Around 200 people, dressed in colorful lehengas, kurtas and formal attire, danced to Bollywood and Bhajan music at Northwestern’s South Asian Students Alliance Garba celebration Friday.
Garba is a form of dance originating from Gujarat, India, traditionally performed during Navratri, a nine-day Hindu festival celebrated throughout India to honor the goddess Durga.
“SASA throws (Garba) as a cultural event that is focused on dancing, and it’s all about a traditional dance that we do in rhythm,” said Weinberg junior and SASA co-President Aarnav Patel. “It’s the community aspect that brings us together to eat food, dance and enjoy a lot of music.”
The celebration began with an arti: a Hindu ritual where people wave a flame to show respect for deities. In small groups, attendees walked up to a drawing of Lakshmi — one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism — and moved a plate with small candles in a circle in front of the drawing.
Afterwards, SASA distributed food to attendees. Patel said SASA provided samosas, pakoras and jalebi from Uru Swati, a local Indian vegetarian restaurant.
Weinberg freshman Aariya Gopal said attendees’ colorful ways was a way for them to be creative.
“There’s so many different types of varieties (of lehengas and kurtas), but all of them are so beautiful, colorful. There’s many ways you can style it,” Weinberg freshman Aariya Gopal said. “It’s just a nice feeling to see everyone. It kind of brings a sense of joy.”
Several dance circles also formed throughout the evening.
“Garba is focused around creating these concentric circles where each circle is a different type of dance and different variant levels of different difficulty,” Patel said. “However experienced you may be as a dancer, it’s really welcome to everyone.”
Midway through the evening, SASA passed out dandiya sticks to everyone to perform a Dandiya Raas, a folk dance where dancers pair up and hit each other’s sticks rhythmically.
Gopal said she attended the Garba to get in touch with South Asian culture by listening to Bollywood music while eating South Asian cuisine.
Bienen freshman Viveka Saravanan said she has missed being surrounded by her culture and her family.
“(Garba) has made me feel more at home away from home,” Saravanan said. “Being able to dress up, eat food, meet a lot of South Asians and bring my other friends as well to a South Asian event has been super fun.”
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