Layman's Quickie Dodhiyu Guide

Layman’s Quickie Dodhiyu Guide


All right people, its time to sway and it don’t matter if you think you are not up to it. You need to be out there in the swirling circle as hearts and feet go scampering, trying to out do each others beats.

You have tried your hand at fencing the simple raas dandiya and returned home with a swollen finger or two. You managed to maneuver within human circles that swung to the humble two taali and three taali garbas, but now, dread dandiya season’s big bad daddy - the Dodhiyu.

A’ Dodhiyu’ in Gujarati means ‘one and a half’. It consists of a ménage-`a-troi of hop, skip and jump. One needs to hip hop, skip a beat or two and then jump in victorious delight. Often, the hands do not climax in a clap, even as one’s head sways in smooth surrender.

Invented by Amdavadis in the early eighties, the Dodhiyu is dependant on rhythm alone .It allows independent expression of one’s major body parts, as limbs, abdomen, hips, eyes and neck gracefully groove to an unchained melody. Instructors describe it as, ‘a dizzy drill which makes you forget whether you are going to or fro, while you crave for more.’

Here is a step by step breakdown to understand it a little better:
You begin in a circle facing outwards, step out with your right foot while your left hand shows the way, then step inwards half a circle with your left foot even as arms gracefully sway out in full swing, fore fingers pointing skywards, next, a sudden turn in the opposite direction,a full circle ensures that you are part of the merry go round, jerk your body as you skip a beat and take a heech before you take the next two steps forward, one inward and the other outwards to complete the routine of one permutation and reach the position you had begun from - a total of 6 moves if you please.

If you think that was complicated, remember, it’s just the first, basic step. One then upgrades to 8, 10, 12, 16, 22,26,32,36 steps which include innumerable variations of hand and footwork.

While Vadodara’s garba girls are renowned for their graceful gait in this art, in Surat, Dodhiyu is slick and spicy and has more ingredients to it than the Surti Undhiyu. This year Surtis are swaying to the Millennium Twist - a do it yourself 42 step Dodhiyu which makes the watchers swoon as revelers go in and out and all about, doing their thing in a peacock like prance.

Be warned that the Dodhiyu is extremely addictive and once you have mastered the art, nothing will manage to stop you from swinging.