Monsoon Festival

From Monday through Friday, you slave away at your office computer, which thwarts you from living a free-bird existence. But the mere thought of the weekend ahead is enough to make you want to burst into a song and dance! In fact, you’ve been known to indulge yourself in a rain dance now and then.

If dancing to the tune of the pitter patter of rainfall is something you enjoy, then spend this weekend soaking in the Monsoon Festival organized by Alliance Francaise de Delhi. An art festival that explores the varied hues of the monsoon, there’s something in it for everyone: art, theater, cinema and readings. Yes, even Bollywood music!

Indulge your taste-buds at the Monsoon mela, complete with traditional snacks, mehendi-wallahs, bangle-sellers, craftspeople, and flower-bedecked swings hung from trees. Watch Ajay Devgan’s sodden and sexy performance in Rituparno Ghosh’s Raincoat, or listen to some foot-tapping hip-hop malhaar music by London-based musician Nitin Sukh. Fancy a lesson in the different kinds of songs from the folk tradition that are sung during the monsoon? Catch it all at this festival.

Don’t take a rain check on this one!

From 28 July - 3 August 2006 at Alliance Francaise de Delhi, 72, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi 03. Programme details at www.redearthindia.com/monsoon.