Navratri 2024: Pune’s Garba Enthusiasts Prepare for Nine Days of Dance, Culture, and Local Business Support”
As Navratri approaches, people are preparing to showcase their best moves and enjoy dancing throughout the nine-day celebration. This year, a group of committed Garba teachers and students from Pune is leading the way, aiming to revive this traditional dance while also supporting local businesses during the festive season. Anitha Khandelwal, an experienced Garba dancer originally from Bangalore, relocated to Pune after her marriage in 2011 and launched her dance initiative ‘Nachle’ that same year to pursue her passion.
“Since I was 17, I’ve danced every night of Navratri until I’m exhausted. To me, Garba is all about community and joy. Throughout the year, I mainly teach Bollywood dance, but a month before Navratri, I focus solely on Garba, from basics to advanced levels. While Garba is popular in Mumbai and among Gujaratis, it hasn’t gained the same appreciation in Pune,” said Khandelwal, a 39-year-old experienced Garba and Ghoomar dancer. She emphasized that mastering Garba requires learning the fundamentals before tackling complex routines, and she doesn’t believe in quick, expensive workshops that promise instant mastery. Garba features lively rhythms and vibrant outfits. Prerna Khoda and Shubham Shitole began their partnership in 2017, opening Soulbeats Dance and Fitness Studio, which offers classes in Garba, Bollywood, freestyle, semi-classical dance, and yoga.
“I’m a Gujarati and grew up with Garba. My husband Shubham, a Maharashtrian, learned it over time, proving that with a good teacher, it’s not as difficult as it seems. At Soulbeats, we start our Garba classes a month before Navratri. Initially, there were few men, but this year, we had a better balance with a turnout of 6:4 women to men,” says Prerna Khoda, 29, co-founder of Soulbeats Dance and Fitness Studio.
“My classes are structured into two options: a three-week workshop for ₹2,200 per person and a weekend workshop for ₹1,500 per person,” Khoda added.
This festive season, if you’re ready to show off your hand-clapping and finger-snapping skills, be sure to check out Khandelwal Bhavan (Ramoshi Gate), Anand Vidya Niketan (Viman Nagar), and Royal Palm (Koregaon Park) for an incredible experience of music and dance.
Born into a Gujarati family in Hadapsar, Anushka Pathak, a trained Garba teacher, shares, “With so many students and working professionals moving into Pune, there’s been an exchange of culture. When I was a kid, I didn’t have many options for Garba, but today, if you have enough money, you won’t be short of choices.”
She continues, “Throughout the year, I freelance at different studios and mainly teach semi-classical dance, but as Navratri approaches, I conduct separate Garba classes. By the end of any choreography, I encourage my students to wear bright chaniya cholis for the occasion and dance to the beats of dandiya while I record their efforts.”
“Being a tuition teacher and mother to twins, I don’t get much time for myself. These Garba classes provide me with a breather and also help me learn a new skill,” says 32-year-old Rashmi Rana.
“At our residential society in Viman Nagar, we are organizing events for Navratri, and I can’t wait to show the steps I picked up in my classes to my husband and children, especially galghoto.”
Snehal Jumale, a full-time IT employee, shares her experience of learning Garba for the first time. “With a very tight schedule, I make it to my Garba classes around 9 pm. Since I was a little girl, Garba and its colors always fascinated me, and this year, after a lot of procrastination, I finally enrolled myself in Garba classes. To top that, Garba as a dance form breaks stereotypes. In my class, we have men who are as proficient and expressive as women. The key to mastering the form is to break the steps instead of rushing through them,” says Jumale.