CHENNAI: Members of the Chennai Sindhi Ladies Chapter let their hair down and celebrated Teejri on Friday. Be it singing and dancing to chartbusters like Chura liya hai tumne jo dil ko, Ye mera dil, Mehbooba or Dum maaro dum, it was an evening of camaraderie and revelry.
The set-up, replete with lights, flowers and decorative cloth and striking cloth umbrellas, was beautiful. Adding to the charm were the women themselves, who were all smiles, as they engaged in playful banter through the evening.
“The event was organised with the help of the entire committee,” said Renu Raheja, president of the chapter who delivered a speech in Sindhi much to the audience’s delight. “I wanted to make it a memorable and enjoyable function for all the women. We have return gifts for all the women who attended the event and have organised for them to get mehendi done while enjoying the festivities. Different games like singing competition, medley and a rapid fire were organised to get the members to participate enthusiastically and gifts like handbags, mugs and napkins are being handed to winners. I even sourced tiaras with lights from Mumbai to make the winners feel like princesses. Even the sashes we’re handing out are handmade.”
Singer Mousumi from Kolkata kept the spirits up with her renditions of popular numbers and had the audience tapping their feet and humming along throughout while host Pamita Jain kept the members of the eight-year-old chapter on their toes with her quips and enthusiasm.
“The event was fabulous,” said Uma Wadhwa, member and past president of the chapter. “The singers kept the audience engaged throughout and everyone was having fun. The games, too, were innovative and nice. The audience was happy with the event and that is what is most important.” Teejri is a festival that is celebrated to pray for a husband’s long life. However, she said that this was merely a way to get people to fast by giving an interesting reason.
“Fasting is for your own system,” she said. “It is just to provide your system with a little rest because that is essential. Teejri is an important festival among Sindhi women because it is one that provides an opportunity for us to dress up, get together with other women, exchange mithai, visit the temple and conduct a puja. It is a way for the entire family to get together and bond.”
An event like this provides a platform for Sindhi women in the city to meet and greet others from the community and celebrate rituals. “These rituals are slowly fading away and these kinds of events help by providing a medium for us to pass on our rituals and traditions to the next generation,” said Geeta Shroff, vice-president of the committee. “The Teejri programme is one of the most anticipated events of the chapter. The members look forward to it because it is a great way to learn the significance of the rituals and the festival while also having a fun time.”
Members said keeping the event a few days prior to the event helped to provide everyone with a ready refresher and got them in the mood ahead of the big day. The event will be held on Sunday, August 18.