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.)

A Lao Weaving Demonstration: Celebrating 60 Years of Philippine-Lao Bilateral Relations

- January 8, 2015, Thursday.

- To kick-start the new year, the National Museum, in cooperation with Senator Loren Legarda (senator, advocate of Philippine indigenous cultures, and patron of the Hibla ng Lahi Gallery of the National Museum,) decided to deviate from the usual demonstration of Philippine textiles, and invited weavers from Lao PDR. I felt very fortunate to have seen the poster from the National Museum Facebook page (click here,) so I was able to make myself free for today's event. Apart from the usual afternoon demonstration, a special lecture was also held to formally open the event. They decided to organize this primarily because of the ASEAN integration this 2015, and coincidentally, to celebrate 60 years of diplomatic ties between Lao PDR and the Philippines.

Event poster.

- This is my second time to attend a weaving demonstration at the Hibla ng Lahi Gallery in the National Museum; the first time I attended was last November, when the Tausug women from Mindanao were asked to show how the pis syabit fabric is woven (click here.) However, I was pleasantly surprised that the staff of the gallery still remembered me, especially the lady guard. Later on, the guard even started calling my by name. I think I made such an impression on them when I volunteered to put on some of the Tausug woven products on myself, and even danced the Tausug's pangalay dance for them.

- This morning, I wore my traditional Lao sash that I got during the PICC International Bazaar two years ago, and probably I carried it too well, or because my face looked "different," I was mistaken as a Lao person, or a representative from the Lao Embassy by the Lao weavers, some museum staff, and even Senator Legarda and her staff members.

Mme. Chansamone preparing some items for sale before the lecture.

- The lecture started very late, with Mme. Keobunma Phetmalayvanh starting off with a brief introduction about the National Museum of Lao PDR, where she serves as the director-general. Apart from this, she also mentioned the significance of Lao traditional weaving - that this art highly embodies many aspects of Lao culture, from stories, proverbs, mythologies, or values.

Mme. Phetmalayvanh's lecture on the museum.

Mme. Phetmalayvanh and Mme. Chansamone.

- Mme. Keomoungkhoun Chansamone and Mme. Nanthavongdouangsy Kongthong, both weavers, gave more detailed explanations about the designs, styles, and stories surrounding the weaving art. Mme. Kongthong gave a longer lecture, since she has been weaving for a longer time, and is currently a "master weaver" in Lao PDR, and is also granted the status of "national living treasure" of the Lao government. Mme. Kongthong is also the owner of Phaeng Mai Gallery, a textile gallery and store located in Vientiane, Lao PDR. Mme. Chansamone on the other hand was originally a woodcut artist, and has just started weaving a few years ago.

Mme. Chansamone.

Mme. Kongthong.

Three things Lao women need to learn.

Some patterns of horses, snakes (nagas,) flowers, and buffaloes.

- After the lecture, the ambasadress of Lao PDR, H.E. Malayvieng Sakohninhom, gave her short message, as well as Senator Loren Legarda herself. Both expressed how all ASEAN countries must be more aware of the cultural similarities among all countries.

H.E. Malayvieng Sakohninhom.

Senator Legarda wearing a Lao sash.

Presenting the certificates.

With H.E. Sakohninhom.

Senator Legarda surrounded by Lao women.

And yours truly with the senator. See, our sashes match.

- Just before everyone headed out for lunch, we all took a look at some of the woven products for sale. As all of them are "museum price," all the products had heart-wrecking prices. The big malongs that can be turned into skirts were worth 500 USD each. (Even Senator Legarda was shocked with the price.) However, those silk malongs were done with extremely-detailed embroidery, with an almost embossed feel, so no wonder they all cost a lot. The more "wallet-friendly" items for sale included small handkerchiefs, wallets, or coin purses, but those small items already cost somewhere between 300-600php. As for me, I was able to spot three scarves that cost merely 450php, the cheapest among all the scarves, so I grabbed one in no time and bought it.

The sash alone was worth 2500 USD.

Her Excellency checking out the products.

Such awesome detail.

The patterns look like they're embossed.

With master weaver, Mme. Kongthong.

With the Lao VIPs.

- I went out for lunch, and came back early, so I was able to enjoy a few cups of blue Lao tea. The tea, brought by the Lao visitors, was made from flowers traditionally used to give blue dye to the silk (all the silk they made, had, and sold were naturally-dyed.) Too bad I was not able to catch the name of the flower, but it had a light fragrant scent, unlike hibiscus tea.

Blue tea. It's delicious, trust me.

- Senator Loren dropped by once more after lunch for the weaving demonstration. While the loom was being set up, the examined the items for sale once more. She also did a small interview with the weavers.

Senator Legarda chitchatting with the Lao guests.

Just putting it on, no plans of buying. $500 is a wallet-killer after all. Haha.

- When the weaving loom was set, the loom being one of the antique Philippine looms exhibited in the gallery, Mme. Kongthong did a small show-and-tell of some textiles before actually going on the loom and to start weaving. Since Mme. Kongthong is also a weaving teacher, she gladly asked for volunteers to try weaving. Of course I was one of the volunteers. The only thing we were taught to do was to pass a wooden stick through the threads, the stage before the flying the shuttle. It may seem easy, but the threads were hair-thin, and tightly packed beside each other, so for beginners, it would have taken forever. The worse part? When we would ask Mme. Kongthong to check and apparently we had make a mistake in one of the earlier threads. It was a tedious job, but definitely an interesting experience. Mme. Kongthong kept encouraging us, and told us to not be afraid of making mistakes, because it is through making mistakes that we all learn.

Double weft weaving. It represents the waves and nagas.

About to start to weave.

The senator looks intently.

This is a really tricky step. Putting the bamboo through the threads.

Finger dexterity is a must.

She said that the loom is quite shaky. (Probably because it's antique.)

"Combing" the threads.

MY TURN!!!!

I look like a pro but no it's not that simple.

The "master weaver" while the real master weaver is being interviewed.

- The session ended around 4 something, and after the Lao visitors invited everyone for the second day of the demonstration the day after. Tomorrow's special treat? A traditional Lao dance lesson. I would gladly want to visit again, if it only wasn't for the Feast of the Black Nazarene, which meant chaotic Manila roads. Even though I feel devastated about not attending tomorrow, I was able to learn a lot during my day at the National Museum - oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I was able to have my entrance fee waived because I was attending the event - and I was also fortunate to meet and interact with many important people within one day.