Navratri has officially started in India and I am sad. Well, not that much now because the FOMO already kicked in a few weeks ago so I should be okay which I am. Kind of.
I mean, how could I be okay when I know world’s best Garba is happening at uway – United Way of Baroda where I have celebrated all my Navratris since I was a child! Kudos to my parents for taking me there in my childhood and also playing Garba with me. Little did I know, I would be so crazy about playing Garba when I grow up.
While the decor has my heart, Atul dada, the lead singer at uway Atul Purohit and his Garba singing skills have a bigger chunk of my heart. He is too good, super enthusiastic when singing different garbas and always maintains the excitement.
Top fav Atul Dada Garbas:
- Ke Hove Hove
- Fagan Foramto ayo
- Tara Vina Shyam
- Helo Maro Sambhado Ne
- Haiye Rakhi Hom
- Ma Taro Garbo
- Sharad Poonam
It will always be my core memory when most of the lights are turned off when Atul Purohit sings Ke Hove Hove/Sharad Poonam as we play garba, and everyone raises their phones high, illuminating the scene with their mobile torches! This was THE HIGHLIGHT for so many of us.
I can’t help but think about getting ready at home when mom would help me with my chaniya choli, make me jewelry combinations that would go well with my attire and then how I would go show my dad and grandparents my entire look! The best part was dad clicking a 1000 pictures of me with different poses.
As I grew up, I started going to my best friend H’s house to get ready and then her mom would drive us both to uway super early in the evening, 2 hours before everything started. We both would happily go on the empty ground and clicks innumerable photos of each other and few together.
Garba at uway will always hold a special place in my heart. Playing Garba, getting all sweaty, going to the food court to have papdi no lot, cheese naan, manchurian, cold drinks, ice gola, meeting friends, spotting classmates/teachers and feeling nicely strange to see them in Navratri attires, and so much more.
Another annoying yet memorable thing is how when everyone starts playing Garba a bit faster, the chances of getting stamped by someone increases and how painful it is when you actually get stamped haha.
Loads of traffic to reach the venue and parking complications were a part of this whole uway Navratri package and I am not complaining haha! At times, we’d have to park far away from the garba ground and then we would leave our footwear in the car and walk barefoot to the ground. Guess we will never surpass the fear of our footwear getting stolen.
There are so many beautiful memories I have when it comes to Navratri and that’s why, it will always be my favourite festival ever.
Putting jt in the universe to be able to play Garba in 2025 at uway!
Thanks for reading 😊