Moonlight Dance
MOONLIGHT DANCE In Manipur on the last day of ‘Holi’ festival, there is a big dance event called ‘Thabal Chongba’ at night. The literal meaning is ‘moonlight dance’. It is organised in every locality. Though the name is moonlight dance, there is an open ground well lit with artificial lights and there, young men and women in their early twenties or late teens will make a big circle by holding hands and dance together to the beating drums and clarinets following the traditional steps. The women are required to wear decent traditional attire. On one such occasion, a group of women stood out from the rest of the womenfolk participating in the dance. The reason was their very fashionable attire. Though all of them were in traditional dresses, the way they wore them was so different from the indistinct others. For some, the blouses had deep necklines; the traditional sarong was worn well below the navel, etc., etc. Their hairstyles were out of this world and the general stature was well abo