Introspection

The Hungama :
So at last the much awaited Diwali night arrived. I had asked Asmita to reserve a ticket for attending it. The Diwali event which is organized by the India Student Association (ISA) every year showcases the Indian culture. Many of the university students, Indians in the neighboring towns and non-Indians share their talents by performing at the event. Not only Indians, but other internationals also love to attend it.
Well, who would not like to be in their best outfit, enjoy meeting new people, have delicious Indian food and savor the cultural events rich in Bollywood masala garnished with authentic classical music and dance? Thus, everyone was eagerly awaiting for the colorful evening.

The rush hour:
After volunteering for some time, I had to return home to get ready for the evening. Vasavi had promised to pick me up. As soon as I arrived home, I had to finish some of my chores and then got ready for the event. My blue Mysore silk sari was longing to get out from my suitcase :). Well, maybe I am exaggerating my feelings, but I was very excited to wear my best outfit. After coming to the US, you rarely get a chance to dress in your ethnic outfits. You start searching for excuses to wear your Indian dresses and binge on the home made Indian food like you were hungry for the past two years:). Luckily, I can cook Indian food and we do have occasions to be our usual selves, but this was a special event. So wanted to look special too. Well, it’s the girl thing you see:).However, I started getting ready. I usually hate wasting time on getting dressed but today I couldn’t help it. I might have made more than twenty rounds to the bathroom only to get my face washed. Well, the usual scrubbing, cleansing, and moisturizing rituals you see :). However, it took me about an hour to get dressed. I called up Vasavi who came along with Dr. Hari to pick me up. She too looked great. Meanwhile, I greeted Dr.Hari and got into the car.

Tu- tu –mein-mein :
The kids (Shreya and Vidya) were seated in the last row and so I had the entire place to myself. “Hi guys, you both really look pretty today”, I said. Shreya was excited. While she was about to say something, Vidya interrupted her and soon both got into a battle of words. Later I came to know that it was the second part of their fight which had started at Vasavi’s place. Vidya and Shreya are neighbors. Both, very cute, bright and talkative. Both liked to call the shots and as a result always ended up fighting with each other. There was a lot of heated discussion between them. Vidya did not like Shreya talking and so she tried to close her mouth. Shreya got angry with Vidya for doing so and argued with Vidya for behaving badly with her. The parents in the front seat were getting very restless and tried all sorts of threats to stop them. But they weren’t successful.
While Dr.Hari was trying to console Vidya, Vasavi tried to calm down Shreya. I couldn’t but enjoy the tussle between the power puff girls (well, I just felt they were very powerful and so the name :)) and their parents. This went on and on and on.
All through the way to the venue, I had a fair chance of listening through their arguments. “Daddy why is there such a huge crowd outside?”, asked Vidya. Even before Dr. Hari could reply Shreya jumped in saying, “Well, we had a ball game today. So we have many people around. Is it true ma? , she tried to confirm it with Vasavi. “Yes talli (dear) you are right. Now will you please keep quite for some time?”, said Vasavi frustrated. She sensed the beginning of another tussle between them. It was difficult for both the parents to control these two kids. Vidya continued asking questions. What is a ball game?” asked Vidya.
Sheya: I think it is a baseball game. It is something like a football game or soccer.
Vidya: Well, soccer and football are both the same.
Shreya: No they are not the same.
Vidya: Yes, they are. But different countries use different names. Daddy is soccer and football not the same?” Vidya tried to confirm her argument.
Well, my dear, they have a small difference, which I will explain it to you later. Ok? Now, will you please keep quite for some time as we have reached the place?”, he said. I really wished we had few more minutes to listen to Dr. Hari’s explanation. Though the parents were frustrated with these kids, I could see two intelligent women in the making. Their questioning and reasoning was amazing. Though the arguments were reduced to ego clashes, in the process they were also trying to build their assertiveness, reason out before accepting things blindly. I really enjoyed their debate :). However, we had reached the venue and we three adults got down the car. Dr.Hari unlocked the door for the kids and waited for them to get out. Vidya just wouldn’t get out as she wanted to come along with her father. Shreya wanted to be with Vidya so she too denied getting down the car. The parents had to explain them about the parking problem and warned them of the long distance they had to walk in the cold. All the warnings really helped and at last they got down the car.
The commotion:
Dr. Hari left us with the kidsat the venue. Both started running all over the place and would not listen to Vasavi and so I decided to intervene. “Hey girls! Listen to me. This is a very huge place so you need to be very careful. If you need to move around, you should be accompanied by one of us. So you both need to listen to what we say and follow us wherever we go Ok?” I said. They nodded and came down the stairs. It was a great accomplishment for me to see those kids humbly surrendering to my words. I did not expect this at all. “Not bad ha! You can manage an elementary class,” I complimented myself. We hanged our coats in the corner and entered the venue. The hall was already full. While we were searching for a place to sit, Aditya came hurriedly towards me. “We need some volunteers for serving the food. Can you please help the food section?” he asked. It would be great if we can have another person to help”, he added. Vasavi understood Aditya’s gestures and explained to him about her responsibility. Even I wanted to meet my friends and chill around but had to rush into the food section.

A true vegetarian:
The crowd was slowly trickling in and so I had to hurry. I grabbed an apron and stood behind the serving table. A huge cooking vessel of Dal fry was before me. As the crowd passed by I invited them to have some dal. Most of them had their own excuses to avoid eating dal and instead went for an extra serving of chicken curry which was served by the very next person beside me.
Hmm? This is sooo bad! I said to myself. So what if it is dal. It’s far more healthy than the chicken, I said to myself. However, the attitude of the people angered me. I decided to do my best to finish the Dal fry. As the crowds passed by I tried to coax them to taste a bit of it. At times tried to guess if the person was a vegetarian and then encouraged them to have an extra serving of dal. Kids just hated it. Even the younger crowd. Even my harmless smile and soothing words could not convince them to try it out :(. It seemed the desis hated it while non-desis liked to try it. I could convince them to have an extra serving at my request. I felt much better when the dal was getting finished. I had to request Adil to get some more dal.
Yahoo! I screamed within myself in triumph. Not bad ha:). I thought. So was this the magic of my words or my costume? :). Anyways, I was happy about how things were going on. It was a long queue and my neighbor decided to leave even before someone could replace her. After some time, I found myself juggling and serving the three items before me. This continued fro some time till, Anamika and Siddeshji came to my rescue. At last when there were no more people left, I grabbed some food and ate it hurriedly. I had to trace Vasavi so that I could leave along with her. I couldn’t even enjoy what I was eating and just sampled all the varities in a hurry.

Settling down:
As soon I finished eating, I accompanied Anamika to the restroom. After we came back, I hardly had any time to find Vasavi. The lights were put off for the show to begin. I had no other choice but to sit down wherever I could find some place. Luckily found some place at the entrance and later could shift to a corner. Four of us had to squeeze in three chairs:). Well, wasn’t funny but we couldn’t complain. The program started and stretched till 11:30pm. Some were fun to watch while some were boring. However, I loved the songs by Urja (a band of seven days which was formed exclusively for the event:)). I almost sank in the song of “Dooba dooba rehta hoon “by Silk route. It was sung mellifluously by Ravi. Nishank and Shoumik were great with the guitar while Vinod magically played with the Casio. It was an excellent performance by the group. Navdeep Sindhu and group’s Hindustani vocal performance was great. I almost got mesmerized with the santoor vaadan.
After some time the crowd got involved in the songs and the dance sequences performed on the stage. All the undergrads and the grad students looked fabulous in their colorful attires. Their breathtaking steps to the bollywood songs were very enterntaining. The kids from Balvihar gave their best performance. The kathak performance by two American ladies was great. Over all it was an awesome show. Right from the MC’S to the performers, everyone entertained the audience to their best.

Happy moments:Though I did not participate in the cultural events, I was equally tired of sitting for almost two hours. However, all was well that ended well. All through out the event, I felt as if I were in India, attending a marriage reception. It made me feel better. For the first time, I didn't feel sad remembering my good old days back home.