Mela

This weekend, Woodstock School hosted its annual mela. This is a Sanskrit word that means "gathering" or "meeting." For Woodstock, it is a bit like a fair. There were stalls set up selling crafts from all over India and food from all over the world. In the middle of it all, there were several performances exhibiting the theme of rural India. These Garhwali dancers were a big hit with the crown.

Some of the elementary students also performed a short dance.

This group did a little plate-spinning in the middle of the booths selling handicrafts (which we visited a couple of times).

In addition to the performances, there were ample opportunities to sample food from around the world. There was, of course, a fine selection of Indian food. Below, Beth and Emily are trying the aloo tikki.

In addition to the Indian food, there were groups of students from all over the world hawking their own national dishes. We had our choice of Korean, Tibetan, Japanese, "American," and Thai. Dave bought some of the baikraphao that the students from Thailand were selling and convinced a fellow German football fan (who happened to be Thai) to take a picture.

This weekend was a great chance to sample things from all over India and a great chance for something different.

Dave and Beth