Finally blogging!
Post numero uno…Doing something today that my future self will thank me for.
Thinking about new experiences in recent times.
My friend Ramiya’s 21st in February of this year was one such time where the joy of being part of the celebrations of a milestone in her life so far, yielded other memorable opportunities. The Hawaiian-themed family and friend affair, but with formal attire- suits for boys and saris for girls in tribute to Mia’s Tamil (Sri Lanka) heritage- was the first proper occasion with this particular cultural element that I had attended. While the party itself was like other, well planned formal occasions I’ve been to in terms of set up, various elements qualified as ‘new’ experiences.
In particularly my having worn a sari for the first time in my life- definitely one of the highlights of the night.
Bearing witness to a display in the art of fashioning a sari, demonstrated by my good friend, who both provided and put together mine, another friend of ours and her own outfits, I came to appreciate the skill in fashioning the garment that I had seen worn so many times before. The resulting sari formed from a simply cut, very long piece of cloth, very much reminded me of certain pieces of clothing fashioned from cloth of equally simple cut in Nigerian culture e.g. Gele (head tie). As with tying gele, fashioning a sari, is a skill that must be learned, and those who possess it may become the gurus among their close friends and acquaintances, who have not yet acquired the skill with such dexterity for themselves; like my mother often is regarding gele-tying, and like my friend Tanieka was over the tying of our saris.
In addition to this experience, witnessing my friends converse with older relatives with such ease, in their mother tongues of Hindi and Gujrati, caused me to reflect (once again) on my need to eventually come to speak my own mother tongue of Yoruba.
The hilarious attempts of most of our university friends in attendance, to copy the dance moves demonstrated to them by the Hawaiian dancers at the party.
Live performances of traditional music from talented young musicians, both entertaining guests and honouring Mia.
The delicious variety of foods that were served.
All of these aspects added to sensual, visual and audible memories from the night, (not to mention the added sense of gratification that I received through various nods of approval from many aunties due to my having embraced the culture by wearing a sari).
An all round great experience, that served to further affirm my belief that these experiences are what the university experience and life in general is about.
The Narrator's Pen 