A parade through Model Town
Dey’s party was all we anticipated it to be and much more! About 20 of us waited at the Singh Sahib hotel for the bus to arrive, filling in the time by taking photos of each other dressed in sauve Indian attire. Even the bus trip there was great – Jorge, Prasad, Nirunjan and Viju sang some fantastic chants to get the mood lifted more than it already was!
Once we arrived in Model Town, we picked up Monima’s family and friends and headed closer to where we were to meet the parade. We left the bus and walked up a dark street, unable to see what was waiting for us. Suddenly, musicians started playing and bhangra dancers leapt into the street. Absorbed by the sound and movement of the dancing and music, I was suddenly surprised to see two enormous elephants step into view.
The elephants were beautiful – they were decorated with paint and color and slowly ambled through the streets as we walked to the restaurant, still surrounded by the dancing and musicians. Prasad was the only person courageous and agile enough to ride on one of the elephants – the rest of us where either wrapped in saris or worried about the overhead wires which the mahouts were ducking under. The whole experience was awesome and overwhelming – the colors, sounds, excitement, elephants and sense of celebration were amazing.
Once we arrived at the restaurant, more dancing took place with the bhangra dancers performing acrobatic moves and the guests joining in. Dey welcomed each of us with a garland of flowers at the door as we finally made our way up to the restaurant. The rest of the night followed in the same fashion – a Chennai band, more bhangra dancing, disco and fantastic food. Dey managed to throw an incredible party amount the color and craziness of Delhi – a totally memorable and amazing night…
The following morning, we packed and made our way to the airport to catch our flight to Ganeshpuri. We made it here and have filled the last 10 days with more incredible experiences – palkis, yagnas, sannyas ceremonies, aratis, satsang and even a tinsy bit of meditation!! Ganeshpuri is a place which is so removed from the ‘real’ world that it is difficult to focus on reading and blogging so I’ll work up to more detail of our time in this amazing village over the next couple of days…
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