Raai dancers up, close & personal meets with the Bedia community on whom Zee TV’s new show is based

Raai dancers up, close & personal

meets with the Bedia community on whom Zee TV’s new show is based

Among the several folk dances popular in India is the Raai dance, that the girls of the Bedia tribe hailing from the interiors of Madhya Pradesh perform. But what sets this community apart is that the men of this community don’t do any work. The community has certain old customs, associated with the dance form that the girls have to abide by and the recently launched Zee TV show Phir Subah Hogi, highlighjts the plight of the Bedia girls. After Hrs took a trip to the Bedia community villages in Sagar near Bhopal and met the locals to know more about Raai dancers and their lives. We spoke to two Raai dancers, Sangeeta and Urmila. While Urmila claimed to take up Raai dancing as a passion, 30-year-old Sangeeta reveals that she’s been dancing for more than 10 years now. “I lost my parents at a very young age and my maternal uncle decided that like my mother, I should take up Raai and my Sardhakai happened at the age of 20,” says Sangeeta. Explaining the custom of Sardhakai, she adds, “When a Thakur chooses a young girl from the community for himself, it is similar to a wedding, but minus the pheras. Once the Sardhakai is done then the girl becomes the Thakur’s official mistress. Once girls start to do Raai, they can only get Sardhakai done and can never marry as per the traditions.” “My Sardhakai was done by a Thakur who already had children, and his daughter had married a couple of years ago. I was barely years older to his daughter. Today I have two children with him, but his real wife and I share a cordial relationship,” reveals Sangeeta as she prepares for her Raai performance. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Urmila, confesses that actor Madhuri Dixit’s dancing style prompted her to get into Raai. “I studied till 8th standard, but then I realised I am a performer, and I wanted to perform those killer moves that people often go crazy for today. I know I am very beautiful and so just one year in the business, I have refused many Sardhakai offers made to me. I want to do Sardhakai with someone who loves me, not my body. But, right now I’m more concerned about dancing than anything else,” says Urmila. She also accepts that unlike her, there are girls who have made a mark in their community by going against the traditions and completing their education.