Rudra Kansara, senior, attends Garba every year to pray, dance and celebrate with his friends and family.
Garba is an Indian celebration celebrated in October that originated from the state of Gujarat in India. The event is held at the Gujarati Samaj of St. Louis in Hazelwood.
There are two parts of Garba. The first is organizing into groups and dancing into circles.
“There’s a sense of collectivism because you’re dancing in groups,” Kansara said. “Everyone’s getting together to organize and dance.”
The second is Dandiya, where the dance uses sticks to symbolize many things including the swords of the Goddess Durga.
Kansara said Garba is a way to spread culture and he cherishes the tradition.
“It’s really just become a tradition for me and my family,” Kansara said. “It’s sort of a family event, but also an event with me and my friends as well as other members of the Indian community. I even bring people from other cultures to come together.”
He said there is certain etiquette to attending the event, such as the way one dresses. The guys wear Porthos, which he describes as looking similar to an elongated dress shirt, and the girls wear Chaniya Choli, a multi-layered dress with an embroidered and colorful blouse.
Aash Pammi, sophomore, is South Indian and enjoys celebrating Garba because it is an opportunity to get to know the Indian people in the area.
“It’s really meaningful to me because I get to spend time with all my friends and meet new people there,” Pammi said. “So if you’re new to St. Louis, you could also meet a lot of people.”
Ridhima Khullar, sophomore, has been attending Garba for years and said she enjoys it for the dancing and the opportunity to pay respect to Hindu Gods through an Aarti, a time to pray to God and venerate through the ritual waving of a light.
“If you want to go and celebrate, you can go,” Khullar said.
Khullar also celebrates in ways besides dancing and praying.
“We give out like a shot, which is a kind of food blessing. The food is given to each person and has been blessed by God, so by eating it, I’m paying respect to God,” Khullar said.
Some foods that were served at Garba are Samosas, which are fried pastries with fillings of herbs and meats and Pani Poori, which are deep fried balls with fillings of chickpeas, potatoes and more. A drink served is Mango Lassi, a creamy drink made with mango.
Khullar said Garba brings her closer to God.
“It feels really meaningful to me because it seems as if me and God are like one,” Khullar said “It feels like I can connect to God and doesn’t feel like God is some upper identity that I can’t talk to.”
