How to Party Like an Indian: My Back to Back Diwali Celebrations in Manila!!

- Oct. 14-15, 2017, Saturday to Sunday.

- During the "-ber months" people in the Philippines are excited to celebrate two things: Halloween and Christmas. For the Indian community, however, they look forward to another big celebration: Diwali. Diwali, or Deepavali, is the Indian festival of lights and is considered as the biggest festival in India. Depending on a person's religion or region of origin in India, the way Diwali is celebrated may vary. They most important thing, however, is lighting diyas or oil lamps, or having lights in general. This is to invite blessings to people's houses. Apart from that, people wear new clothes, eat Indian sweets, and exchange gifts (which includes colorful money envelopes with cash). Normally, Diwali is celebrated for 5 days, with the biggest celebration ("Bari Diwali" or "Big Diwali") celebrated on the third day. This year, Big Diwali falls on Oct. 19, Thursday. Each day of Diwali has a different name and a different purpose; I shall not elaborate on these since as I mentioned, the other 4 days may be called a different name or celebrated in a different manner depending on the religion or the place of origin in India of the person.

- The Indian community in the Philippines has been active in celebrating Diwali in both public and private spaces. Every year, I get to attend the big one that the Indian community does in SM Mall of Asia (more on that later,) but this year I got to attend two Diwali events during the weekend before the actual Diwali.

- The first Diwali event I went to was in Urdaneta Village and organized by Bharati Manila, one of the ladies' organizations of the Indian community. It was held in the village's function hall, and so the event had a cozy yet vibrant bazaar vibe. Food and souvenir stalls were set up by different Indians while occasionally, someone would sing or dance in front. DJ CJ Wasu of Sing India, one of the Indian community's most sought after musicians, was there not only to facilitate the sounds, but also to play the dhol, a large Indian drum. My highlight of the afternoon was meeting the new Indian ambassador for the first time. Ambassador Jaideep Mazumdar was there in his casual Indian kurta, so I had to make sure if was him before going up to him and introducing myself and the work that I do. (Yes, it is sort of part of my work to be connected to the embassy, being the Indian specialist that I am.)

Packed with people, but for some reason the venue was still cozy.

Happy Diwali to you too!!

Rangoli or a picture made from colored powder/grains.

My food for the afternoon: Indian bread, Indian butter chicken, and biryani.

A nicely-colored diya.

Indian ladies getting it on!!

A common kind of dance during festivities.

Indian children doing the gharba or the stick dance.

Wit His Excellency Jaideep Mazumdar, current ambassador of India to the Philippines.

Punjabis dancing the bhangra, with DJ Wasu playing the dhol at the back.

- My short Saturday afternoon was the perfect teaser to the grander Diwali event in MOA the day after. Most of the people in the Urdaneta event were also in MOA, so I was able to see some familiar faces when I got to Mall of Asia the next day. I was also happy when DJ CJ Wasu recognized me when I bumped into him - after all, I've been attending Indian events a lot in the past years, and I've seen him in all those events.

Arrived early; the Hare Krishna group of the Philippines were singing prayers to the gods.

With DJ CJ Wasu himself. He's an awesome musician.

Ganesh, the remover of obstacles.

Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, one of the revered goddesses during Diwali; she blesses each home during Diwali.

My OOTD with the stage and the Hare Krishna group at the back. Of course I had to go all-out Indian.

- The grand event in SM Mall of Asia was organized by different organizations and people in the Indian community. They Indian community has been holding Diwali here for more than 10 years now. Indian food stalls, and sometimes even souvenir stalls, line the back part of Mall of Asia's Music Hall. I'm glad I came a bit early since I was not only able to get a seat near the front, but I was also able to have my dinner with much elbow space. Normally I'd arrive later, but it'd be difficult to get a seat by then and found it hard to eat since the food stalls are crowded and the seats felt cramped from too many people.

Indian food beyond the golden decor.

Indian ladies buying food.

One of the earliest Indian restaurants in the Philippines came to cater. By the way, all the food in the event was good!!

- The program started shortly after Ambassador Jaideep Mazumdar arrived and settled down. I was able to say hello to him a second time that weekend. After the ambassador gave his speech and the ceremonial lighting of the candles with the opening aarti (a kind of prayer ritual,) both modern and traditional performances mostly by various Indians from the community, some Filipinos. They also had a raffle in between the program. I eventually saw some friends from the UP Asian Center, my alma mater, and I sat with them and enjoyed the whole night.

Hello again ambassador.

This year's Diwali event.

Punjabi selfie!!

Lighting of candles and the Lakshmi aarti.

See all these people!!

Ceremonial dance by the children of the community.

Lakshmi.

Ambassador's opening speech.

The four hosts.

Rajini, a Bharatanatyam dancer and teacher.

- The latter part of the program had short interviews with the winners of the Miss Punjabi Manila, and performances by Ms. Ritu Wasu (CJ Wasu's wife,) and performers from India. The finale, of course, was none other than the Lions of Manila Bhangra Group, one of the favorite performers by the Indian community of Metro Manila. Bhangra is a kind of folk dance from the Indian northwestern state of Punjab. It is one of the Indian folk dances that really equates to merry-making and partying. After the bhangra group did their awesome dance, many Indian audience members took over the dance floor (some of them drunk) and danced the night away. But, fear not, the event itself is tame; it's only after the finale where things get a bit wild.

Ms. Ritu Wasu.

The two winners of the Ms. Punjabi pageant (in the middle.)

With friends from the UP Asian Center.

Guest performers from India and CJ Wasu with his dhol.

The event organizer and some VIPs dancing to Bollywood songs.

LIONS. OF. MANILAAAAAAAAAAAA.

You can't go wrong with bhangra in a party.

Audience members taking over the dance floor. (See the booze?)

- I said my goodbyes to my friends after the event and went home. I may not be Indian but I celebrate Diwali every year because of the festival's welcoming and generous vibe. I am very happy that the Indian community has been open to Filipinos celebrating Diwali with them, since allowing the Filipinos to peek into the Indians' culture and society opens doors to cultural appreciation, understanding, and a tighter friendship. By the way, if you missed this year's Diwali event, I hope you won't miss next year's!!   

The Tame Diwali Mela: Celebrating Diwali at SM Mall of Asia

- October 15, 2016, Saturday.

- Lights welcomed and illuminated Saturday evening at the SM Mall of Asia despite the rain. After another year, the pan-Indian Festival of Lights or "Diwali" was celebrated once again in the mall's Music Hall. Strange enough, the event was held two weeks prior to the actual date of Diwali; the Indian community holds this big Diwali Mela around a week before or after Diwali. As always, various Indian stalls selling (mostly northern) Indian food, services, accessories/jewelry, and Indian souvenirs. Because of the light rain foreshadowing the big storm that's about to hit the country, there were slightly less people who attended than the usual. However, the number of attendees was still quite overwhelming.

Event poster.

Hello my people.

- My neighbor Charmaine and I arrived at the venue just as the Jana Gana Mana (the Indian national anthem) was being sung. Afterwards, opening speeches were done, with the most notable one from the ambassador himself, His Excellency L.D. Ralte. I was not able to take a photo with the ambassador in the Diwali even this year because he left the venue moments after his speech (a very busy man, he is.)

Neighbors unite!!

Kashmir Restaurant stall.

Doing the puja for the goddess Lakshmi, perhaps the most auspicious goddess of the festival.

His Excellency L.D. Ralte.

- While waiting for the performances to start, Charmaine and I grabbed some Indian food for dinner, while the lines were still not that long. I also bought a very cheap bindi set and gave it to Charmaine. I stuck three on heart forehead to at least give her the Indian feel - she wasn't in an Indian costume while I was in my pink kurta.

Charmaine had samosas with I had chicken biryani.

With three bindis. I liked how her shirt and earrings were kind of Indian as well. Her blouse reminded me of peacock feathers.

Eyes on me (of my forehead.)

- This year, I felt that the Diwali program was a lot simpler than last year's (click here for last year's). The numbers were significantly less, and most of the numbers were done by Filipinos doing Indian numbers. For the Indians who performed, most of them were Punjabi, unlike before when there would be a more diverse Indian representation in the performances. For those who don't know, India has 29 states each with their own diverse cultures. In the Philippines, the two main groups of Indians are the Sindhis and the Punjabis, although there are a handful of those coming from all the other states. Since 2012, I have been attending the Diwali Mela (except 2013), and so far last year's Diwali was the most diverse. Despite that, the Indian community was able to organize a fantastic set of performances. Interestingly, the performances leaned more on pop culture (i.e. Bollywood) than traditional culture. The traditional aspects of the performances mostly leaned towards the Punjabi bhangra culture. (Bhangra is a Punjabi folk dance). Well, a little bit of bhangra can liven up the world, right?

A tableau showing Rama and his companions (his wife Sita, his brother Lakshman, and the monkey god Hanuman who is a follower of Rama.)

Statues of Krishna and Radha from the Hare Krishna booth.

Modern Indian song-and-dance number.

Another contemporary song-and-dance number. 

Ms. Ritu Wasu from SingIndia Music for the Soul and his Filipino backup dancers. (Yay for Fil-Indian friendsip!!)

A short bhangra demo class!!

- Speaking of bhangra, the finale was a bhangra performance by Lions of Manila Bhangra Group. The Lions of Manila Bhangra Group is perhaps the most prominent professional bhangra group in Metro Manila. This group usually does the final number for public Indian events in Manila, and afterwards, the dance will is open to all. Usually, this is the time when many of the Indians will just go crazy with endless bhangra music for an hour more or so before going home.

More bhangra!!

Probably the perfect shot of the night.

- I liked how to it was not as hot as usual, thanks to the breeze from the light-rainy weather, and I am even happier that my neighbor Charmaine was able to enjoy her first Diwali Mela. "You've always told me stories about the Diwali Mela, but I was finally able to experience it myself," she told me. I do hope that more of the people in this world will have a curiosity for India and Indian cultures (or any country and any country's culture/s in general). It makes us understand the world more.