The dancing gene

This blog is not new to my lament about how a Tamil Brahmin dude and ballroom dancing (or dancing) don't go well in the same sentence. 

I am not the only guy in the family tree to pick up dancing. Turns out my two nephews both picked up one form of dancing or another. 

This weekend we drove to Los Angeles and back to watch my nephew compete in a Bhangra dance competition. He is part of a team from Pittsburgh and they went up against 10 of the best teams in the world at the Orpheum theater in LA. 

Any reunion on the fathers side of the family is rare for me. My father is the last of 12 siblings. Of all those siblings and their spouses, only three are alive. My aunt, my dad and mom. Given the wide spread of ages among the next generation and the generation after that.. we meet in little clumps. 

The little one tells me "I thought most of grandpa's side of the family are dead. So all these people exist and you never told me?".. looks like I have my work cut out for me.. My MIL who joined us for this trip was also surprised as she has never seen any of my nephews or nieces or cousins for that matter!

The great unifier, aka my SIL got a lot of us to come to this event and cheer the nephews team. We even got matching T-shirts prior to the event!

The guy kneeling down who looks like a younger version of Virat Kohli was the star of the show for us.. 

We got treated to some amazing talent and group formation dancing.. Yet to edit the photos and videos from the event. Here are a few..

These guys were literally leaping off the stage a good 4-5 feet in synchronization. The energy and beats were so high that the audience was on their feet at times!

 Did not like the white cloth background obstructing my shots from the gallery seat. So I mirrored the flooring on that white background to generate this photograph.. 

Need more men in the family to pick up dancing.. any and all forms of dancing!

The star of the show did not disappoint! Had happy tears watching him dance with abandon!

A long weekend implies a short busy week. Will update this post later this week with a video link. .  . 

The posing continues

Jr. wore a red tie to her music performance today. Apparently the boys all got to wear the tie but some of the girls decided to wear the ties too and take pictures.

She did pose for me!

As for the performance itself, I have no idea how it went. Hopefully some other parent will send us a video.

ps. My bug is almost gone. Been on the mend three days in a row. 

Happy New Year - the Tamil one..

This year Tamil New Year day came and went before we could blink. This in spite of my moving a biz trip off by a week to spend the day with family. We both got super busy at work that week. So we decided to dress up over the weekend and take pictures to celebrate!

Jr. with her signature pose (apparently is is the new posing standard)

 She finally obliged me with a normal smile

The little one looked her happy self but refused to put a "pottu" after repeated begging from me. 

The little one said "you get two tries and that is IT! I won't stand for more photos". So two tries it was. 

They might not realize the value of these photos or blog posts now.. someday when they are my age they might look back at this and smile! 

 Last year was a good year for us. Nothing spectacular happened but nothing really disastrous either. Life moved on at a steady pace with things moving on without too much drama in the house. 

This post was to go online last Sunday.. a belated Happy Tamil New Year to all of you! May this year bring peace and happiness to one and all!