Am still stuck at NJ, and missing out on diwali this time around. But then, the Kulhaadi gang is around, and is making up for some of the missing festivities.
Blemiph got us on the guest list of this club called Pacha in NY. So, after a sumptuous dinner of Haleem and such meaty delicacies at a Pakistani restaurant, we walked into Pacha while the night was still young. No clue what a flat-footed gorilla like me is doing getting into a disco club? – believe me, after seven shots of tequila, you don’t need to have clue! I guess the concept of a singles club is not something that needs a lot of explaining – the idea is pretty simple. You get in, spin a few moves on the dance floor, and aided by talent, lady luck or liquor, you might land a date. Not fertile ground for flat-footed gorillas you might say, and you wouldn’t be far from the truth! Well anyway, without lingering too much on my extraordinary salsa capabilities let me get straight to the best part of the night.
At some point in time, after ´waltzing´ about the dance floor to the point of near exhaustion, the kulhaadi gang decided that diwali night’s festivities wouldn’t quite be covered unless we threw in a few Mumbaiya maneuvers. Within moments, much to the amazement and amusement of the denizen of Pacha, we had broken into a series of near synchronized sequences – all the classics were covered including the Patang and Phirki, the Adivasi routine, the Bacchan routine and of course a liberal dose of Bhangra! I’m not sure if the entire Pacha crowd appreciated our antics, but this I can honestly say – our African American brethren, who truly understand the essence of music and dance, were cheering on heartily. And anyway, the stage effect was beyond the point – just the whole idea of dancing away Bhikku Mhatre style in a club in New York was exhilarating enough!
Well, if you know the kulhaadi gang, none of this would surprise you… if not, perhaps they warrant an introduction, cos I have spoken of them in at least a couple of posts by now. The kulhaadi gang is my group from back in college – a bunch who believes in whole-hearted volunteerism. This is what the name stems from – every now and then a member of KG comes up with a really weird idea, and walks up to the rest of the gang saying, “public, I’ve got this axe, and I want to strike myself on the foot with it… anybody interested?” The initial response would be varied – Maybe / Not really / Sounds Dangerous / Are you sure you want to do that? But the initial response would almost certainly be followed by a unanimous – “So, when do we do this?” No surprises that you never have a dull moment when this bunch gets together.
ps. Mom/Dad… if you happen to read this, can you pls send in some money? Apparently my firm doesn’t want to pay for gorilla tactics and tequila shots 
