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India through their eyes
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Global Adjustments held its Annual Expatriate Photo Competition in the city. A report
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THE FIRST thing you noticed was the astonishing number of toddlers running around your legs. Under chairs, over tables, standing triumphantly on parents' heads — there were kids in all shapes, speeds and decibel levels. Then you noticed the flood of bright colours, glitter, and unmanageable flowing garments. It was like an indoor funfest and a fancy dress event put together at the Taj Coromandel on April 10.
Relocating company Global Adjustments was hosting its eighth Annual Expatriate Photo Competition, followed by a fashion show in which expatriates walked the ramp in Indian wear. Whole families, with granny and grandpa in tow, had prettied themselves in as-Indian-as-can-get clothes, practised their namastes and arrived at the ballroom for an evening of dress-up.
The photographs taken by expats, from their travels and experiences in India, were judged by N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, Peter Watson, Head of Corporate distribution at AMP Sanmar, and Lyn Watson, cynologist. "Although we each judged the entries individually," said Peter Watson, "we all came up with the same photograph as the winner."
"Next time, there can be a category for empathy — a quality that's hard to put a finger on, but comes across perfectly from a photograph," said N. Ram. About the arrival of people from different countries to India, he said, "It enriches (our) diversity, adding to an already diverse and pluralistic society." Global adjustments has been helping people from about 70 countries to make India their home, understand its culture and become fully participative members of the community.
Most photographs showcased the classic things any new-comer to the country would be taken in by: toothy grins from uniformed school kids spilling from autorickshaws, cows on main roads, wedding processions, flamboyant clothing, "dignified" pavement sadhus, flower markets, temple carvings and milling crowds. The most popular picture ("School closed") was one taken by American Christopher Wurst, who set the audience giggling as he swaggered onto stage in a green silk shirt and mundu to receive his prize. As much as one would like to believe that this was his street-wear, it turned out that he was just one of the models in the ethnic fashion show that followed.
Just as the soft strains of "Mahaganapathim" started on the music system, the gallery lights dimmed and disco lights lit up the stage with swirling geometric shapes. A thrilled boy in the audience squealed, "Mommy! Triangles!!" and with that, the show began. Blood red silk saris and sea blue eyes aren't a common combination, so everything became exotic, and everything from an anga vastram to a mallippoo was an adventure. Paavadais, ornate kurtas, salwar-kameezes, and khadi dhotis were all taken in with hysterical applause and occasional cat-calling. Mike and Peggy, British and American respectively, with their tiaras and golden turbans, had to be the most stately of the "royalty" that graced the ramp that single evening — apart from a brown-haired under-10-year-old who fell asleep on a chair during the show.
At the end of it all, Ranjini Manian of Global Adjustments called upon popular film and TV actor, Radhikaa Sarathkumar (also armed with an amused baby), to release their revamped free-mailer monthly magazine, At a Glance - Understanding India.
ROHINI MOHAN
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