Superstar!

March 6th, Shanti Bhavan
Tonight was incredible! We gave the show for the students and it went over like gangbusters. During our afternoon break, we had rehearsal and then the preparations began for the show. Beena and Mala, two of the 11th grade girls, came and put mehndi (henna designs) on our hands, and they did an amazing job – way better than the woman Amanda and I paid to do it in Hampi. We had the mehndi put on because in our dance number, I played a bride and the other girls were my bridesmaids, and in Indian weddings, the bridal party always has tons of mehndi. Anyway, after that, we were pretty much incapacitated because you have to let the henna dry on your hands and sit for an hour or two. While we were unable to use our hands, Miss Nirmala and Miss Debbie – one of the other teachers – basically dressed us. They helped us out of our clothes and into our sarees. My outfit for the show was a half-saree that belongs to one of the ninth grade students. A half-saree is a long skirt worn with a saree blouse and a dupatta (long shawl) wrapped around the waist and over the shoulder like a saree. It was teeny tiny because the women here are incredibly small. It had to be pinned a bit, but darn it, I got myself into the thing! They are all very upset that I have short hair, but they pinned it back and attached a long, black, synthetic braid to the tiny ponytail they managed to create. They pinned long garlands of jasmine flowers to the front and then put a rope of fake flowers along the braid in the back. These women get decorated to within an inch of their lives for special occasions. In addition to the hair, I had a jeweled thing that went down the middle of my forehead, earrings, a choker, a long gold necklace, tons of bangles, mehndi, a bindi, pearl strands that connected my earrings to my hair (all of this is fake, of course), and god knows what else. I weighed ten pounds more than I naturally do… and I had to dance! It was really fun getting all decked out in the traditional gear. The program started with a dance number between two of the volunteers, then another one did a martial arts demonstration, then I sang “No One is Alone,” a capella, then Amanda sang, then Michelle sang, then some of the guys played guitar and sang “Hey, Jude,” which was awesome because we all joined in on the “na na na na’s” and so did the whole school…clapping out of rhythm, of course, and finally came our dance. The music came on and the kids were going nuts! We felt like rockstars! It was so fun, having everyone cheering and singing along. We’re already planning another program for before I leave. After the show was over, everyone was in a party mood. All of the kids were running up to us, hugging us and shaking our hands and congratulating us. It was a blast.