The 'diversity' show

It's the first time that I participated in the Colorado Springs Cultural Diversity show. I did not know that there would be a big crowd and a floating crowd of around 5000...Booths, volunteers, performers, kids - it looked like a festival. Car parking was not at all easy although I went with my co-participants in one of their cars. When we entered, there was some African dance that was going on. Then there was a song by a very small girl. Once that got over, it was the Indian community's turn which started with a classical Bharatanatyam dance by kids. Believe me, although there were performers from different countries, with the outfits and the expressions, the Indian community performance stole the show. After the Bharatanatyam performance, there was a 'Krishna Jayanthi' dance by high school kids. They looked charming and so as their dance with the bamboo attempt. Then came our performance for 'Jai Ho'. It always happens to me that my heart pounds fast till I enter the stage but once I enter, I dont know where I will get the energy and excitement. I did forget one step and did something else but people said it was not noticeable and we were the only ones on the entire show who got 2 rounds of applause :) This is the first time I put a thilak on my forehead to depict 'Jai ho' and I loved it. After our performance, there were lots of other performances but I loved two of them - One is the ballet dance and the Taekwando show by the US group. It was amazing! Overall, I enjoyed performing as well as watching others perform. A good experience!!!

Festival of lights!

Every year it's getting different in a way that I celebrate Diwali. This year, I invited few friends to do a kutti pooja on Diwali (when family is not around, friends assist, u know? ;)) And the result is what the picture says. Few things happened differently without any plan. As I lighted the new cute diyas, I started rendering a devotional song to my surprise, well to everyone's surprise. Although I did not give those friends a sumptuous feast, I could feel the sense of enlightment in me when I offered the sweets to them. As usual, I prepared Rava ladoo (that's not different though :)) and the traditional Idli/Sambar combo. And greeted family and friends. When I did this, I remembered a college friend of mine who wrote in my autograph 'Virundhombalna adhu Raji dhaan' :) Better late than never - Wish you all a 'Happy Diwali'!