The 'Indo-German Urban Mela' held recently sure did set the mood with the 'Bavarian Night' being the highlight of the day. Almost everyone who had assembled for the evening, wanted to let their hair down for the mid-week party.
Seen as a sneak peek to the popular 'Oktober Fest', the evening saw Bavarian musicians from the Reisbacher Musikanten band transform the centre stage of the mela into a celebration space with their traditional tunes. Many Germans in the City had come with their families; dressed in their traditional outfits and with a large mug of beer in hand, they felt right back at home. Some of them had even added a little twist to their outfit to match the spirit of the mela.
Stefanie Steiger, a German expat, used an Indian sari to make the traditional Bavarian costume. "I thought it would be nice to use the sari as it is the 'Indo-German' mela. The music and people enjoying themselves their families just brings back good memories of the place," she states.
The band members not only entertained the crowd with their tunes, but they also packed it with a few German drinking games. The musicians introduced the crowd to the German way of raising a toast. Soon, many came forward to even shake a leg to the upbeat tunes. Even the 'Beer Garden' was bustling with energy with people indulging in dishes like German pork sausages, Bavarian meat loaf and German hotdogs.
At the same time, there was also a theatre fest called 'iTheatre' being held at the cultural pavilion. Performed by the 'We Move Theatre' troupe, the fest saw four short plays which largely revolved around the changing times in the City. Mixed with sarcasm, witty dialogues and music, there were two Kannada and two English plays. Divya, a member of the audience, enjoyed the performance of 'P for Pain' and 'Bald and the Beautiful' immensely.
"I really enjoyed the way each of the characters in the play stepped out to the audience. It was a very interesting use of space," she says.
By nightfall, the place was swarming with people bonding over good food and conversation.