Gujarat's unique garba tradition: Men in sarees dance to lift a centuries-old curse
Ahmedabad: As the clock struck 10 on the eighth night of Navratri, a distinctive ritual unfolded in the walled city of Ahmedabad, known locally as a pol. Amidst the fervour of garba celebrations that have swept across Gujarat, a group of men donned sarees and petticoats, performing a centuries-old dance to lift a curse and pay homage to a revered deity.
The men, dressed in shirts and trousers, were assisted by the women in the house to drape sarees over their clothes, adjusting the folds and tucking in the fabric. After a bit of struggle, they were ready to perform a traditional dance called ‘Saduma na Garba’, as reported by Deccan Herald on Wednesday.
The men, now adorned in colourful sarees, walked together towards a small temple. As devotional music blared from loudspeakers, a crowd gathered, eager to witness the ritual, undeterred by the rain. For the Barot community, this was a sacred night, one that marked a tradition passed down for over 200 years.
The legend behind "Saduma na Garba" dates back to a tragic tale of Saduma, a woman wronged by the ruler of her time. According to the story, Saduma was deceived by the ruler, which led to her death. Before dying, she took the life of her child in a final act of defiance, cursing the Barots for failing to protect her. Since then, the Barot community has performed this ritual every year in an effort to appease Saduma and lift her curse, added the report.
"This is our sacred night. I had taken a mannat that if I got married, I would perform this ritual,” DH quoted Raj J. Barot, a 21-year-old engineering student as saying. Similarly, Parth S Barot, a physiotherapist, expressed his participation as a way to seek well-being not only for his family but for the larger community as well.
While the Barot community sees the ritual as a deeply spiritual and devotional act, it has caught the attention of a women’s collective called 'Lal Lipstick', led by standup comedian Preeti Das and Renu Pokharna. The group has been hosting storytelling sessions centered on the tradition, reframing it as a celebration of "gender fluidity" and using the performance to challenge patriarchal norms.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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