It has many names across India, but the spirit of it is dancing and celebrating together.
On Saturday at the Rhineland Pioneer Centre, Garba (a form that includes song and dance) took place in Altona for the annual Hindu festival of Navratri, which is a 9-day affair.
Back for a second year
Jigar Rathod, one of the organizers of the event, said that along with the music and unique dance steps, participants also pray to goddesses as a part of the festival.
This is the second year the community has organized Garba. Rathod said that last year's "successful" event drew out participants from all over, including Morden, Winkler, Altona, and even Winnipeg.
This year, the crowd for Garba was approximately 80 strong.
Steps everyone can learn
According to Rathod, the dancing involved in the festival, one of its most central components, goes late into the night.
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As the evening begins, the steps are slow, but as the night winds on, they become faster.
He noted that as the night progresses, time flies as the pace picks up.
As for the steps, for Rathod, they are second nature because he has grown up seeing them, but he says they are easy to learn.
“Anybody can [do it],” he said. “Let's say five people are doing the steps that you like — you can guess it in 5 minutes. You can just join them and start doing their steps.”
For Rathod, something that enhances the dance (and the atmosphere overall) is the traditional clothing that accompanies Garba, which is flowing, colourful and vibrant, whether it’s the kurta usually worn by men or the chaniya choli worn by women.
A growing community
Rathod said that five years ago, when he moved to Altona, a festival of this size was not possible, but the Indian community in the town is thriving.
“When I moved in, there were only like four or five people here, so we were not able to do it. We were meeting, and then every time [Garba] happened, we were missing back home,” he said.
Now, however, the story is different. Rathod said that there are now approximately 60-80 people in Altona’s Indian community, which he said does a lot to ease homesickness — especially when there is a crowd to dance Garba.
Rathod, who notes that Altona has been welcoming to its Indian community, said that the next celebration for the group is Diwali, the Festival of Lights, which he calls “basically Indian people’s New Year."
Diwali takes place in October.
With files from Zack Driedger