On Sunday evening, after getting back from the wedding in Kerala, my host mother got a call from a Rotarian in the club hosting me named Suresh (Suresh is the wonderful man who has taken Rianna and I on two weekend trips and is just great!). He was calling to invite us to a celebration of a one year anniversary of a gym that opened here in Coimbatore called "Maverick" (yes, I chuckled when I saw the name also...) that was being held at The Residency Hotel- the nicest hotel in Coimbatore where movie stars will stay when they come!
We arrived in the drive and were stopped by a man with a long metal pole with a square wheeling piece on the end who stuck it under the front of our car and then waved us on. I was confused until my host mom explained to me that this man was actually checking for bombs! The contraption was a metal detector! (At least it made me feel REALLY safe the whole night!)
Suresh met me at the door and we waved good bye to my host mother. He then walked me up the stairs to a big hall where the speeches had already started. Rianna was there and we both sat in the front row and listened to several people give speeches about how great the gym is, including a film star named "Annu Hassan" who I've seen in a movie even!
When the speeches ended, there was live entertainment in the form of a man with a keyboard- a VERY talented man with a keyboard! Not only could he play the piano great, but he could also sing! A few people got up and started dancing, and it wasn't long before I joined in and showed off a few Bollywood moves of my own...! We also played a few games where we danced until the music stopped and then would rush to get into a group of the number that the DJ called out. I had a lot of fun with the women playing for this game! We all got in a small circle and danced, and when the music stopped we would all just rush forward and grab onto each other- no matter what number was being called! When this game ended the DJ continued with some more songs and Suresh took advantage of this opportunity to try and convince Rianna and I to go up to the microphone and sing a song. At first we were both a little resistant to get up in front of the two hundred or so people there, but then Suresh told me that the DJ could play "Sutrum Vizhi" and if you've been reading my blogs you know that I LOVE that song and happen to know a few verses of it! I agreed to go up and introduced myself, apologizing first for my lack of singing ability and also for my bad pronunciation of all the Tamil...It ended up going really well though! I think that my voice sounded awful, but everyone loved the fact that I was singing in Tamil and gave me a standing ovation at the end- and a medal(?)! Then Rianna and I got up and sang Titanic- the one and only English movie that everyone here knows! It was a great night with lots of fun and new friends!
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