Rainy Nights

Brace for a bit of a rain dance. Weather officials conceded that intermittent showers like the one that drenched the city on Tuesday are expected to continue through this week. In fact, the sky is expected to clear only from next Monday. Meanwhile, Ahmedabad has received 46 mm of rain since October 1-this is the highest in the last 13 years for this month. In 1999, the city received 60.4 mm in October. On Wednesday, rain or thundershowers, sometimes heavy, are expected to occur in some areas.

Monsoon refuses to bid farewell to the city much to the disappointment of garba revelers. An over-clouded sky on Tuesday and two hours of heavy downpour had some garba venues in the city cancelling the evening’s event. With the Ahmedabad Met department predicting light to heavy showers in the city for the next three days, what is left of Navratri may turn out to be a damp squib. Gujarat Tourism Department which is hosting the Vibrant Navratri – one of the biggest garba events in the city – at GMDC ground cancelled its event for Tuesday following heavy downpour. The organizer said, “We have cancelled the event keeping in mind public safety. The ground is slippery. It is not possible for us to pump out all the water and get the ground ready for the revelers in time.” A garba event at Godrej Garden City was also cancelled. Vishal Bhatt, a garba enthusiast who had his heart set on attending the GMDC garba on Tuesday said, “I thought the monsoon was over. It feels as if the rain gods are deliberately playing spoilsport. I understand why the organisers had to cancel the event. I just pray that the remaining days of Navratri are dry and sunny.”

Amidst the natural thunders and showers the city also witnessed some protests from the local communities related to the newly released film “RAMLEELA”. Members of Rajput community gathered outside the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel international airport in Ahmedabad on Wednesday to protest Ram Leela star Deepika Padukone’s visit to Ahmedabad. Local police faced tough time to push the protesters outside the airport area. Police had to use some force. At least six protesters were detained. They are likely to be released only after Deepika’s Ahmedabad visit is over. Deepika arrived at the airport in Jet Airways plane. They couldn't come out of the airport building due to protest. Local police contacted the headquarters to seek more force to take the starts safely to their destination. After Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s assurance that the caste words will be replaced by fictitious words, the agitation has ended.

Some garba grounds were wet enough and therefore unfit to host third night of Garba. Some other grounds were water logged. Garba organizers had to work hard to save their sound and light systems from the attack of rain. Some garba organizers also tried to make the ground ready again for garba on war foot basis. Showers – enough strong to force cancellation of Navratri events – are reported at Ambaji, Bhavnagar and other areas of Gujarat too.

There is some good news for Garba goers. The situation of sky was better on Wednesday compared to Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Yes, the sky is still cloudy, but not as dense as earlier days. Added to this, the quality of clouds today is not as rich as earlier days. So you can be positive about your Navratri plans for today and most probably coming days.

To conclude with I think it’s time for our famous word “Jugaad”:  Now is the time for jugaad, replace dandia with pichkari and enjoy Holratri....!!!