Eye Witness

(Day 58 of 112)

If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed it. Not in a hundred years.

Thanks to my aunt’s emotional blackmail, I found myself part of a gathering I wouldn’t have ever thought a probability. It was basically an event organised by some ladies club here and promised an evening of culture, music (by an ex-Indian Idol participant) and “enjoyment” (as the shrieking woman holding the microphone repeatedly told us).

What it actually was, was an evening of noise, shrill voiced women, ego-boosting, ass-kissing and an excuse for women to get out of their houses wearing their most loud clothes and every piece of jewellery they possessed. Honestly. I haven’t seen this much bling since…ever! Shudder. It was gold and shiny everywhere. And the hair! Here is a sample of what I had to look at while the women wearing green sarees had to parade in front of a judge in order to win a 5 kg packet of rice (or a 21pc dinner set. I’m not sure).

But what made me a little glad I was there – simply because i couldn’t believe what I was seeing – and also because it gave me blog-worthy material, was the dance floor, complete with a DJ and people dancing. That these people dancing were mainly heavy saree and jewellery clad women who belong to traditional, conservative families is not the point. What is also not important is that the song they ‘grooved’ most to, complete with expressions and movements was “Beedi jalayle”, not a song you associate with traditional Marwari women.

What was important was how much I was entertained. It was quite the spectacle actually and I think only I was fascinated by it, by the whole paradox I was seeing explode before me. It was also a totally out of body experience when I saw a lady, in her late thirties-early forties, with her head covered with her saree and wearing at least 5 kgs of gold doing the moonwalk.

Like I said, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed it. Not in a hundred years.