Her Royal Highness Princess of Wales visited a Hindu temple in Leicester and Castle Donington postmistress, Mina Bajaria, got the future Queen up dancing.
There was press excitement when Princess Kate happily joined in with the traditional garba dance. Footage of the barefooted Princess joining in and enjoying the occasion was shown in several countries around the world including India and America.
Mina and her husband Chan, who have run Castle Donington Post Office, for more than seven years, are regular worshippers at the Shreeji Dham Haveli Hindu temple.
As Chan is a trustee of the Temple, they were invited to a royal visit, not knowing who would be attending. They arranged for relief cover for their branch so that they could attend the special occasion and they were delighted that Princess Kate was in attendance.
Mina had the honour of chatting to the princess for several minutes about the Hindu festival of Holi, Indian dancing and heritage.
When a traditional garba dance began Mina and the princess made eye contact again, smiled at each other, and Mina spontaneously asked Kate if she would like to join in the dance and she happily accepted the invitation. It had not been planned.
The princess then enjoyed Indian food with workers and volunteers at the temple including Mina and Chan.
Mina Bajaraji said: “It was a wonderful visit. People were surprised how long the princess and I had been chatting for. I’m used to chatting to people as I’m speaking to people all the time at work and Kate was very easy to talk to, down to earth, asked questions and was a good listener too.
“When the Indian dancing began I happened to by next to each other and we smiled at each other, and then I just asked if she would like to dance. Without hesitation Kate joined in and it was a very special performance. Then we were all enjoying biryani, samosas and puri that had been prepared and Kate loved the food. It was such a memorable day. Everyone had a wonderful time and Kate really wanted to hear about Hindu traditions, including dancing.
“My customers in Castle Donington and relatives in India and Britain saw the TV and press coverage and joked that they would have to bow in my presence now!”
Mina is one of the regular dancers who get involved with the temple’s Navarati, also known as the Festival of Dance, where participants dance from 7pm until midnight for nine consecutive days.
She commented: “It is non-stop dancing during the evening. I will go from working in the post office during the daytime, to dancing all evening long, then back working as normal, for nine days. Somehow it revitalises you and I have the energy to continue to still run a post office.”