Swirling circles and steady footwork transformed Centennial Hall during Navratri Garba Night, hosted by the Indian Student Organization (ISO) on Monday. Students and community members gathered for an evening of music, dance and culture.

Navratri is a nine-night festival that honors the many forms of the Hindu goddess Durga. The festival is widely celebrated across India with Garba and Dandiya Raas, high-energy communal dances performed in circles. 

At A-State, nine nights became one, but ISO organizers said the spirit remained the same.

“This festival is very important for us because these days we worship the goddess, there are nine forms,” Arshpreet Lair, ISO president, said. “International students can feel homesick, so we celebrate together, and we also want to share our culture with other communities on campus.”

ISO typically hosts Diwali, the festival of lights. Lair, a communication graduate student from Amritsar, India, said this was the organization’s first time bringing a full Navratri celebration to A-State. She said the goal was twofold: give Indian and South Asian students a familiar tradition to anchor the semester and welcome first-timers with a simple way to participate.

“This event is for everyone. It is open to the public,” Lair said. “We collaborated with other student groups, including the Nepal Student Organization and the Student Activities Board, to promote and make it bigger.”

James McGinnis, ISO faculty adviser and professor of information systems, served as a dance judge. He said the night fits squarely within A-State’s push for inclusive cultural programming.

“It brings us all together,” McGinnis said. “This is an Indian organization, but I saw Nepali students here, and Americans too. This is my third time at an ISO event, and I have learned quite a bit.”

McGinnis said the educational value is social as much as formal.

“You will not learn much if you stay in your little group,” McGinnis said. “Break out, mingle, ask questions. If you do not ask, you will not know. Events like this make that easy.”

Dancers filtered on and off the floor as the DJ alternated between traditional Garba tracks and faster Raas numbers. In the inner circle, students traded steps and taught the two-count and the basic six-count for newcomers. Along the edges, attendees took photos of swirling ghagra choli skirts and embroidered kurta sleeves between songs.

Jay Bhakt, a business administration graduate student from Gujarat, the state where Garba originated, won one of the dance honors at the event.

“This is my second Garba here. Most weekends, we even drive to Memphis to dance,” Bhakt said. “I am from Surat, so this folk dance is part of me. Dancing in the circle, smiling and playing together, felt like home.”

Bhakt said he hopes the event keeps growing and draws more local residents, along with students.

“I will come back, and I want to invite the local community too,” he said. “The more people who join us, the more they can enjoy and learn about the culture.”

Lair said the one-night format recognizes the reality of mid-semester schedules but still gives students a meaningful touchstone.

“We cannot do nine nights on campus, but one night can still bring people together,” Lair said. “We want students to feel less homesick, and we want others to know what our culture looks like and how we celebrate.”

McGinnis said the best measure of success was not the trophies, but the circles themselves. He said strangers stepped in, found the beat and stayed a little longer than they planned.

By the end of the evening, the circles thinned into clusters of students comparing videos and swapping favorite songs. ISO leaders stacked dandiya sticks and folded banners as they talked about the next cultural program.

Lair said those who attended this event should come back for future events and bring their friends.

“This is for all of A-State,” Lair said. “If you can walk in, you can dance in.”

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