Scientists on the dance floor

The Navratri season is well over...but we put on our dancing shoes and made merry.. Early memories of 'My escapades with dandiya' race back to the time when I played it for the first time at 'Sankalp'..Bombay..For those of ya'll who don't know what it is, here s a gist!! Its the largest organization in Bombay that arranges the garba and dandiya every navratri season..It redifines the entire meaning of the festival. But that was just once, coz being a damn expensive place, you don't get that luxury often:-) So since then, I started playing it regularly and never looked back! Actually, for a person who has two left feet (This is me) and who gets extremely conscious, with anything and everything that has more than 20 spectators, dancing becomes a serious thing:) But, during Navratri I let go off all those inhibitions and dance as if no one is watching..the only time I recall when I do not care if my steps match the beat or if I dance like a typical gujju:) Well, today was awesome in every respect, coz me and my cousin had a gala time.. I guess, for me its his presence that generates the necessary spirit. Sometimes, some people spread that air of excitment around them, that you just feel like being a part of the whole thing. There was a lot that was happening. Me, for one cannot just sit and gaze and let life pass by that way. I enjoyed the time and also made a lot of interesting observations. First of all, can you beleive that out of the nearly 150+ crowd over there..nearly 10 % of them were americans..who were dancing away to glory. Dressed in jeans but sporting a 'bindi'..Man, it was a site to watch.. What was exciting was to see how they adapted themselves according to us and learning the steps as well. Not just that, they also waited until the 'aarti' was over:-) Secondly, the other remarkable thing was, how these american raised gujju's danced! Imagine after being in this country, and dancing away on hip-hop-rock music, they danced to "Pethal Poorma' with so much of elan!!! Just as someone who has spent his major part of life in suburban bombay (Borivli, Vile Parle to name a few) would. Totally amazing.. Lastly, there were a few faculty members from our university too. These scientists are super super busy with millions of funding but still taking the time out for just-one-night! It was wonderful to see one of my professors dance to the tune with so much of grace. She is one dynamic lady in science and today I saw her equally good at having fun too. Such people definitely are inspiring. People who know how to do the balancing act. Who do not just drown themselves into their monotonous life style but also know how to let their hair down once-in-a-while! Danced for 6 hours straight, cant recollect a time when I have stood up continuosuly in the lab for that duration:O Anyhow, I know my muscles are going to ache real bad tommorrow. Neverthless, its going to be a sweet pain:)