Today Christ University (my host college) celebrated Bhasha Utsav (translation from Kannada: “Ethnic Day”) – all of the morning classes were cancelled and we congregated under USA, Canada and Denmark (the countries represented in my program) signs for a parade through campus, joining international students from Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, China, Korea, Nepal, Tibet, Japan, Brazil, South Africa. The parade led us into the HUGE auditorium, where there were 15-20 song/dance routines by different ethnic groups of India and different countries in the world. But then, as we moved out of the auditorium, there was the best part – a huge singing and clapping and dancing MOB of people moved into the campus walk, filling it up completely. It was a sight that in the U.S. would’ve been deemed a riot and broken up by police but here, everyone LOVED it and were jumping and dancing, all in unision. Truly one of the most amazing experiences of my time here.
