- January 11 and 27, Saturday and Monday.
- 2025 entered fast and one wink it's already March. However, despite the stress, I could say that 2025 so far has been nice to me (and I wish it remains nice to me). January alone was already filled with surprises, including my back-to-back Indian events, courtesy of the Indian Embassy.
- One the 11th of January, I was invited by the Indian Embassy to deliver a speech in Hindi as part of the World Hindi Day celebration at the Embassy's BGC office. I feel honored to be remembered by the Indian Embassy because it's been a while since they invited me to participate in an event. They needed a Filipino (not of Indian descent) who can speak Hindi and should be able to impart the importance of learning Hindi. As usual, I shared my journey that started when I was a young boy who liked watching Indian shows on cable TV without understanding anything, to my high school days when I learned Hindi by myself, until the time I had to formally learn Hindi with a tutor as part of my requirements for my master's degree. I think I surprised the audience, mostly Indian students studying in the Philippines (majority for a medical degree), and especially friends and acquaintances from the Indian community who for some reason did not know I spoke the language.
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| Happy World Hindi Day! |
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| H.E. Harsh Kumar Jain, Ambassador of India to the Philippines. |
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| Special thanks to Ms. Jamil, Embassy staff, who took these nice photos of me. |
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| It was an honor to be given the chance to speak in front of the Ambassador and his wife, as well as the Indian community. |
- Apart from my speech, as well as representatives from the local and expat Indian community who also shared how Hindi meant to them and their careers, the Indian Embassy also held a Hindi poetry contest for children and adults. The whole program was simple yet meaningful; it became even better after we all feasted on some amazing Indian food afterwards!
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| With the participants of the poetry contest, as well as the Indians who were present during the event. |
- Fast forward to two weeks later, I was invited to join the Indian Embassy in celebrating the 76th Indian Republic Day, which coincides with the 75th anniversary of the bilateral relations of India and the Philippines. It was held at Shangri-La The Fort, and graced by various representatives of foreign missions, the Philippine government, as well as the Indian community. It was not only a good excuse to be dressed to the nines, but it was also an opportunity to meet other Indian friends I have not seen in a while. It was also a good time to remind everyone that I am an Indian Studies specialist, as there are not a lot of us in the Philippines. Most importantly, I was able to meet the ambassador once more, as well as the Indian diplomatic corps.
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| Thank you so much for inviting me! |
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| I realized how long it had been since the last time I attended a fancy event. |
- The event also featured performances from both the Indian and Filipino performers in celebration of India's rich culture. And as it was Shangri-La, the Indian food served was some of the best!
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| A classical dance performance; I think this was Kathak. |
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| With some performers from Enchanted Kingdom. |
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| Representatives from the Indian community showcasing wedding clothes from different regions of India. |
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| With Ambassador Jain, and his wife, Mrs. Vandana Jain. |
- The night ended sooner than I thought. Time permitting, I would have wanted to talk to more people, although I also found it difficult to just talk to random people (especially high-profile people). It is through these events that I get to meet and learn more from other people. However, it was still January and surely there are more Indian events lined up for the rest of the year! 2025 seemed to be a year of surprises, and I hope more good surprises are coming my way!
