Diwali program

Our complex celebrated Diwali this past weekend. They coordinated a cultural program, dinner and arranged a live band so we could dance through the night. The weather cooperated so the celebrations took place outside rather than in the garage. They had setup a stage, tables and stalls outside on the lawns. Many of the children practiced dances and plays over the past few weeks. Sindhu wanted to participate in a dance but since we were in Bali, she couldn't attend the practice sessions and Rushil couldn't have cared less if he was in the program. The show reminded me of the programs we used to have in Montreal for Ugadi. I had performed in countless programs in Montreal either I was dancing, singing or acting in a play. I wasn't very good but I diligently attended dance and music classes every weekend for many years so was able to perform in the shows :-) It's unfortunate that Sindhu and Rushil are missing out, there are many intangible benefits to performing at these functions. I'm somewhat consoled that they perform in programs at school. I decided that the next time we have the opportunity at our complex, I'll organize a play and have the children perform in it. Anyway back to the Diwali program the cultural program was good, the dinner was decent, they had organized bingo and gave out raffle ticket prices and then the dancing started. I was impressed with the enthusiasm, there was a large crowd that danced to the latest Bollywood music and they also did dandiya. It was alot of fun, towards the end, I lost my camera which dampened my spirits but it started to rain anyway and they had to wrap up.

I'm a bit a embarrassed to admit this but we're in Penang this week. Prasad has a conference and the kids are off for Diwali so I also took the week off. We have internet access in our hotel room so maybe I'll be able to blog a few posts from Penang itself.