Navratri may be a festival limited to certain sects of the society, but garba and dandiya no longer are. Anyone, of any age, who loves to dance and enjoys the music, can now join in and play a few rounds! In fact, with recent Bollywood movies popularising garba songs, increasing commercialistion, celebrity singers, and availability of professional classes, Navratri has become a much anticipated event for dance enthusiasts!
Commercial events and housing societies aside, garba is even played in trains! Mumbai’s local trains have often seen female commuters indulge in the dance form in the ladies’ compartments!
In fact, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal recently shared a video of some female commuters playing garba in the train. And he was quite proud of Indian Railways for this treat!
Now this is an experience only Indian Railways can provide! pic.twitter.com/mM0fTfk89F
— Piyush Goyal Office (@PiyushGoyalOffc) October 17, 2018
The Internet was quick to figure out that this was totally a Mumbai local special!
Of course…only in Mumbai! https://t.co/snGkmGv2jX
— Jayati Chatterjee (@jaycee1301) October 17, 2018
They highlighted how experiences like these are what the Mumbaikars, with their fast-paced lives, cherish!
Clearly, not everyone can afford expensive passes for garba events or find time post office hours to go play some. So this seems like the perfect way to dance with their ‘local trains friends’, which is another concept unique to Mumbai local passengers!
This is what Mumbai, India stand for along with so much stress and tension people here find ways to feel happy.#unity #indiaisthebest#indianrailways @PiyushGoyalOffc https://t.co/JSwHEal1pk
— Jason Noronha (@jasonnoronha9) October 17, 2018
That's the real spirit of #mumbailocal https://t.co/u9VrgB18iD
— Gopal Rawal (GR) (@rawalgopal2) October 17, 2018
Once again, nobody here seems to care about caste, religion, age etc. They’re all just having a good time!
Real cosmo culture of Mumbai. https://t.co/K7Vy1bLXEO
— Swapan (@SiaAdaa) October 17, 2018
The replies to the minister’s tweet were full of other people sharing videos of garba being played everywhere.
A few of them had rather surprising elements to it!
Here’s another video of garba being played in the local train!
See this too pic.twitter.com/rvIzXj3aL9
— MG 🇮🇳 (@mgnayak5) October 17, 2018
Two people shared videos of a Navratri celebration by an Indian community in New Jersey, USA, where the local cops also joined in on to bust a few moves!
Cops at new jersey trying out some garba steps @incredibleindia pic.twitter.com/sBa0Ij6i6A
— Mr_Dharma (@MrDharma_) October 17, 2018
https://twitter.com/UmeshPa86591821/status/1052454486399160322
Of course, if Mumbai and New Jersey was levelling the garba floor, could Gujarat be far behind!
The official Twitter account of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) shared video of a garba flash mob at Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport!
At @aaisvpiairport, passengers were welcomed with a Garba flash mob. The staff of every airline participated in the Garba, at both International and Domestic terminals of the SVPI Airport, Ahmedabad. pic.twitter.com/43pYIfEF19
— Airports Authority of India (@AAI_Official) October 16, 2018
Apparently, airlines and stakeholders staff greeted the passengers with a garba performance and they totally loved it!
@aaisvpiairport
Passengers were pleasantly surprised to be greeted with enchanting Garba at #SVPI Airport, #Ahmedabad by Airlines & stakeholders staff. One of the participating passengers observed that this moment at SVPI airport would be cherished by her for many years to come. pic.twitter.com/DgmEPcop0B— APD Ahmedabad (@aaisvpiairport) October 17, 2018
As the festival draws to a close, all that is left to do is enjoy all the dancing and traditional music to the fullest and shout “Aye Haaaaaalo!”