Kashmiri cheeks beat Bhangda spirit at Science Congress

Everybody knows the spirit of Bhangda; the dance of Punjab that can even make an 80 year old excited and spirited. The way and the energy of the dancers with six feet tall girls steel the hearts of the people. But, here at the Indian Science Congress in Bhubaneswar, the Kashmiri cheeks almost beat the spirit of Bhangda.

It is about the cultural activities of the delegates who after a hectic day of science deliberations gathered at the Odisha Mandap to have fun and mingle with the people from across the country.

On Thursday too, delegates most of them young gathered to witness the Bhangda performance by a Jalandhar based cultural troupe that tried hard to win the hearts.

When troupe started performing – “Yaar driver nu pende …”, young ones, including girls who were selecting handicraft and Sambalpuri dress materials, gathered around pandal to witness the dance.

Bodies of the people below 30 did not remain idle as usual during Bhangda. But none dared to go near the stage and instead enjoyed it from a safe distance in front of their seniors and scientists from across the country.

But interestingly, when the dance troupe from Trikuta Degree College and Hill People College under Jammu University started to perform ‘Kashmiri Rauf’ with lyrics “Tashok chonchhun masakh myare…”, the youths somehow gathered their guts and reached near the stage. With their mobile cameras and digital cameras, young scientists struggled among themselves to capture beautiful Kashmiri girls.

There was a craze to view the cheeks of young girls from the Valley. Shankar, a research scholar from Kerala said: “So beautiful. For the first time I got a chance to enjoy the Kashmiri dance. So I did not want to lose the chance to capture Kashmiri beauty in the lance.”

Sonali, Nishan and Sneha, young Kashmiri girls who were part of the dance troupe, stated that Wherever they perform the folk dance, people enjoy it.

Sonali added today’s lyric of the song – “Tashok chonchhun…” is a romantic one that describes the story of young lovers who feel the pain of separation and at last, the celebration after reunion of lovers.”