Watch: That ‘Chinese Garba’ video that people love? It may not have been a garba dance at all
At least three versions of the video are available, each with a different soundtrack
This made me smile again. The post came with the caption: “Chinese Garba.” Well the music may have been grafted on to some random Chinese dance but with Navratri around the corner, it’s nice to imagine hordes of chinese tourists dancing along with us...😊 pic.twitter.com/7878TNm5Md
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) September 30, 2018
At first glance, these dancers from an Oriental country appear to be synchronising their moves perfectly to a song normally played at Garba festivals. No wonder the video quickly made its way to WhatsApp groups, with more than one person posting it on social media as well (above).
Trouble is, there are at least two other versions (below) of the video – and possibly more – on YouTube, each with a different soundtrack. And that may explain why the dandiya sticks, for instance, are missing.
The complete lack of ambient noise in this outdoors video suggests the original soundtrack was scrubbed off and different people added their own choice of music. With the Navratra period beginning in many parts of India, the time was clearly ripe for this fake garba video.
Here are two of the other versions: