Not every garba/dandiya plan begins with a ready-made gang. For those seeking a date, new friends or simply a space where they can dance without judgement, community-led initiatives are widening the circle at Navratri events in NCR. Read on to know how the focus is shifting from merely finding an event and dancing the night away to locking in the right partner and a safe place to attend it.
“The idea is simple: connect, dance, disconnect. “We give them a circle in advance or provide it live at the ground. Beginners get space to learn, experienced dancers can move at their own pace, and women can choose an all-women group,” adds Agarwal, whose Hyderabad-based creative-tech enterprise is touted as India’s first AI-integrated live-event grouping platform. READ: Glam drop with HT City | A case for the Navratri-coded phone covers for this festive season
It’s neither a dating platform nor a dance-partner service; Solo Saathi Circle places solo attendees into groups of 16 to 22 people heading to the same garba venue. Because approaching existing groups feels awkward,” Kriti Agarwal, founder of Solo Saathi Circle, people often spend on passes and travel long distances, only to end up standing on the sidelines.
The intimate evening will include a 30-minute Garba lesson led by a queer dancer, a drag queen host and awards for the most enthusiastic and best-dressed guests. More than 200 attendees are expected. Despite a promotional post receiving around 50,000 likes, six lakh views and 40,000 shares, Chauhan says that they chose to limit the attendance to around 80 to 100 women so that they can provide a fair opportunity to each to interact with their prospective partners.
After hosting Big Gay Garba in Mumbai, queer media platform and community Gaysi Family is bringing the celebration to Delhi. Entry was restricted to registered women only after individual ticket checks took place. Registrations were filtered in advance, and the venue even had arrangements for female bouncers. It’s here that traditional garba dancers and Gujarati volunteers even taught the attendees some cool steps as the evening featured an open stage, open mic, photo booths and a glam corner offering bedazzled garba looks. As guests arrived donning vibrant chaniya cholis, the playlist moved from peppy Gujarati music to contemporary tracks and made the evening memorable. Now, many of those who attended are hoping the organisers arrange another such opportunity till the festive season lasts.
