VADODARA: As the sun sets on the city’s horizon, she dresses up in her colourful
garba attire. When Archana Makwana reaches her
friend’s home and passes through the mandatory sanitizer spray, she doesn’t waste a moment in swinging to the garba tunes.
The government may have called off public celebrations of
Navratri amid the
Covid-19 pandemic this year, but that hasn’t dampened the spirits of many Gujaratis.
Garba lovers have been enjoying the festival with their friends and family at either their homes or farmhouses over the last five days. “Our group meets in the evening in a very limited number and we play garba together at one of our friend’s house. Of course, social distancing is maintained and all other precautions are followed,” Archana told TOI.
“Though the fun of playing garba at our favourite venue is missing, we are happy that we are at least able to play garba,” Archana added. Many Barodians have been organizing garba in their homes and inviting only family members and close friends since the first day of Navratri. The fear of getting infected with Covid-19 has ensured that no outsider is allowed in the private celebrations.
“When Navratri celebrations were banned in public, we were disappointed as our group never misses a single garba night,” said Ripal Shah, a resident of Manjalpur,
“Ours small group of close friends has been performing garba in a house at Khodiyarnagar every night. We decided to play garba to continue with our tradition but only after taking all the precautions,” she explained.
Ripal, though, is upset with the government for banning Navratri. “If politicians can gather crowds for poll campaigning, why can’t they allow people to celebrate Navratri with mandatory precautions?” she questioned.
Another group of garba revellers too has been matching steps to the traditional garba tunes in the Wadi area since the first night. “We do ‘sthapna’ of the goddess and hence it is important to play garba in a form of worship. Our group of eight people gathers in my home every night and we all play garba for an hour,” said Dishit Rajput, who runs a beauty parlour.