Tufts Garba team returns for a successful second season

In only its second year of existence, the Tufts Garba team has surprised just about everyone. The squad has traveled to national competitions all over the country, including a trip to Michigan, and has yet to return to Medford empty handed.

Garba is a lively form of dance born in the Indian state of Gujarat, which was traditionally performed to celebrate the Hindu festival of Navratri. The festivity includes people dancing in a circle with wooden sticks called dandies and singing chants. Recently, the fluidity, grace, and energy incorporated in this dance have begun to gain worldwide recognition, resulting in a host of national competitions and competitive Garba dance teams.

After the inaugural Tufts Garba group won the country's most heralded annual Garba competition, Raas Chaos, last year, the 2003-2004 team had some big shoes to fill. With numerous seniors graduating from last year's championship squad, the current co-choreographer and captain, senior Gati Dharani, drafted almost a brand new set of troops: 12 out of 16 to be precise.

"It was really tough because the whole dynamic of the team changed, especially with the addition of guys," Dharani said. "I was a little bit apprehensive of making a new team and adding guys, but it ended up working out great."

The new team rose to the occasion and returned to Raas Chaos last November in their first competition as a new team.

The sixteen-member squad consisted of students from every year, including three from this year's freshman class. The seniors included Dharani, Malhar Bhagat, Milani Patel, Kavita Patel, Vaani Garg, and Geeta Pamidimukkala, plus junior Nima Desai, sophomores Amanvir Chahal, Anisha Khaitan, Neel Shah, Ashima Mathur, and Rishi Sivasiamphai, and freshmen Ameer Shah, Meghna Shah, and Jesal Shah.

Raas Chaos was the first large-scale competition of any sort in which most members of the team had participated, but despite their nerves, the team pulled together and produced a performance that left the crowd awestruck. Though the Tufts team failed to retain its crown, the squad gained all the more confidence for future competitions and made a name for itself on a national level.

"We were all a little nervous, and we kind of just went for fun," Dharani said. "We took the competition more with a sense of having fun rather than accomplishing anything, and it proved to be a stepping stone where we became more comfortable with each other and our skills."

The squad's next competition was GarbaFest, which was held at Boston's John Hancock Center in early December. Despite the seven inches of snow that hit Boston that morning, the squad made its way downtown determined to come home victorious.

The same group of sixteen did just that, shocking the crowd with perfectly timed stunts and elegant moves that earned them the first place trophy and a $1000 check.

"That day was one of the most challenging of my life," Dharani said. "The snow along with the added stress of performing made it absolutely grueling. But when we finally got on stage, our energy rush came back and I think we put together one of our best performances yet in terms of energy, precision, synchrony."

The group returned a week early from Christmas break and, fighting through numerous members quitting or joining Tufts' other Indian dance troupe, the Bhangra team, started preparing for Dandia Dhamaka, a selective national competition where eight teams would vie for three top spots.

While the core of the group remained the same, the team added sophomores Nimit Barochia and Hiral Shah and freshman Inder Sandhu, and said goodbye to seniors Vaani Garg and Geeta Pamidimukkala, junior Nima Desai, and sophomore Anisha Khaitan.

The squad practiced for three hours every night in Cohen Auditorium for three weeks prior to the competition, working to perfect a new dance which added more energy, high flying stunts, and male/female interaction, all crucial components of the judges' criteria.

At the competition itself, which took place on February 14 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the team put on a near perfect performance and was awarded third place, finishing behind much larger state schools Washington University and UCLA.

"Michigan was unbelievable," Dharani said. "We were very intimidated to be there because we were competing with schools of thousands and thousands of students. Placing third was great accomplishment for us."

The team received a $500 check and yet another trophy to add to its rapidly growing collection. This continued success marked an end to a wonderful season of dance and earned Tufts great recognition as one of the premier Garba teams on the east coast.