two years, 'dandiya queen' Falguni Pathak also drew in a large number of people. 

Jignesh Khilani, Secretary of Ghatkopar Gujarati Samaj, who has been organising Navratri for 18 years, says, "The inflation has dampened the spirit of Navratri. We are unable to find sponsors, which is why we haven't organised celebrations this year. Most of the organisers do not have title sponsors except Pushanjali, which has Falguni Pathak as the lead singer, yet they are managing to pull it off by taking a bit of loss or offering schemes," he said.

This has left residents no option but to travel to the closest Navratri event at least 10-15 kms away. Gopi Mehta, who judges Navratri competitions, says that the festival traffic adds to their woes. "I was invited to judge dancers in Kora Kendra, Borivali, which is 25 kms from my house in Ghatkopar. I managed to reach the venue only after four hours at 9 PM; while the celebrations have to end at 10 PM due to the deadline set by the High Court." She adds that all the dancers have to dress up and travel for an hour or two, but are already tired by the time they reach the venue. "I have seen a drop in the quality of their performance this year," Gopi says. 

Prashant Thakkar and his sister Namita, who have been winning the 'best dancer' title across Mumbai for years, say used to particularly enjoy playing at their "home ground" in Ghatkopar. But now, to make it to Malad on time for their competition, they have leave their house at 5.15 PM, which is a difficult task for Namita as she has to get ready in her traditional attire and also take care of her four-year-old son.

Jolly Gymkhana, a recreational centre on the outskirts of Ghatkopar, tried to fill the gap by organising events for all 10 days of Navratri instead of just two days. However, it is open only to members. Bela Kanani, a member said, "I am really disappointed with Navratri this year. Since my friends are not members here, they cannot join me in the celebrations. We did request the authorities to allow non-members to join the celebrations and they agreed after a couple of days, but a closed space cannot accommodate more than 400 people."

Other organisers in the area resorted to offering schemes to attract the crowd, so that they could at least break even. Organisers of Radiance dandiya event held in Sahara Star announced a package, wherein by paying Rs 4,999 (per person), the visitor would get a one-night stay in Sahara Star, including food.

The dandiya nights may have drawn to a close this year, but here's hoping Ghatkopar has some reason to cheer next year.

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