Welcome to the Ambassador's Home: The 66th Republic Day of India - A Day for the Indians, and Me

- January 26, 2015, Monday.

- The chance to visit a foreign ambassador in his own home is rare. It is even rarer to be invited by a foreign embassy to visit the ambassador in his home. (Maybe the chances are higher if you were a migrant or a long term temporary resident, and your country's embassy in that foreign country would invite you for something; that would seem more relevant and understandable.) For me, I received such an invitation last Saturday from Dr. Suresh Kumar, from the political, press, information and culture section of the Indian Embassy in the Philippines. He invited me to join the flag hoisting event, held today at the ambassador's house to celebrate the 66th Republic Day of India. More about this later.

- The "Republic Day" of India should not be confused with the August 19 Indian Independence Day, when India became free from British rule, and the day Pakistan separated from India. The Republic Day is celebrated to remind the Indians everywhere that the constitution that made India a "republic" took effect on this day in 1950. In the Philippines, this Indian holiday is celebrated annually, with the ambassador inviting all Indian nationals to his home for a flag hoisting event, some words from the president of India, and of course, some refreshments.

- Today, I went to the ambassador's house, and changed into my kurta and Nehru vest. Thank goodness Metro Manila's public transportation did not fail me this morning, so I was able to arrive earlier than expected; the flag hoisting was held at 9am, but I arrived around half an hour earlier. I was able to have some small talk with the ambassador, and some Filipino and Indian employees/staff from the embassy. The ambassador's wife reminded me of my Hindi teacher; she was very meticulous with details, and wanted to make sure that everything was perfect before more visitors arrived.

The ambassador's wife, her daughter, and her friends.

- The event started right after the official photographer for the event arrived. The ambassador, H.E. Lalduhthlana Ralte, first released the balled-up flag, with confetti bursting as the flag was opened. I sung the Indian national anthem together with all the Indians; come to think of it, other than the Filipino embassy staff, and the security guards, and the photographer, I was the only non-Indian "guest" to be there.

- The ambassador then delivered the speech by the current president of India, President Pranab Mukherjee. The speech stated that despite all the negative things that is happening to India, and what the world knows about India, India should continue to strive to be better, step out, and stand out.

The flag was opened; too bad there was no wind to show the flag.

H.E. Lalduhthlana Ralte delivering the speech of President Pranab Mukherjee.

- Before the refreshments, Dr. Suresh Kumar went to the podium for a few announcements, one of which, involved me. The embassy held an online photo contest recently, with the theme of "India in the Philippines." The instruction stated that all entries should be something that reminds people of India (places, people, food, etc.,) and should be shot in the Philippines. I submitted three entries, and fortunately, one of them won. The prize was an Canon SLR camera, with a complimentary bag and tripod; the ambassador also gave out a book on India (with a lot of nice pictures of different places in India) in addition to the main prize.

Receiving my prize. 

My friend Roshan took these photos.

- After the awarding, we were invited to the poolside for some light snacks. The pool was inside the side, so we all had to enter the main door. The main door had a table placed in front, and had a big pile of books on primary Hindi, small Hindi/Punjabi novels, children's story books in Hindi, some coffee table books on India, and other books of the same theme/nature; they were all for free and we could get any book we wanted. Of course, I got as many books as I need since I couldn't find those kinds of books here in the Philippines.

Small Indian flags ("tiranga") at the gates.

- Many people congratulated me throughout the morning, as I congratulated them with a "Happy Republic Day" in return. I found it funny and interesting when I was mistaken for a professional photographer (which I am not, and far from one,) part Indian or an Indian from the northeast (which I am not, but in heart, perhaps; northeastern Indians look more Chinese because of the geographical location of Northeast India.) As expected, and as usual when meeting Indians from the Hindi-speaking belt, one question that had been coming up the whole morning was "why do you speak Hindi?" Of course, I had to tell them my really summarized life story.

A more decent photo with the current ambassador; this is inside his house.

- I eventually made my way to the poolside, and we were served some jalebis (orange-colored syrup-sweet funnel cakes,) vegetable fritters, samosas, and some vegetarian roll that looked like an Indian burrito. I loved the food and I would have eaten more if I wasn't busy talking to the other Indians, including one of my respondents for my thesis. Well, talking to the Indians was a pleasure by itself; they always have some witty remarks and funny comments. I also realized that I've been rubbing elbows with more Indians throughout the years, because I was able to talk to meet some Indians in the event who were connected with some of the Indians I knew beforehand. I was not able to take photos of the poolside because my hands were too full with food and drinks.

- I got to roam around the ground floor of the ambassador's house, and I must say that it reminded me of the big hotels I've stayed at in India before, particularly the ones in Jaipur.  I wasn't able to roam around the whole house, but I think I would like to have a house like his. The house seemed cozy. As much as I wanted to take many photos inside the house, I did not want to look suspicious so I just took a nice photo by the flag and the photo of the current Indian president.

My photo, together with all the other entries, being flashed.

A giant tiranga, and a photo of President Pranab Mukherjee.

- Before I left the ambassador's residence, I was able to have a longer conversation with Dr. Kumar, and he told me that the embassy has plans of organizing more cultural events to strengthen (soft) diplomatic ties between India and the Philippines. He even told me to watch out for the Holi celebration this March, to be held at the SM Mall of Asia open area, by the bay (I attended this festival two years ago, and you can read it here for more information about the event, and the festival itself.)

With Dr. Suresh Kumar.

- I left the ambassador's house with a heavy heart (and my hands with heavy baggage,) but I felt that the greater honor for the day was not the award/prize, but the opportunity to have celebrated the 66th Republic Day in the ambassador's house, with the ambassador and his family, and the other Indians living here in Metro Manila. Finally, I would like to thank the Indian Embassy for the invitation to the event, the judges of the contest who chose my photo, and of course, Wipro Philippines for sponsoring my prize.




** Here's the winning photo I submitted:

"Prabhu"

- The photo si entitled "Prabhu," and shows a Filipino devotee of the Hare Krishna movement honoring a statue of the founder of  the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON,) A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. This was taken during the rathayatra festival, held during the "Festival of India" at the University of the Philippines, Diliman. (Read about the event here.)