With the world, Amdavadis too rose on Thursday — to liberate womankind from the shackles of barbarity — and the rebirth of another freedom movement took place at Gujarat Vidyapith. The city, which had lost its voice in the cacophony of modern-day cynicism and commercial blitzkrieg, regained it with the Ahmedabad Rising movement that was launched on an amazingly grand scale.
Ahmedabad, which was once a hub of all pre-independence freedom movements, lapsed into silence for decades, thereafter. But on Thursday, the city magically came alive again, as if it rediscovered its fighting spirit. Indeed, the zeal and zest denizens displayed at the ground was evidence enough that the people have woken up to the cause — the need of the hour.
“Uge Amdavad..Jage Amdavad…”— keeping in beat to the thunderous voice of noted musician Saumil Munshi which motivated the young and the old alike to swirl to the spirited lyrics penned by senior poet Tushar Shukla. “I have taken part in many garba events, but the spell and magic of music and poetry has never touched and appealed to the people this way before,” said Munshi, adding that he put his heart and soul into the
performance on the ground on Thursday pledging his support to the cause, thus.
Dressed in purple, the international colour to support the cause of condemning violence against women, eminent danseuse Mallika Sarabhai, who is one of the prime initiators of Ahmedabad Rising – a part of the global One Billion Rising (OBR) movement – was surrounded by her fans. While she played the role of an inspiring mentor, girls danced with her and hugged her to express their gratitude.
Sarabhai said: “The beginning has taken place. But we have a long road ahead. We want to sensitise the society to this issue and reach all segments. During the next phase we plan to work with parents and come out with a handbook of guidelines to curb the practice of inequality towards women that harbours in many homes.”
The event began with the screening of the OBR flagship clip which is being shown as a precursor to the event in 164 countries. Then the dancers and activists from team Darpana began garba on the stage.
