expect the unexpected

Expecting the unexpected starting to become the norm here. Last night eclipsed alomost everything I've seen so far. The night started simply enough. After a day of meeting with colleagues and planning fro an upcoming conference, I went back to the apartment to work on course planning and other what-nots. We had promised Ulrike that we would go to "Bollywood night" with her, and so when the time came, we relented even though we weren't feeling entirely up for it. I was expecting a bunch of movie clips or something. After meeting Ulrike, her friend, and Anna, a visiting designer, Zack and I caught an "auto" with them to the place. We arrived at a tall bank building to find out that we were headed to a club. We were escorted in and up to find ourselves on the roof of this large modern building. A dance floor sat in a large swimming pool with about a foot of water in it. A DJ was jut getting started playing what turned out to be Bollywood music hits. After getting drinks Anna and I pretty much hung out and talked while Zack and Ulrike moved to the dance floor. When I tried to meet them there later, I was barred for not having a date. Couples only.

Anna and I found the rest of the crew and we danced to some pretty good mixes. The energy was huge, and everyone was WAY into it. The dance moves were hot and straight out of the movies. At times a chorus would erupt from the crowd, delighting us with the unexpectedness of it all.

Sweaty and time to head home (clubs close at 11:30), we caught an "auto" back to Mallashawaram.

So were riding in this auto back home and all of the sudden we catch a burst of drums and noise. Looking to our left we almost fall out of our seats at the sight of this huge parade just getting underway. We quickly paid the driver and joined in. I'm still not entirely sure what was being celebrated, but it was a procession with a large icon in tow on its way to a temple. There must have been at least thirty drummers all playing rhythms, starting, stopping, and picking it up in the presence of anyone dancing.

Zack and I were immediately pulled into the procession and urged (very forcefully at times) to dance and be excited, generally. There were large puppets and a troupe of female Sri Lankan style dancers. Other characters included a big swashbuckling catacala (?) dancer that later stopped an oil tanker with his foot. A guy on stilts did some sweet moves while a couple of skeletons ambled along demurely. Oh, and there were four camels. Just because.

We tagged along for awhile and talked with some of the guys. While waiting for the tail of the procession to catch up, we got a good look at the camels and they got a good look at us. When the tail of the parade finally did catch up, we found out that that the icon was designed to be about five feet too tall for the overpass above the street. After watching it try several different points beneath the overpass, we decided that we'd had our fill, caught a cab, and headed home. Details.