A festivity widely celebrated in India, Garba is a Gujarati form of dance that celebrates family, friends, and togetherness. Honoring this festival, on October 27, the Irvington PTSA hosted its annual Dandiya Night. Full of music, food, and dance, everyone came together to appreciate the Indian culture.
Before the event, many of the officers stayed after school to set up. They put up decorations, arranged backdrops, and set up the DJ booth.
“While planning the event, we took a lot of logistical factors into account such as how we would have enough time to set up everything” explained SPTSA president Soha Arora (12)“We got stations ready and tickets available. We had started planning for the night about 3 months before, and held weekly meetings leading up to it so we would be prepared.”
At 6:00pm students and parents alike started to form lines outside the victory tunnel in anticipation of the event. Once inside, event volunteers handed out free dandiyas to those who did not bring their own as a way to include attendees of all cultures and backgrounds
After being admitted into the Courtyard, families had a chance to converse and take photos at photo booths set up by PTSA. These photo booths captured the true meaning of garba, made with decorations such as flowers and colorful lights.
Due to some unexpected delays in the check in process, the event’s volunteer had to push back starting the music. At around 6:30, 30 minutes behind schedule, the music finally started and all attendees were eager to hit the dance floor. Very quickly, a large dance circle formed with smaller circles forming off to the side allowing people to dance at their own pace
Food was put out shortly after by the PTSA officers, and lines started to form with parents who were ready to get food for their families. Food sold throughout the night included samosas, tea, coffee, and water was served by the volunteers.
“We hoped that a lot of students would be there, and to our surprise many parents were excited to participate too” said Tvisha Goel (11), an officer of Irvington PTSA “I think that this year’s dandiya night was executed really well by all of the officers, parents, and volunteers that helped and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.”
As the night came to a close, parents and students made their way out of the gym and into the courtyard to allow volunteers to clean up. This however did not stop the dancing at first, as groups formed once again to resume garba, not ready to leave the night’s festivities behind.
“I think the overall atmosphere was really nice, there was a good mixture of chaotic but organized,” commented event attendee Samarth Gupta (10) “I loved how everyone came together for the dances.”
The night ended a bit later than expected at 9:20, yet everyone was left in a joyous mood, satisfied with this successful celebration of culture, family and friends.
