International Festival

On Friday, November 20, I attended an International Festival at the Philips-Hawkins Dormitory with one of my best friends, Esha. Esha was born here in the U.S. but her parents are from Punjabi, in North India. Having Esha as a friend, I have learned so much about her culture and the differences even between Northern and Southern India; it's a bit like the opposite of the U.S. where we think that Northern people ("yankees") are stuck up and Northerners think that Southerners ("rednecks") just farm and drink all day. In India, the Northerners farm and the Southerners are considered stuck up. At this festival, however, where my friend was mostly the only Northerner, I found that this stereotype, like most, wasn't entirely fair or true. Everyone was welcoming and, as it was in part a fashion show to show off the garb from different regions of India and talk about the diversity, dressed in what appeared to me around the same garb. Now, Some girls had adorned themselves with beautiful jewelry and some wore bindis on their foreheads. Some wore saris and some wore more a more casual tunic-like dress with a pair of paints. Unfortunately, the latter has a specific name which I cannot recall at this moment. All traditional dresses were beautiful; even some of the men were wearing rather intricate - and, if I may, shiny - outfits. About 15 regions of India were represented within the entire show and each of them told their region and how to say "hello" in their particular dialect. The show was incredibly enjoyable and eye-opening and I hope that they will host more festivals within the future.