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.      

Saturday Morning "Baatchit": Meeting the Sindhi Youth at Balvihar

- September 24, 2016, Saturday.

- My Indian friends Jashwin and Jasmine invited me to join their morning balvihar session to talk to some Sindhi teens about one of the topics that I know the most - me. Balvihar is a youth-oriented program with a series of religious classes organized by the Chinmaya Mission center. Being a Hindu mission, the Chinmaya Mission provides classes mainly on Hinduism for people of all ages, although balvihar is specifically for the youth; you can say that balvihar is sort of like "Sunday school" for the Christian youth, although balvihar sessions are on Saturdays. To facilitate balvihar classes, the youth members that are separated into different age groups. Most of the participants are Sindhi youth (one of the prominent groups of Indians in the Philippines). Jashwin and Jasmine are volunteer teachers for the teen group, and these days they have been organizing a series of career talks with Indians or people with India/Hindu-related professions like mine. For this Saturday, I was more than happy to visit balvihar again after my first visit last year (click here) to talk about the field of education and my personal experiences with Hinduism, India, and the Indian community here in the Philippines in my life, my studies, and my career.

- We started balvihar classes after the opening prayer session. For the teen group, we had a cozy group of around 15 Sindhi teens; one of the supervisors, Auntie Usha, also participated. We all sat on the floor and had a rather relaxed chat or "baatchit" in Hindi. According to Jashwin, it was sort of like a "Koffee with Karan" type of chat; "Koffee with Karan" is a famous English showbiz talk show in India with Indian director (among other credentials) Karan Johar as the host.

Doing one of my favorite activities - talking.

They were a bit shy but they were nice.

Jasmine seated beside me (my right side/photo's left side.)

- After answering all of Jashwin's questions and sharing my life and love for all-things Indian, some of the students asked me questions about my work in the university and my encounters with students. Auntie Usha also asked me challenging questions about my thoughts and opinions on some Hindu scriptures like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. (Boy, did those questions really make me think! But I like those kinds of questions.)

- The one-and-a-half-hour balvihar classes ended around 12 noon. We ended the session with a nice class photo before packing up. To be honest I had wanted to stay a bit and probably talk more to the students there (or maybe even play with the Indian toddlers in the toddler balvihar class.) Auntie Usha also thanked me for agreeing to be a speaker for today's teen balvihar class; if only she knew that it was the least I can do for the all the help the Indian community gave me to finish my thesis last year!!

My teen balvihar "class," with Jasmine, Jashwin, and Auntie Usha. 

Happy 100 Years Chinmaya Mission!!

- I realized that just as I was feeling that I was neglecting my "Indian side" these past few weeks, then came a wave of Indian-related activities (click here for Ganesha Chaturthi, and here for Hindi Diwas). I hope that I'll be able to participate in more Indian-related events in the near future - speaking of which, Diwali (the Festival of Lights) is just a month from now!!

"Hindi Diwas": India's Hindi Day in Manila

- September 14, 2016, Wednesday.

- If the Philippines celebrates "Buwan/Linggo ng Wika" (Filipino Language Month/Week) during August, India celebrates Hindi Diwas on September 14. Just like in the Philippines, Hindi Diwas is celebrated in India through holding Hindi-related contests (ex. essay-writing contests) or arranging performances that glorify or honor the Hindi language. This event is held on this day, because in 1949, the Indian government made Hindi, with the Sanskrit-derived Devanagari alphasyllabary as its written form, as the official language of India.

- First Secretary Dr. Suresh Kumar of the Indian Embassy contacted me last week and requested me to come to the embassy today to give a short speech about my experiences with Hindi. Now I had Hindi lessons in 2013 as a requirement for my master's, and I can do a simple conversation in Hindi, but I have never made a speech in Hindi though I have spoken the language in public. Since it was an Embassy-led event, I wanted my speech to be half-formal-half-casual. Finally, I made a one-page speech about my journey in learning the language, embracing the language, and eventually, loving its motherland even more (i.e. India.) I was allowed to bring guests, so I brought my mom and my sister.

I am the lost child of India.

Mom always asks me when she could wear her kurtas and kameezes (all of which I bought for her in some of my travels.) Today, I gave her a reason to wear one of her kurtas. She even had a matching dupatta/scarf and churidar/tight-fitting pants (yes, I also bought her those.)

- The event started around 4:30 at the ground floor of the Indian Embassy. Apart from celebrating Hindi Day, the event was also my reunion with my MA adviser, Dr. Joefe Santarita (who is also the current dean of the UP Asian Center and one of the Indian specialists in the Philippines,) my friend and co-South-Asian-major Denzel, and other colleagues from the UP Asian Center.

An excerpt of my speech. (Thank you Indian friends Jashwin and Jasmine for helping me proofread my speech. You guys are the bestestestestest!!) 

- Dr. Kumar asked me and Dr. Santarita to sit on either side of the Indian Ambassador, His Excellency L.D. Ralte. My speech went first, with my hands shaking in nervousness (especially after being seated next to the ambassador.) After my speech (which I hope was well received,) Dr. Santarita gave an informative speech about the importance of Indian-Philippine relations. Afterwards, there was a short awarding ceremony for the Hindi essay-writing contest. Entries were submitted online days before, and the winners were the only ones invited to attend Hindi Diwas in the Indian Embassy so they can get their prizes.

"Vishva Hindi Diwas" (World Hindi Day.)

Dr. Santarita, H.E. Lalduhthlana Ralte, and me (and my cheeky smile.)

It's showtime. If had a title for my speech, it would be "The Story of My Life." Hahahaha. I literally had anecdotes of my when I was little.

Ambassador's speech.

A blurred photo (thanks sis....) of my getting my gift from the Ambassador.

- After the short event, which surprisingly did not even last 30 minutes, we had light Indian snacks to celebrate. We had samosas, ladoos, and jamuns. I caught up with Dr. Santarita and Denzel, and had some chat with Dr. Kumar and H.E. L.D. Ralte. We finished around 6pm and rode back home. I was happy that I finally had an opportunity to visit the embassy for some semi-official reason, and for me to be able to finally give a speech in Hindi. I've honestly wondered since my mid-teens, when I started learning Hindi on my own, if I would be able to somehow give a speech in the presence of some distinguished Indian and in front of an Indian audience; never in my life did I think I'd have the opportunity to do so.  

YAY FOR INDIAN FOOD!!

South Asian boyzz unite.

My forever ritual when meeting the ambassador - a photo with him.

Matchy-matchy with the Dr. Santarita, and Denzel looked like a mormon. HAHA.

Honoring the Elephant God: Ganesha Chaturthi in Manila's Hindu Temple

- September 6, 2016, Tuesday.

- It has been a looooooooong while since I last visited Manila's Little India, and I was starting to miss my "Indian side" for quite some time. Fortunately, the heavens seemed to have felt my "woes," and I somehow got invites from my two Indian friends Jashwin and Jasmine to attend Ganesha Chaturthi at the Manila Hindu Temple. I was initially hesitant, not because I did not want to, but mainly because I am swamped with the stresses of the world lately. Still, I was able to make some time despite my body wanting to stick itself to my bed.

A well-ornamented Ganesh for Ganesha Chaturthi.

-  Ganesh Chaturthi is a monthly celebration for the Hindu god Ganesh. The biggest of these, however, falls on the 6th month of the Hindu calendar, which is around August-September in the Gregorian calendar. Ganesha or Ganesh is recognized as being "the elephant-headed god." He is the god of knowledge and the remover of obstacles. People who pray to him especially during this auspicious event hope that Ganesh will be able to remove their obstacles in things that they are doing or about to do. Jashwin and Jasmine told me that for the big celebration, they celebrate for a week. Since I couldn't go a week straight, I was able to make at least my Tuesday night free for this event. At least, I will be able to get a taste of how this festival was celebrated; this was my first time.

- I arrived around 8pm, just a few moments before the event started. People were already lined up to pay their respects to the god, and some even took pictures with the two statues of the gods.

People paid their respects to the two Ganesh statues.

More people lined up to do just that. The symbol (upside down when this photo was taken) is the "om" symbol. 

- At around 8:15, the main event started. The prayer session had a series of bhajans (songs) and aartis (another set of songs) and some prayers/chants. Most of them were dedicated to Ganesh apart from the Lakshmi aarti that was also sung. After the prayer session, prasad was distributed to everyone. "Prasad" refers to the food offerings that are given to all the devotees after the prayer session; these are usually finger food and are usually sweet like Indian sweets of small fruits. One important sweet is the ladoo, which is a sweet yellow ball made of chickpea flour and sugar. This is an important aspect of Ganesh-related rituals, because it is said that Ganesh has a sweet tooth and so he is sometimes depicted in Indian paintings or sculptures with a bowl of ladoos or modakas (another kind of sweet) at his lower right hand. I showed the giant ladoo in my mouth and I looked like a squirrel or chipmunk.

See how many people there were?? The priests were starting to do some rituals.

Veiled women. No, they aren't Muslims.

Such color!!

The two priests doing more rituals.

People doing puja (offerings.)

Jasmine - a face among the crowd.

I simply adore Indian clothing.

A well-adorned Ganesh.

With Jashwin and Jasmine. My mouth is occupied with the giant ladoo.

- The whole prayer session ended around 9. Finally, it was everyone's favorite time - time for free Indian food!! As for me, I thought of leaving at once since I was afraid that I'd miss the last train home, and it would be difficult for me to find a safe alternative. (This is quite unthinkable - me refusing food, especially Indian food.) Jasmine, however, told me that it was a sign of respect to get some food before leaving. The Indians closely associate food with the gods, and so food is usually an important aspect when these prayer sessions are held, especially big ones. Since I was in a hurry, Jasmine's mom shared some of her food to me. I was quite embarrassed to take some of auntie's food, but as a sign of respect I did anyway. (Hurray for Indian food, and hurray for satisfying my craving for Indian food.) I ate some really awesome Indian food (chapati, daal, vegetable curry, etc.). Finally, I found Jashwin and say goodbye, then Jasmine and her cousin dropped me off at the train station. Fortunately, I was able to take the last train home.

- Despite my hopelessly tired self, I was able to feed a part of me that hasn't been "fed" lately - my "Indian self." Well I know I'm not Indian so to speak, but as people who know me would understand, I do many Indians things because of my interest in the country/culture/people. I was honestly waiting for diwali (around November) to go back to Little India, when I'm quite sure that there's some kind of activity going on because of the grandness and greater significance of the festival, but attending my first Ganesha Chaturthi was a colorful, gastronomic, and spiritual treat to my tired and weary self.