Journey to India

Happy New Year from Sainji Village in Uttarakhand, a small village of
35 houses sitting atop a small mountain, which itself is nestled
amoung taller mountains, in the foothills of the Himalayas, about 17
kms west of Mussoorie and about 2000 ft lower down. Tonight the local
folks have put on a New Year's Eve performance consisting primarily of
dance and more dance, from traditional to Bollywood moves. It's cold,
but everyone is sitting on the floor and holding out till the end.
Five minutes to midnight!

Ah midnight came and went and no one bothered to make a big deal about
it. Funny, that. Some young people let off firecrackers without any
regard for who was around or what was going on on stage. Stage was the
cement block surrounded by bits of cloth, quite nicely done up, the
block used earlier that day to sit and play and gossip during the few
hours of bright sun. In the couples dances it was usually men and
women, but every now and then a male would be the female and vice
versa. Traditional Indian theatre, like the Elizebethan age in
England, only has male actors. So it's not a leap for dancers. But the
boy doing the feminine role was in fact super effeminate.