We organize a Vibha Dandia Event every year for our local Sacramento chapter. This event is not as popular as other Vibha events in our area. We did not make any money from this event last year, so we were thinking of canceling the event this year. But a few of us were motivated to keep this event going and gather some funds to do our little bit for Vibha.
The venue was booked and the date was set for 27th September. However, the "Dhol Baaje" band that we book every year had a conflict. Our efforts to arrange for an alternate band were not successful. Our chapter co-ordinator persuaded us to form a band from our volunteer base.
The event advertised a live band, so we had to have one. We found one volunteer to play the dhol and few volunteers who are good singers. The band was formed :)!
We also booked a DJ for the event - the band could not perform for the entire duration of the event, so we decided to do a combination of DJ and live band. I gathered few garba CDs and met with the DJ to co-ordinate the music for the event.
The band started practice only 10 days before the event.We BROKE the dhol we had borrowed during our very first practice. We got it fixed and returned it to the owner. Most of our singers were non-gujju, so they started practising few garba songs and they did a fantastic job picking up the Gujarati Garba lyrics. In the meantime, I contacted the "DHOL BAAJE" band and was able to get a DHOL for the event.
Now comes the day of the event. We had sold less than 50 tickets - TOTAL. I was very very nervous. I got ready around 5pm and reached the venue to help with the arrangements. My nervousness was obvious. Slowly, people started coming. It was mostly non-Indians and NRI teenagers (some with their parents). Around 7pm, we started the DJ music.
I started dancing, along with my sister and few other friends. And then everyone joined. And more people came. And they kept coming :)
We stopped the DJ music, introduced our live band - and they performed. Everyone loved it. Everyone was dancing.
Most of the crowd was non-gujjus and we were giving garba/dandia lessons to whoever was interested.
The event was a huge success with more than 200 people attending. I had to leave around 10.30pm as my parents were leaving for India the next day, but my friends said everyone was dancing and enjoying until midnight.
I came home with a feeling of content - of having made a positive impact on the future of India, of having helped an underprivileged child with his basic rights.
Here are a few pictures from the event:
