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"You'll have to forgive me if I'm a bit nervous; I'm speaking to the smartest people in India," said the narrator from the Indian dance troupe at a recognition event for our company's most accomplished India-based leaders on Monday night.
Watching the performers, I couldn't stop smiling with wonder. My favorite dance featured the five women (small surprise), shaking rice sifters in a mime of removing the chaff. It was the best way for me to be introduced to traditional Indian dance, since they were non-traditional in some of the music they used, including sampling a bit of rap during one of the Indian songs; I loved the music.
Afterwards, I went to the ladies room and found that the women of the troupe were about to change in an adjacent room. Before they did, I stood in the doorway tentatively and they looked at me welcomingly.
"May I come in for a minute?"
They nodded.
I said to the leader, "Your narrative was as graceful as the dancers. And all of you were so beautiful. Thank you!"
They smiled appreciatively and the leader was pleased.
"Did you write the narrative, too? It was so perfect."
"I just say what comes to me." How wonderful to be an artist.
Every bit of my pressure of delivering the project during the prior days disappeared because of their gorgeous entertainment (and also, because we delivered the project successfully by then(!)). I'm reminded of my cousin Francesca Blumenthal.
Transported to a Lighter Mood
Not long after Pat and I moved to New Jersey from Illinois, which was not long after I joined IBM from the joint venture where I'd been working, Francesca invited us to a cabaret show, featuring songs she had written.
Pat was at a meeting for work then and not able to come, and so I drove into Manhattan after work on my own. My cousin sat with me prior to the show to catch up and I told her I felt anxious and a bit depressed at how new everything was, especially at work.
She was sympathetic, but none of what she said helped me particularly. And then the show began. Francesca's music cheered me up entirely and made me forget my worries. It was a pure gift. At the intermission, she visited me and asked how I was liking it. I told her I didn't feel depressed anymore.
"That's what entertainment is all about, Sarah," she said, and, "Transporting people into different moods is why I write songs."
Our Own Bollywood Scene
The traditional dancing ended and Indian pop music, featuring dancing IBM stars began. A premier D.J. urged "IBM leaders" to the sea-front dance-floor, which was a big, round, concrete platform on the beach.
A new friend and colleague invited me to join the growing crowd. Everyone danced with everyone. Only one other dancing colleague was not Indian.
It was a Great Wall moment for me. Translation: When I was lucky to go to China on business a couple of years ago, I felt completely akin with the Chinese people, who were walking on the Great Wall at the same time I was. It was a shared activity that had universal appeal.
I was able to let go nearly completely, most of the time. There were moments on and off, where I worried about looking women in the eye while dancing, as I didn't want either of the two who knew about Pat to feel weird. One of the two, I imagined, was indeed uncomfortable, and she did not ever look at me, but probably, I was projecting. The other one came up to me and urged, "Loosen up!" as she continued dancing with zero self-consciousness. I did.
The heterosexual executive sponsor of IBM's GLBT constituency for India was there and I had the most fun, dancing with him because I felt completely at ease, since he knew, and liked, me in all my humanity. And then in pairs men and women entered the circle to hold hands and spin around, as I've seen pairs of men do at traditional Bar Mitzvahs and Jewish weddings.
The head of IBM India/South Asia looked at me and gestured toward the circle and one of the male leaders I didn't know took my hands and we spun wildly fast. It felt like an initiation, and that I passed it. Everyone was smiling at me afterwards and I kept dancing to Indian pop tunes I didn't know, but which passed my criteria for good music; they were cheerful with a beat.
Hungry and feeling that I had earned my 10-o'clock dinner, my friend Chitra and I filled plates and walked down to the tip of the beach to eat. The shoreline at one end reminded me of Maine with its big rocks.
Hindi Lullabyes
After dessert, and after the D.J. was done, a group of 15 or so IBMers were sitting in a loose cluster on what had been the dance floor, singing folk songs in Hindi. With feeling.
I was moved and also became calm and sleepy, listening. Chitra and I walked back up the small mountain/huge hill to the hotel lobby and I called Pat from my room, feeling a bit guilty at all the fun I had had.
The next day, a new colleague, Kuldeep, "Like cool and deep," he said, introducing himself, asked what my impression of IBM India/South Asia's leadership was after participating in the multi-activity event.
"The most impressive leadership moment I observed," I said, "was the singing that happened spontaneously at the end of last night. If you can sing together, then the leading's much easier."
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