Gujarati tourists perform Garba on a street in Austria. Viral video sparks backlash

India Today

2 days ago

A group of Gujarati tourists in Austria found themselves at the receiving end of the internet after they insisted that local street performers play a Garba song so they could dance on a public street. A video of their dance performance has gone viral on social media. A video of the incident that took place in the Old Town of Innsbruck, Austria, was shared online by content creator Pearl Shah. advertisementIn the now-viral video, she narrated how her 43-member Gujarati-Marwari group approached two street performers, also known as buskers, asking them to play a Garba song on their speaker.
"It's really happening, guys," she says in the video, adding, "We were in Austria, walking through the streets of Old Town Innsbruck, when we saw two people performing. You have no idea what happened next."She continues, "Since our 43-member Gujarati-Marwari group was there too, we approached them and asked if they could play a Garba song on their speaker."According to Shah, the artists initially refused, citing concerns over police interference. But the group continued to request, until the buskers eventually gave in. The group then began dancing Garba in a circle, as the music played on the performers' speaker."At first, they refused, saying that if the police showed up, they might get into trouble. But we weren't leaving without doing Garba. After several requests, they finally agreed and let us connect our song," she said.advertisementIn the caption of her video, Shah wrote, 'Have you ever thought of playing Garba in Europe? Well, I had and now I can tick it off the bucket list.' The video has clocked over two lakh views on Instagram.Watch the video here: View this post on Instagram A post shared by pearl:) (@ipearlshah)Social media users didn't hold back. A section of the internet slammed the group's behaviour, calling it "inconsiderate and disruptive".A user, who identified themselves as Gujarati, said they were 'embarrassed' by such acts abroad. 'We don't do Garba on random Indian streets, let alone overseas. There's a time and place,' the user said.Another user added, 'You hijacked their performance for your fun. Those performers were working, and you treated it like a picnic. Please stop forcing your version of culture on unsuspecting strangers.'One of the users pointed out the disrespect shown towards the buskers. 'Imagine walking into someone's office and asking them to use their computer to play music. This isn't just inconsiderate, it's entitled.'See the comments here: While celebrating culture abroad can be joyful, the internet has made it clear that respecting local artists and boundaries matters just as much.