Last night one of my lifelong dreams finally became a reality. No, I didn't rescue an orphaned lion cub from starvation, and no, I didn't get birds to do my laundry like Sleeping Beauty. Even better - I wore a saree! (Ok, maybe laundry birds would be better, but this came close). Ami, Kevin and I attended the 9th annual Indo-American Corporate Excellence Awards (translation: fancy party at a nice hotel), and I was able to make this dream come true.
Roomies!!
Of course, this look didn't come together all on its own. I had a lot of help to make this happen! First, my friend Isha let me borrow one of her lovely sarees. I didn't have time to go over to her place and select one for myself, but she did a great job all on her own. It was red and black - the bottom was lace (ooh la la) and the red part had black beaded embellishments - very pretty.
The second piece of help I received was from Ami, who helped me actually get dressed. I had a date before the party tonight and so had to leave earlier than Ami. She had been hanging out at her aunt's house all day, which is very close to the hotel where the event was happening. My date was also in that neighborhood, so we agreed that I would come over after work to her aunt's place so that she could dress me. In case the saree didn't work out, I brought a black cocktail dress that I could wear as a backup. I also brought several pairs of shoes, makeup, and who knows what else. I looked like a packhorse with all of the bags that I brought into Ami's aunt's house.
One good thing about sarees is that they are one size fits all. The only part of a saree that needs to be fitted is the blouse you wear beneath it. Isha gave me a couple options for blouses, but they unfortunately none of them fit quite right - I could have gotten away with wearing one of them probably, but it wouldn't have been comfortable. With this revelation - I'm in a panic. Did I come so close to realizing my dream only to fall short? Thankfully Ami was there to help. First we try to see if my black Spanx and black bra can together look close enough to a blouse to pass. No - it still looks like I'm wearing only a bra. Next I try to pull the skirt up around my chest and go for a strapless look. Not only do I look ridiculous like this, but you need the skirt at the bottom of the saree to tuck the fabric into. Finally I concede defeat and show Ami my back-up dress. In a stroke of genius, she says that we can probably make that work to look like a blouse. Saree blouses typically end somewhere in your midriff, but this could just look like an extra-long blouse. So I got dressed in more layers than I had imagined. I was already in the Spanx and didn't want to wiggle my way out of them. Next I put on the cocktail dress. On top of that I put on the black long skirt. Then we drape the saree around me. I was wearing essentially 4 different layers on my bottom half, but who cares? I looked good :)
I show up to my date with Mr. Awkward Finance Dude - he took me for a pre-party drink at the bar on top of the Intercontinental hotel here. It had am absolutely amazing view of Marine Drive and the city's coastline - truly beautiful. He was definitely amused by my choice in attire, but complimentary at the same time.
The view from the top of the Intercontinental
Funny story about leaving the Intercontinental: I called my driver when I was coming down so that he could be there to pick me up. My date and I walk outside, and I see my driver wave at me and then quickly walk away. I assume he's going to the car and that I should follow. I don't realize that it's raining outside until I'm no longer under the cover of the hotel driveway - whoops. Since I'm out in the rain, I decide to just commit to the decision and start running - in my saree - to the car. I get inside and the driver exclaims "you got your saree wet!!!" Turns out he had been running to get the car to pull it around to the front of the hotel. I wasn't supposed to follow. Doh.
I realized later that my date had seen all of this, and so I texted him with some self-deprecating jokes about my blonde hair to explain. He laughs in his reply and tells me that he had been wondering why I did that. Apparently the hotel security guard turned to him and asked him why I ran out into the rain, and the only thing he could think to say was "well maybe she thought I was going to kiss her?" Awkward.
The event itself was fabulous, as expected. It was held in the same ballroom as the Russian event we had attended a few weeks ago, but the programme was different for this one, since it was an awards ceremony.
Ami was wearing 4" heels, and I was wearing flats (in case you're wondering why she looks like a giant)
The awards were given for various categories to companies with operations in both India and the US. Categories ranged from "best in technology and communications," "best in customer service," "best in innovation," etc. The awards ceremony itself was painful - mostly because the hosts had the absolute worst jokes in the history of awards ceremonies. Here are a couple examples:
Host 1: This is an example of bad customer service (picks up pretend phone)
Host 2: Hello?
Host 1: Yeah I want to sign up for a bank account
Host 2: Ok
Host 1: So should I fill out some paperwork or something?
Host 2: Yeah, paperwork, right. You need to fill out some forms.
Host 1: How do I get the forms?
Host 2: I don't know...
(crickets)
Host 1: I hate flying. I get so scared
Host 2: Yeah you cry whenever you fly
Host 1: Yeah...
Host 2: That's why I never want to fly with you...because you cry on planes.
Host 1: Yeah, I cry. Well, thankfully, there are companies out there like our next awardee, who are working to improve the safety of aviation out there...
I'm not even sure where the joke was in that one. All of the other preambles to each award were similarly awkward and received absolutely no laughter from the crowd. I felt bad for the two guys, actually.
At the end of the ceremony, they introduced some dignitaries in the audience - one of them is a famous Bollywood actor that made Ami get very excited. Apparently he had played the villain in a lot of classic 90's Bollywood movies, but she and her friends in San Francisco had particularly loved a cheesy commercial that he did, and it had taken on a bit of a cult status within their friend group. Her mission for the evening was now clear: meet and take a photo with Gulshan Grover. We had heard about this event through our friend Aditya, who we had met at the Russian thing. This is the exact situation that Aditya is good for, so we asked him if he could arrange an introduction. No fewer than one minute later, we are whisked into a side room where the VIPs are eating their dinner, and are escorted to his table for an introduction. We even got a photo op :)
From left: me, Gulshan Grover, Ami, and Aditya
Now that we've been admitted to the VIP area, Aditya makes himself useful and starts introducing us around. We say hello to the socialite billionaire wife of the chemical company mangate we had met at the Russian event - she was still wearing blue colored contacts, which was quite off-putting. We met the state president of the Nationalist Congress Party - who complimented me on my saree and told me that I wear it very well. We met the Assistant Governor of the Rotary Club of Bombay, who then insisted on introducing us around to a bunch of other people - all of whom he made sure to tell that it was my first time wearing a saree, and didn't I look so good in it? The award winner for the best company overall was a guy about my age, who came up to me and said that he had to meet the girl in the red saree because I look like I belong in it. Seriously I received about 50 compliments on my saree. I need to wear one of these every day.
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