(1) Bollywood Dance Team
In case you are not aware, Mumbai hosts a major film industry known as Bollywood. Bollywood film stars saturate the host city much like Los Angeles in the US. The industry influences the whole of India and Bollywood stars know a celebrity status that rivals, if not exceeds, that of the biggest Hollywood celebs. Not only are Bollywood celebs movie stars but also all of the biggest songs in India come from the movies, merging celebrities of different industries into one. This is because Bollywood films differ from Hollywood films in that an average film runs three hours and a long film runs four or more. The additional time is filled by a series of music videos and dance scenes that space out different "acts" of the movie. It's as if each film is a full length musical added to a more typical genre like comedy, drama, or action... but always, always with some romance. It doesn't matter if the plot concerns a war between robots and dinosaurs with lasers- there will be a romantic subplot. Everyone in India, including the rescued girls, know the most famous dance scenes from Bollywood movies. Accordingly, one of the Aftercare homes organized a talent show for the girls. Everyone participated the girls, the expats, the staff. During the week preceding this talent show, the expats gathered on several evenings to master a dance scene from "Lagaan," one of the most famous Bollywood films. I must say, I've never been known for my grace on the dance floor, especially compared with Indians who grow up dancing as much as sleeping. Regardless, my first experience as a dance team member went really well, and the girls were very excited to see that we knew something about Bollywood. It was a rejuvenating experience to hear laughter and see smiles on the faces of girls whose histories' I knew lacked these things. All had an incredible day, so much so, that my face hurt from smiling so continuously.
(2) Dahi Handi
As I've reiterated often- Indians know how to party. The festivals here have more noise and more color than anywhere imaginable. However, Dahi Handi has it all: Danger, Suspense, Joy, Celebration, Rewards, etc. Fifty feet off the ground, a clay pot filled with curd and lots of cash hangs tantalizingly suspended above the dense crowd of onlookers. All evening, teams arrive and try to build human pyramids tall enough to reach the pot, smash it, and collect the rewards. The stoutest men form the base; the middle layers are composed of light, but tall young men; and the top layers are made up by young boys with great balance and little weight. During the entire affair, live music is performed and enormous water hoses soak the drench crowd and competitors alike. Each team cheers and dances on each attempt. No patience is exhibited and the pyramids fully form in less than a minute, as the lighter boys scale the outside of the pyramid like army ants. The surrounding crowd crams around the pyramid and extends their hands, cheering the team on and waiting to catch any of the boys that fall from the top. As you might expect, injuries are regular, and even deaths- occasional. It is Dahi Handi, and it is so much more than a pinata.(3) Goa
Brief escapes from the city are treasured times. A week ago, I was able to take a weekend and go a short distance south of the city to Goa. Goa is a Mecca for hippies and has always been a beatiful, tropical place full of bizarre folk. I want to share a few of the highlights from that weekend. First, Goa's mountains extend right to the edge of the Arabian Sea and riding anywhere in Goa is a treat. We rented scooters for the whole weekend for $10 and road them through the endless, terraced rice patties and frequent ocean overlooks. At one point we wandered to a fort that operated with cannons on turrets hundreds of years ago. The jungle has since invaded the fort and left it in green, mossy ruins. However, the fort remains on cliff overlooking a particularly rocky part of the coastline where the waves crash into the rocks fifty feet below. It was a surreal experience, and I expected a pirate to be waiting around each corner of the fort.
Another interesting element prevalent in this entire region of India, including Goa, is mass paranoia over swine flu. Every day the newspaper front page has an article about H1N1 cases. This paranoia is openly accepted by many citizens and everywhere I go, a variety of homemade and store-bought "swine flu masks" appear on the faces of people. It just seems strange that in a country that always deals with a tremendous variety of horrific diseases without so much as a second thought, that the miniscule chance of contracting swine flu would drive people to such extremes. Regardless, I love the types of masks people come up with and get a kick out of the whole thing.
Like many coastal tourist retreats, Goans know how to do seafood. Sampling fish caught from the nets and canoes that we saw go out each day was a real treat. However, some of the expats with us come from Chinese-American families. They raised the topic of the delicacy and honor in eating the fish's head and eyes. In fact, they illustrated proper technique for the remainder of us for both procedures. To make a long story short, we decided to play paper rock scissors to determine which of us had to eat the last remaining fish eyeball. As I had been sick recently, I was not looking forward to this competition. Nevertheless, upon thoroughly jinxing myself by mentioning that I only had a 20% chance- I proceeded to lose every round and got stuck with eating the last remaining fish eye, much to the amusement of my colleagues. (4) Ganpati Festival
The most elaborate of my recent experiences involves the ongoing Ganpati Festival. The event spans 10 days and involves extensive decoration. Every street is strung with Christmas lights and tents and banners. No matter where you are in the city you are within hearing distance of a set of drummers and or a brass group. The focus is on lord ganesha, and all the Hindus go to the "idol store" and buy and elaborately decorated ganesha idol for the festival. The statues range in size from manageable, single home statues weighing 25 pounds, to ganesha statues three-four stories in height. What is consistent is that all of them will be ornately decorated with gold, flowers, red powder, and incense and paraded through the streets to the largest beaches, where they will be immersed into the ocean at significant points during the 10 days festival. It is direct idolatry in a way unimaginable to the Western Christian. I hope to have more stories as the festival continues.
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