It was a melting pot of cultures at Dew Drops Studio as Bengalis and Marwaris matched steps with Gujaratis at a Raas Garba workshop last weekend.

The workshop, aimed at bringing together the 40,000-odd Gujaratis who have made the city their home, saw around 150 participants aged 3 to 55 don their festive best and do the garba. The workshop culminates in Goonj - a pre-Navratri garba competition to be held at Mahalakshmi Temple on October 4.

"This workshop has been an effort to bring together all Gujaratis. Being one is our motto and we host a wide range of activities under the Gujarati Raj Garba Society," said Amit Popat, one of the organisers who, along with a few others, is working on an encyclopaedia of raas garba history in Calcutta.

Mommy Sonal Gandhi and daughter Eshani, a Class IV student of The Bhawanipur Gujarati Education Society School, bonded big time over garba. "I joined the workshop for my daughter because I want her to be aware of her traditions and culture. Dance can be a great bonding exercise and it has surely sweetened our relationship," Sonal smiled.

Chirag Boghani feels it is his duty as a Gujarati to master the traditional dance form. "I am desperately waiting for Navratri to show off my dancing skills to my friends and cousins," said the second-year commerce student of Bhawanipur Gujarati Education Society.

Not just Gujaratis, but members of other communities too had their share of fun. For Bhaswati Ray Mahasay, this Durga Puja will have a Gujarati flavour. She heard about the garba workshop from her Gujarati friends and enrolled instantly. "I had difficulty picking up steps initially but my friends made sure that I got them right. They taught me at home and even sent me videos as reference," she said.

Geeta Jain, a Marwari in her early 50s, was eager to learn garba and the workshop provided just the right opportunity. She juggled home, work and dance but made sure not to miss a single class. "It's amazing to be here with so many others. It brought back memories of childhood when I used to dance with my friends."

Danseuse Priti Patel dropped in at the workshop to encourage the participants and couldn't resist swaying to the beats. "I am trained in Manipuri dance but garba during Navratri is a must," said the dancer in between interacting with the participants and telling them about the origin of garba.

A flashmob featuring boys and girls in colourful kedia-dhoti and ghagra-choli saw some high-voltage garba moves. Vanshika Popat, a student of Class VIII at Sushila Birla Girls' School,was happy to have made new friends, while Anirudh Malani couldn't wait to teach his friends a move or two. "Dance, especially garba, teaches us unity and teamwork," he said.