Jet-setter Day: Diwali Mela 2014 at the SM Mall of Asia (and the Gumbo Lunch Prior)

- October 25, 2014, Saturday.

Prologue - Lunch:

- These past few days have been hellish to me in terms of scheduling my activities for this Saturday. I had the events that I need to attend, so I had to make sure that I was up for the challenge of jumping from one part of Manila to another. Well, for people and things important to me, why not.

- My friend Robina and I had a very late birthday celebration with some friends at Gumbo today at Robinsons Place Manila. I can't really remember if I have eaten at Gumbo before, but if ever I did, it was a very long time ago. Robina and I decided on having our celebration here since Gumbo didn't serve the usual American food; Gumbo serves Louisiana-creole/cajun dishes, which meant American food with some Spanish and French influences, and a whole lot of seafood!! Also, most dishes from the Louisiana-creole/cajun cuisine incorporate the "holy trinity" of cajun cooking: celery, onions, and bell peppers.

- Robina discovered beforehand that Cajun had interesting set meals for groups of ten, but the list was not available on the menu; people would have to ask for the list, and a separate sheet will be given by the staff. We recommend the second set because it had Gumbo's bestsellers, such as their jambalaya and seafood pasta. Also, the set meal was just good enough for us since we were a group of exactly ten people, coincidentally.

Almost complete.

Pasta, jambalaya, pizza, chicken, and buttered vegetables.

The super-late comer. She told me before to not remind her everyday about today, but just after one day of not reminding her, she forgot about today. LOL.

Now we're complete!!

- Our four-hour lunch concluded with the staff singing happy birthday to me and Robina. As a practice, they put on fancy hats/headdresses on the birthday celebrators (yes, according to proper grammar the proper term is not "celebrant," but "celebrator." Go check.) Robina and I got to blow our birthday candle too.

Hurray.

It won't stay.

BLOWWWW.

The Big Event - Diwali Mela 2014

- I quickly set off to SM Mall of Asia after lunch to attend the big public diwali celebration, organized by SingIndia Music of the Soul, and SM Mall of Asia. SM Mall of Asia has been the venue for the big diwali mela for a long eight years (around the time SM MOA opened.) Upon reaching the event, I thought that this year's diwali was not as spectacular as the same event I attended two years ago (click here to see the 2012 Diwali Mela in MOA.) Most of the stalls this year only served food, and the three non-food stalls offered real-estate services, and travel services. Two years ago, some stalls would also sell Indian clothes, accessories, some souvenirs, and some religious paraphernalia, but none of those were present this year. Despite this, Bollywood music (particularly the song "Happy Diwali" from the movie "Home Delivery," starring Vivek Oberoi) and the people walking around with their colorful saris, salwar kameezes, and kurtas gave the event a festive vibe.

Event poster.

- Diwali or Deepavali is the festival of lights, and is one of the grandest, and most important festivals of the Indians, and other Sikh, Jain, and Hindus. The actual day of diwali was last Thursday, and I visited the Manila Hindu Temple to celebrate diwali (click here for my diwali temple visit); diwali is perhaps the only Indian festival that I observe and celebrate. Diwali is celebrated in many ways, and is interpreted depending on the religion. From a Hindu perspective, the most heard-of perspective, diwali is a day when light and good triumph over dark and evil - and this is why lights are lit on the darkest moon of the year; usually, diyas (clay lamps,) candles, and firecrackers are lit. Putting up a lot of lights allows Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, to bless each well-lit home.

Lakshmi, one of the important goddesses celebrated in diwali.

Plenty of Indian food for sale.

Tada!!

- The emcees and the performers were mostly participants from the Indian transnational community in Metro Manila. Most of the performances were Punjabi in nature, especially since the members of SingIndia Music of the Soul, CJ Wasu and his wife Ritu Wasu, are Punjabi. Punjabis come from a northwestern Indian state called Punjab; the Punjabis comprise one of the majority groups of Indians in the Philippines. The Punjabis are known for their colorful folk culture, particularly bhangra dancing accompanied by the rhythmic and percussive bhangra music.

They also had a photobooth with free photos!! The top photo shows the Lakshmi mudra (gesture,) the lower left mudra demonstrates the lighting of the diya, and the lower right mudra represents Lord Rama, another important deity in the celebration of diwali.

- The only non-Punjabi and non-Bollywood number that I saw was the invocation dance number done by Ms. Priya Khanna, who also danced for our Festival of India event in my university last year (click here to read about the Festival of India 2013.) Ms. Priya Khanna's dance was called "Bharatanayam," and is an Indian classical dances from the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

Chanting mantras to Lakshmi; they're all VIPs.

Giving some offerings to Lakshmi.

Emcees.

Ms. Priya Khanna and her Bharatanatyam performance.

Bharatanatyam is called the "dance of fire" because of the jumpy movements needed to make the dance impressive.

This is the Shiva Nataraja pose.

Abhinaya, or expression, is one important element of any Indian classical dance.

Got to meet my friend Jeannette briefly.

- The highlight of my attendance to the event was being able to take a photo with the new ambassador of India to the Philippines, His Excellency Lalduhthlana Ralte. I saw that the seat beside him was vacant during a momentary break, and I asked his permission for me to take a photo of us. Mission accomplished. (Yay.)

Some Indian children dancing.

Work it.

An Indian comedian (left) with one of the emcees. The comedian greeted the audience a "happy diwali" with his impressions of many famous Bollywood actors.

His Excellency, Lalduhthlana Ralte.

Ms. Riyu Wasu taking the stage with other Indian and Filipino performers.

Another Punjabi dance.

They're now danving with dandiya sticks.

My photo with the ambassador.

- Before I left, I got to witness an awesome seven-year-old Punjabi boy taking the stage by himself and his fire-like bhangra number. He was an instant hit. The audience loved him, especially the Indian aunties and grannies. I also got to see a female-version bhangra number from a group of Punjabi women with their shiny and rainbow-dipper salwar kameezes and dupattas (the scarves that go with the salwar kameezes.)

This kid was the best.

Look at that turban!!

Dancing with a cane.

Confetti for effect.

I'm not sure what to call that thing he's holding.

The emcees encourage him to dance a bit more.

Apparently, dancing runs in the family. That's his sister at the right, and their dad with the striped shirt.

The last number I caught.

Look at those dupattas fly!!

I really like looking at the salwar kameezes.

They dance with both grace and power.

Had a photo with the bhangra kid before I left.

I also bumped into my friend Marjorie near the entrance/exit.

- As much as I would have wanted to stay longer, I had to attend to another commitment for the night. I'm not sure what I missed, probably a big bhangra number with drums and dancing Punjabi men with color-coded uniforms, or other lively numbers, but I think I was able to catch a lot of good numbers this year. Until next year's diwali mela, perhaps.



Epilogue - The Dinner I Almost Missed:

- I left MOA around a bit past 8pm, and miraculously a taxi stopped near me while crossing the street. I took the cab and off I went to Uno Restaurant to meet my friend Jenika. It's her 18th birthday today, and I knew I couldn't miss it.

- I really thought I would miss it since Jenika told me through SMS that they were about to leave. Thankfully, the heavens took my side today and didn't allow some bad Saturday-night Manila traffic to happen on my way to Uno Restaurant in Escolta. At least, I arrived safely and quickly, and I was able to have my dinner, and my catching up with Jenika and some other friends.

- We left around almost-10pm, and I still couldn't believe how I survived today. My face and eyes have been quite red from being too tired from today's here-there-everywhere trip. At the very least, I got to spend time with some important people, and I was able to have some diversion from the usual academic matters. I am still hoping for more days like this, though probably not as hectic.