Fashion designer Anjali Phougat recently joined Garba Beyond Borders, a Blume Foundation initiative that used a traditional celebration to raise awareness about human trafficking. For her, the event showed how culture and fashion can come together to start conversations around serious issues.

“Human trafficking is a global humanitarian crisis. For me, this is not a cause that can be reduced to a single event or a number on a page. It is about human dignity, freedom, safety, and the right of every individual to live without exploitation,” she said.

Her association with the cause also goes back several years. “My association with this cause goes much deeper. I have been connected with Ohio State University and its Unchained initiative for approximately seven years, supporting efforts that bring awareness to human trafficking,” she said.

She said her work with the Blume Foundation has also allowed her to support other causes. “I have also been involved with the Blume Foundation and its broader work supporting causes including women’s education, cancer awareness, and human trafficking,” she said.

That long association was one reason she felt strongly about being part of Garba Beyond Borders. “So when an opportunity comes along where fashion, dance, culture, and community can come together to create awareness, I feel a responsibility to participate,” she said.

What particularly stayed with her was the way the event brought a serious message into an evening usually associated with celebration. She added, “The way the organizer Vaishali Dev transformed an evening that people traditionally associate with celebration and entertainment into a platform for awareness left a lasting impact on me.”

“The host chose blue and white as the colors of representation. Seeing so many people come together wearing those colors was incredibly powerful,” she said.

She said she had attended many Garba celebrations before but had never seen one where the colors themselves were connected to a humanitarian message.  For her, that was the beauty of the initiative.

“That was beautiful to me because awareness can begin with something as simple as a color,” she said.

“People came to dance, celebrate, and enjoy the evening, but they were also carrying a message. That is exactly how I believe change begins,” she added.