But while dancing to the tune of popular folk songs on nine nights, have you ever though of the man who has penned these songs.

Meet 58-year-old Kalhans Patel, the man behind these catchy tunes. Patel is a satisfied man today, not because his songs are played and sung at every Garba ground of the city, but because the influence of western music has not crept into garba music in Vadodara.

``I'm glad that the people of this city still dress up traditionally during garbas. They have maintained the traditional circles and still celebrate it as a public festival,'' Patel observes.

Patel, who has been honoured with a number of national and international awards for his contribution in the field of culture, says he no longer is interested whether he remains a public figure, but was thankful to the people for their city for appreciating his efforts and keeping his songs alive.

On his songs, he says, while most of the tunes composed by him had retained their originality, a lot of instrumentation had been introduced in them. ``However, what is worth appreciating is that raas has retained its originality and youths still enjoy playing to it,'' he says.

Patel, however, is not against mixing of western music with traditional garba. Observing that most of today's youths were a talented lot, but only needed the right people to guide them, he pointed out that if the youths enjoy western and traditional music with the same zest and interest, it shows that they are proud of their culture and would preserve it at all costs.

On the state's folk art, he says as far as Gujarat was concerned traditional art was not a dying art. ``If people wanted to do away with this art, they would not have encouraged its relay on the All India Radio or the Doordarshan,'' he pointed out.

``It's a misconception that folk art is only for those residing in rural areas,'' Patel maintains.

Patel, who also has a number of books on traditional art and culture to his credit, says even Gujarat Tourism authorities wanted synopsis of garba and other traditional art in the state.

Regretting that apart from raas and the garba not many were aware of the other fold forms of the state, he said the fold form of Gujarat was overshadowed as the neighbouring states projected their culture and tradition in a much better way.

``There is hardly any mention of the dayro or the bhavai in other parts of the country,'' he said, adding, however, one good news is that though people might not be aware of the historical background of garba or the raas, they at least know about it and also enjoy playing to it.