Megh Mudra

India is a country that really enjoys a good festival. From what I understand, on any given day, there is probably something being celebrated somewhere in the country- and it almost certainly involves music and dancing. Each state has its favorite holidays and favorite ways to celebrate them. Due to the diverse nature of the school I attend, I am going to get a good exposure to some of the various festive events that different areas commemorate. In fact, this weekend, we had a festival, called Megh Mudra. Now before you go off and try to “Wikipedia” this holiday, I should probably tell you that Megh Mudra isn’t a real Indian festival. No. Apparently TISS decided that India didn’t have enough festivals on its own, and so invented another one! Megh Mudra in Hindi (from what I’ve gathered) means “Cloud Symbol”. The point of it is to be a rain festival to provoke heavenly showers. (Don’t ask me who decided we needed a rain festival during Monsoon….) Anyway, in actuality, what Megh Mudra has turned out to be is a sort of talent show that the 1st year students put on for the 2nd years. And since this talent show is happening in India, you can bet that it involved lots of Bollywood-esque singing and dancing, complete with audience participation and lots of hamming it up for the crowd. Most of my classmates participated, though I opted to be an “observer of culture” for this time around.
All in all, it was a really fun show. I was really impressed with some of the talent, especially the seeming innate ability Indians have to perform the cheesy and over-the-top show tunes from their movies, all without looking the slightest bit ridiculous! (If you are reading this and wondering what I am talking about, get up right now and go rent an Indian movie. I don’t care which one. This is a cultural experience not to be missed!) While most of my pictures didn’t turn out since the sun started to set around the time people started performing, I did manage to take a few shots.

Here is one of my flat mates, Glenda, singing a traditional Indian song.

And here are a few pictures of group dances.
And, last but not least, here I am with my very good friend Sonali, who has been incredibly patient in helping me through more than one “culture shock moment”! (i.e. my mini meltdown in a movie theatre when the security guard made me turn in my camera batteries in order to enter, and the concession stand on the ground floor, which advertises popcorn, told us they don’t actually sell popcorn, and made us go to the 3rd floor to get it!) Thanks, Sonali!