The White Hindu has moved

The White Hindu has moved! This blog is no longer updated, but Ambaa is still writing The White Hindu every weekday at Patheos.com.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Back from Garba

I had an awesome weekend celebrating Navratri.

A friend invited me to a garba event that her family puts on every year. We came early to help set up and work on food, etc. It allowed me to eat great home made food all weekend long!

My one lengha is not very garba appropriate. I need one with more mirror-work and folk art style. I was also worried about mine being too long, but I managed to dance in it.

I love to dance, so I had a blast. Though I am quite out of shape and had to stop frequently, red-faced and puffing! There was also a beautiful puja and some yummy prasad.

Here are a few pictures...



Sorry they are so blurry! Taken with my iPod instead of my digital camera, which is out of batteries.

My friend got to experience a bit of my frustration. All night people kept saying things like, "Oh, I see they've dressed you up!" with big grins. My friend would say, "No, it's her own outfit" and, of course, no one listened! 

That sort of thing sometimes makes me feel defensive, but these days I more often just shrug and go with it. They don't need to know that I'm no stranger to Indian culture, food, dress, or customs. A lot of people are delighted to see me, excited to welcome me, and explain all the things that I already know. But it makes them happy, so I don't usually fight it anymore.

7 comments:

  1. Don't worry about that... just go play dandiya and dance all night and enjoy festival season. No one cares what you're wearing... as long as it's danceable. My first garba I wore a salwar kameez. It worked except the cuffs were beaded and I kept stepping on the beads. I happened to find the most amazing chaniya choli in a street fair the next weekend and got it for $50. That's been my normal garba wear ever since.

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    1. Aw, and here I thought I had an excuse to go shopping :P

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    2. You do though! Everyone needs a proper chaniya choli.

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  2. Wow the pics looks great...Tonight is our dandiya night at temple...so will have fun there.. :-)

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  3. You're looking great! But of course, shopping for another lehenga with more bling can't hurt :) Glad you enjoyed the festivities.

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  4. Wow!! you are looking so pretty in the lahenga....And the colour is my favorite.

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  5. Thanks for the compliments :D (Purple is my favorite color, though I think a darker shade might look better on me!)

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