"It felt very empty," comments East Delhi-resident Shweta Mehta (23), as she recalls the Navratri celebrations in the city last year. Until two years ago, Mehta, her family and friends would congregate to enjoy non-stop rounds of Garba and Dandiya—Gujarati folk dances.
However, the pandemic changed the pace of celebrations. “My family would play devotional songs on YouTube and sit together, but there was absolutely nothing else,” she adds, as she talks about how she missed dressing up, meeting friends, and dancing.
Observed in honour of Goddess Durga, Navratri—it is one of the most revered Hindu festivals—is celebrated differently by different communities. Despite varied rituals, the spirit of merrymaking remains common. While the pandemic-induced lockdown limited the festivities to our homes, this year, festivities are expected to be grand.
Delhiites across communities are planning to take the celebrations a notch higher, and the Gujarati community is no different, as they intend to make the most of the upcoming occasion.
A joyous celebration
“For Gujaratis, Navratri is all about Garba,” laughs Anjali Vora, a resident of Karol Bagh who also serves as the vice president of Gujrati Club New Delhi. Being a keen participant in Garba since childhood, Vora believes that every aspect of the festival revolves around the tradition and culture of dancing together.
“You dress up in outfits such as chaniya choli to participate in Garba. By the time you are done—it is late in the night—you are very hungry, hence the food stalls and the snacks,” she explains.
Last year, Vora and her friends could only conduct a Zoom meet-up on Navratri. While they organised a dance competition virtually, the spirit was nowhere near what they witnessed and experienced at the pandals.
This year, Vora is looking forward to the festivities. In fact, the Gujrati Club will be organising their annual Navratri event in Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Lodhi Estate. Similar events are slated to take place in various parts of the city such as Gujarati Samaj, Civil Lines; Gujarat Apartments, Pitampura, Gujarat Vihar in East Delhi, etc.
A common spirit of festivity
Garba is not just a big deal for the Gujarati community but also for non-Gujaratis in the city who head to the pandals to partake in the dance.
“I have been going for Garba since 2015,” shares Shubhi Garg (23), a Pitampura resident who usually heads to the annual Navratri event organised by Gujarat Apartments. “It is very lively and it is great to experience a new culture.
After all these years, I have become an expert at Garba myself (laughs),” adds Garg. This excitement is also visible in the increasing number of enrollments that Greater Kailash-based dancer Richa Gupta has got this year for the month-long Garba workshop that she annually conducts through her organisation ‘Garba In The City’.
“Among the ones who have joined the classes this year, at least 90 per cent are non-Gujaratis. It is easy to get enrollments for something like Bollywood classes but not for folk dance, so I am really surprised to see the response,” concludes Gupta who would also be hosting an open-for-all Garba performance in Central Delhi next week.