"Utsav": UP Asian Center's Festival of India 2015

- Nov. 10, 2015, Tuesday.

- Two years after the UP Diliman Asian Center's first ever "Festival of India" (click here to see,) a second "Festival of India" showers the Asian Center center with mesmerizing colors and age-old cultures. While the first "Festival of India" is in line with India's Ratha Yatra festival (divine chariot pulling,) the "Festival of India" this 2015 is entitled "Utsav" (one of the Hindi words for "celebration") and is in line with this year's Diwali festival. Diwali is the festival of lights, and some Hindus consider it as the new year. (Click here to see this year's Diwali Mela held in SM Mall of Asia, to have a better idea on Diwali.)

Event poster.

- This year, I was not able to attend the whole-day event since I had classes to teach in the afternoon. I was also wondering why they held the event on a Tuesday, instead of a weekend, when more people are surely more available. Despite this, a good number of students and other visitors attended the event.

- Right before the event, I was seated behind incumbent UP chancellor, Dr. Michael Tan, and the ambassador of India to the Philippines, H.E. Lalduhthlana Ralte. While both of them were talking, the ambassador suddenly faced me and introduced me to Dr. Michael Tan. I found that funny and ironic, since I am a UP graduate, and with that thought it would be more sensible for the chancellor to introduce me to the ambassador - however, the reverse took place. I was not too sure what they were talking about, but I was pleasantly surprised when it happened. It was an honor to know that the ambassador recognizes me, and that he knew and understood my passion and enthusiasm towards his country.

- The festival started with a ceremonial lighting of the oil lamps, and the remarks by Dr. Michael Tan,  H.E. L.D. Ralte, and Dr. Joefe Santartia, current dean of the UP Asian Center, and my MA adviser. Afterwards, a short opening bhajan (devotional song) and a Carnatic song (South-Indian style,) both facilitated by Ms. Mythili Balasubramanium.

Ceremonial lighting.

H.E. L.D. Ralte.

Dr. Joefe Santarita.

Carnatic music.

- The highlight of the morning session was the Bharatanatyam by Ms. Priya from Natya Mandala. Natya Mandala is the Philippines' first Bharatanatyam dance group, headed and usually choreographed by Ms. Shanti Sreedhar; I was fortunate to have attended one of their previous performances, during Swami Vivekananda's birthday (click here to see,) As for Bharatanatyam, it is an Indian dance originally from the southern state of Tamil Nadu, but is widely practiced even by non-Tamils in India and abroad.

Ms. Priya from Natya Mandala.

Bharatanatyam has a lot of stomping.

A quick "Nataraja" pose. I was a split-second late.

End of dance.

- Before the cultural workshops started the ambassador became an "instant celebrity," with people lining up to talk to him and take photos with him. In my case, I just did a quick small talk with him, and handed him my new professional calling card before leaving the event to go to work.

With H.E. Lalduhthlana Ralte. It's an honor to have spoken to you, and a bigger honor to know that you remember me.

With Ms. Priya and Ms. Mythili. My Indian costume fits in!!

- I know I missed a lot after I left, like the yoga session, music performances, the Bollywood dance workshop, and the screening of one of the most well-loved internationally-targeted Bollywood films - "Three Idiots." I also missed the free vegetarian lunch (boo.)

- India truly is incredible, and despite its flaws (and any country has its own,) I cannot describe the whole of India with any other word. It is one of the countries to have successfully preserved its cultures and traditions locally and through its overseas communities, while continuing to develop, modernize, and compete well in different fields and sectors. I do hope that more people will learn about and understand India, and UP Asian Center's "Festival of India" is one of the ways that India's wonder is brought to the Filipinos.

The Festival of India 2013: The Divine Chariot's Journey and Blessings

- February 2, 2013, Saturday.

- The University of the Philippines Asian Center, in cooperation with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce Industry (FICCI,) and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON,) has cooked up "The Festival of India," in line with one of India's colorful festivals, called the "Ratha Yatra" (Chariot Parade.)

- I got up bright and early, despite not having enough sleep from all the things that I needed to these few weeks, and went to school to change into my head-to-toe Mughal outfit (yes, with the turban and the pointy camel-leather Indian shoes (khussa,)) since I was assigned to be one of the 2 emcees for the day. The other emcee assigned was Mr. Bharat Dasa from ISKCON, a jolly man with a big laugh.

- While going around the GT-Toyota grounds (Asian Center grounds,) I was quite impressed to see a lot of life-sized Hindu statues, including one of Narasimha, the half-lion-half-man avatar (earthly incarnation) of Lord Vishnu, the preserver god. I later realized that the Narasimha statue, seemed to be made from some heavy black stone, was made out of painted styrofoam, and other light materials. I was also happy to see my friends Kevin and Jeannette, while I was inspecting the rainbow-splashed decorations, and the majestic chariot that seemed to come from heaven.

Narasimha, Vishnu's 4th avatar

Hi Jeannette!!

Kevin. :D:D:D:D

Carved from styro. I reallly thought this was carved from a block of rock.

The 4 Vedas; this case just  sits in the library most of the time, until today.

Chariot from heaven.

From behind. 

- The parade started in the UP oval grandstand, with possibly a hundred participants, mostly students from different schools. A festive puja, or offering, was headed by His Holiness, Janananda Maharaj (a British monk,) before the procession/pulling of the chariot commenced. His Holiness was one of the happiest and most energetic monks I've seen in my life.

A puja to Swami Prabhupada.

Singing and dancing.

With Latasha and Clio.

His Holiness, Janananda Maharaj.

- The sun was blaring hot, but it was better than raining; from what I heard, it rained elsewhere in Manila, but it didn't in UP. My feet were already suffering during the procession alone, but the happy smiles of the participants, and the jumpy-beats from the bhajans (religious songs,) drums, and other Indian instruments made the overall mood lighter, and the procession more bearable.

- My co-host and I formally welcomed the guests, and opened the Festival of India in the GT-Toyota Auditorium after everyone settled. As soon as all the VIPs said their speeches, we proceeded to having a talk by His Holiness, Giridhari Swami (an Australian monk,) about karma and reincarnation.

With the Jagannath triad (Balabhadra, Subhadra, and Jagannath; Jagannath is said to be a non-canonical incarnation of Vishnu.)

More dancing by His Holiness.

Lecture.

- We all had lunch after. ISKCON was kind enough to provide everyone with free (loaded) lunch boxes, and cups of fresh dalandan juice. More fortunately for me, I got to have lunch in the VIP hall, where I was able to have more food. Sing India band, the only Indian band in the Philippines, performed while the people were having lunch, and sang religious and Bollywood songs. They also played for a short bhangra performance right before the afternoon activities.

Sing India band.

Classmates and friends from the Asian Center.

Hand/face-painting.

Had a chance to have my picture taken with Mr. Priya  while everyone's out.

Bhangra!!!!

-  The afternoon program started with my favorite segment: the Indian classical dance performance. What made me more interested in the performance was after I found out that our guest dancer, Ms. Priya Khanna, was going to perform the Bharanatyam. The Bharatanatyam is a South Indian dance, from the state of Tamil Nadu. This dance is also called the "dance of fire" because of its jumpy movements, and complex footwork.

- I longed to see this dance in front of me since I made my first ever term paper about it in 2006 when I was still in high school. It was the first Indian classical dance I became interested in, and I always thought I'd see it first hand in India. Little did I know that I would see it where else but in my school.

- Ms. Priya danced for around 6 minutes, and stayed afterwards for a short open forum, and a brief dance tutorial. I was nearly in tears as everything-Bharatanatyam was happening in front of me.

- Ms. Priya's 30 minutes were up, and of course I would've wanted to interact with her more, if only we had no schedule to follow. The next program was the kirtan yoga. Kirtan yoga is the process of connecting to the Supreme Divine through music. The session was facilitated once again by His Holiness, Giridhari Swami. He was accompanied by the Kirtan Ras band, a 9-member musical ensemble fusing together Western and Indian music.

Kirtan yoga.

With my professor, Dr. Joefe Santarita.

Prof and Dino.

Blissful dancing by everyone.

- His Holiness and the band sung the Hare Krishna mantra over and over again, until people stood up one by one, let the music flow through their veins, and danced blissfully inside the auditorium. The session went more mystical and "happy" than all thought it would be; even my co-host from ISKCON was surprised.

- The last two activities were facilitated by Mr. Pio Bacquiran, also known as Gokulachandra Dasa, a Filipino yogi who is also a follower of the Hare Krishna movement. He facilitated the vegetarian cooking demo, where he was assisted by kiddie hosts from the GMA Saturday-morning-children's show "Tropang Potchie." Afterwards, he ushered the interested participants back to the auditorium for the yoga and wellness class. While waiting for the yoga participants to finish and formally close the whole event, I was out in the GT-Toyota grounds to interact with the Hare Krishna devotees, most of who were Filipinos who wore dhotis, gopi skirts, saris, kurtas, etc. (One of them even gave me a prayer-bead garland made of sandal wood.)

Cooking class with kids from "Tropang Potchie."

With le kidsssss.

Kiddo trying to do yoga. The cutest thing ever. Haha.

Kids from "Tropang Potchie" doing yoga.

- Finally, yet another Indian cultural event has brought people together in appreciation for everything Indian. I noticed that the Indian community in the Philippines has been quite active in promoting India's cultures to the Philippine public in the recent months, starting from the grand diwali celebration last November in MOA. This event was also a good opportunity to promote my program of study, since, well, I'm the only one in the South Asian track (so far,) and my prof is the only one specializing in that area too. I do hope that more events like these will keep making people more interested in South Asia, especially since people have been hooked on some (now I think are quite overrated) Indian (or Indian-inspired) movies lately. (I'm looking forward to this year's diwali, and I wish that another cultural activity will be organized by the community this year, just like last year.)