Habs Garba 2022

On Thursday 6 October 2022, the Haberdashers’ Elstree Schools – made up of Habs Boys and Habs Girls – had their second Habs Garba, organised by the Hindu Societies from both schools. The event was open for all years and all faiths.

Garba is a Gujarati Folk dance performed during the nine-night festival of Navaratri dedicated to the mother Goddess, and on the full moon night of Sharad Purnima dedicated to Lord Krishna.

The night was much bigger and better than last year with 350 students from both schools. The event had an amazing DJ for the night alongside our two Dhol players: Kaylan (7S) and Dylan (L6S1). The night started with Be Tali, a dance consisting of two simple claps, and as the speed of the music increased, this developed into a much more complicated movement. All the students had great fun and were able to pick it up quickly, with volunteers helping where necessary. The students then moved on to Tran Tali, a three-clap dance, followed by the Aarti (prayer) to Lord Krishna, and His Consort the Goddess Yamuna. This ceremony was performed by student volunteers, with those not participating sitting down and listening respectfully.

After the Aarti, attendees were served food and given a chance to socialise while the musicians took a break. The students were welcomed back with a performance given by Kaylan (7S) playing the tabla and Shaurya (7J) playing the violin, performing a classical Garba song ‘Nagada Sang Dhol’ which attendees enthusiastically danced to. The next dance was Dandiya Raas, where the students danced with sticks and was performed with really high energy and great enthusiasm by all the students. The final dance of the night was Ramjaniyu which, like last year, was definitely everyone’s favourite. Due to the extremely large scale of the event, we had more versions of Ramjaniyu popping up during the night, allowing everyone to learn a new dance from their peers and have even more fun. 

The night was a huge success – all participants were incredibly involved and energetically danced the night away. In following years, we hope this event only grows as Garba is an amazing opportunity for everyone in the school, students and staff, to immerse themselves in our rich culture.

Written by Krish (BS U6C1) and Anji (GS U6 WM)