In the deafening noise around the ‘big things that matter’, little yet important aspects of social life go unnoticed and unchecked. Little things like dancing children. It is not a sign of good health when an innocuous, joyful act like a 10-year-old’s choice to dance on stage becomes an attack on culture. Journalist Irshad Uppinangady’s documentary Swargada Haadiyalli Kamarutiruva Kanasugalu (Shattered Dreams on the Path to Heaven) takes us into the worlds of 8-12 year-old Muslim girls in the villages of Dakshina Kannada district in coastal Karnataka, who have been admonished by Madrasa teachers for dancing on stage. The standard response when they were asked why they don’t participate in school day competitions that involve dancing on stage, every girl interviewed in the film says this – The madarasa teacher will scold us. Aren’t we Muslims? We are not allowed to dance. The Arabic teacher will scold us.

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