Rajkot, Gujarat, India / October 2014 –

This is a crazy one. My wife Louise and I were traveling with her friend Neeta whose family lives in Gujarat, India. We had opted to go with Neeta into this state not frequented by tourists. We arrived at about 9pm one night in Rajkot. Our hotel was across the street from a large park and the music was super loud. After checking in, we checked it out. It was a free festival and it was packed. They had a very large band along with an on-going dance competition. It was the final night of Navaratri, a 9 night festival involving fine dressing, dancing, and great food (or fasting for some). Navaratri honors the Mother Godess in all her manifestations, including Durga (Godess of Protection), Lakshmi (Godess of Wealth), and Saraswati (Godess of Knowledge). It’s a festival full of worship and dance and it culminates with Navaratri/Dussehra, symbolic of the victory of good over evil, on the tenth day.

I was excited to take photos of people dancing. I was far from the stage. Then Louise started dancing by herself. The music was hypnotic and infectious. After about ten minutes, a fellow who wanted me to get better photographs escorted me to just in front of the stage where I took this photo. Apparently, there were various categories for dance prizes with costumes being part of the judging criteria. The young man in the red pants just couldn’t stop smiling and was seemingly in a trance. The energy was electric.

Once again I was asked to follow a man but this time it was to come up onto the large stage. The whole concert and dance competition was being filmed for live broadcast to millions of people, as well as being on the big screen behind the band. Neeta informed me that Louise had been traumatized from being mobbed by about 20 to 30 over anxious men wanting to dance with her and/or have their photos taken with her. She had apparently gone back to our hotel room.

I requested of Neeta to get Louise back to join us on stage where it was safe. She returned ten minutes later and started dancing with the lead singer. All that action ended up on the big screen. The band loved it, along with the organizers and people viewing it all. Even I ended up dancing on stage too. We were captivated by the music and dancing spirit. Louise and I were the only white people at the event and we seemed to be a crowd pleaser. Depending on one’s location, one’s color can be a blessing or a curse.

After the show and dancing had ended, people came back stage and wanted to have their photos taken with us including the winners and some band members. The officials of the event insisted we return again as their guests. It was like we’d become the rock star tourists everyone wanted to hang with. I think Louise’s blonde hair and green eyes, coupled with her willingness to dance, enhanced the white woman thing that the men seemed to like so much. Blondes are a welcomed novelty. They just loved her. We were later informed that white people rarely visited their city, let alone partake in their festivities. We were the token whites from Canada!

Oh! And the dancers in the red pants and white outfit, they both won dancing prizes.