1. My housekeeper, Anita, made her first real link with me...she helped me with advice on wearing the sari - letting me know how to care for the painted cotton fabric we'd purchased the night before. She also asked me, through pantomime & our limited common Bengali on my ipad apps, if I would consider buying the flat above me & staying here!
2. I wore my first sari! Ms. Dey & Titli came over to do the dressing...it really wasn't too complicated...though I had a pro doing the folding!
First you put on the under garments.
Then wrap the skirt part of the sari several times and tuck in with folds in front - the fabric comes from the press man with stiff folds I thought we'd have to iron out. Once it was wrapped correctly, I saw that they were in just the correct spot to form sharp creases that look so beautiful when contrasted with the folding fabric in other parts of the body. I asked Ms. Dey is she had someone help her. She adamantly declared she'd never had help, even as a young girl - she liked to get hers just perfect & trusted no one else to do that for her.
It's a bit scary to post these...I hope they don't seem too personal! The look on my face, fully dressed, makes me look quite nervous, but I remember thinking it was much more comfortable, & especially much cooler, than I thought it would be! They traipsed me off to the veranda for Mr. Dey & their college age son to see me, complete with applause & generous compliments about how pretty I looked as a proper West Bengali woman!
3. Rain was pending & flagging down taxis were very difficult - I had 26 pass me with riders already & only one stop...I was going too short of a distance in a holiday traffic jam so he refused to take me. Finally a non-English speaking young woman waiting in the taxi queue behind me overheard I needed to go to Tollygunge Bridge & started running for a bus, looking over her shoulder, calling Tollygunge, Tollygunge...come! So off I ran too, hopping on the bus just as it was passing! WOW - on public transportation! Going the correct direction. And the deluge began! It was the hardest rain I'd ever been out it, with the streets quickly water logging, bus patrons rolling up their pants over the knee & splashing into mid-calf "puddles" as they jumped off the bus. An older man said he was getting off the next stop, standing so I could have a seat, & the bus wallah, who rides in the middle of the bus, calling out stops & gathering fares, understood, thankfully, I was in way over my head & gestured to relax, he'd get me to Tollygunge metro stop. Another passenger entered who spoke English & confirmed my stop, how to get off...then I called Nandini to tell her I was heading her way.
"Oh GOD - how did you get on a bus?!" was her first reaction. Unfortunately, it turned out that the Tollygunge METRO stop was a 15 minute car ride from the Tollygunge BRIDGE, which was two blocks from her house. Worried I'd make us late, I said she should go on towards the soirée; my kind, calm friend smiled through the mobile call, said all would be ok, we'd have tea & change into the extra clothes I packed just in case I couldn't function in a sari, & head to the party eventually. Her husband & visiting friend were dispatched to the metro stop, as I sat watching my stiff sari folds melt in the pouring rain, in the exact spot a complete stranger told me to sit as he first eavesdropped on my call explaining my location, tapping me on the shoulder to ask if he could intercede, directing Ritwick & taxi friend toward me! The picture of dear, grinning Ritwick, in a handsome batik tunic & jeans rolled up with umbrella in tow will stay with my memory a long time!
4. The party was very fun! Several firsts racked up between our eventual 7:30 arrival, just a few minutes behind our planned entrance & our 11:30 departure, 90 minutes later than we planned to leave - a fashion show, US cover band playing truly impressive renditions of US music, West Bengalis partying with an open bar & at least ten new kinds of food from the over 40 food stations set up!
Parents of the Calcutta International School were the models. There were professional dancers hired - a group which mixes the traditional East (the woman) & modern West (the man)
One of the dances had a mike on the floor...it was to capture the sound of hundred of bells on the woman's leg bands...they created a percussion like foundation for her movements.
The final ramp walk were teachers & the director, Dr. Das. A local jeweler had loaned real gold for the fashion show...a good friend, Piali, was one of the teacher models...we arrived with her mom...such an unique night of connection & seeing friends in a more casual setting than as colleagues during school visits!
Piali & her mom...without all the gold she wore on stage!
Director Das
Great cover band - all US 70s, 80s & 90s - The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Bon Jovi, Saturday Night Fever...I sang along with so many parents, dancing up a storm!
Dessert, almost ready for home.
5. The final first was getting locked out. The complex rules say the doors are locked at 11. Well, we left much later than I'd been told & I didn't arrange to be let back in. I eventually woke up Anita with a bit of calling..was getting a bit nervous!
So happy to be home...filled with such vivid memories!
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