Jai Ho!

Time: Diwali Night, 2008
Location: A student house in Zurich
Occassion: Diwali Pooja

So a bunch of desis, mostly techies studying in Zurich (sounds paradoxical right) gathered for a pooja. Now engineers with there last minute resourcefulness had not arranged for an idol of deities to perform rituals. Quick came the fix, a laptop was fetched, Google image search gave an appropriate pic to worship and even the Aarti was found on youtube. The pious students had their mind set on Goddess of wealth (with new found fervor from recent recession) and the Lord of Obstacles (much needed because of the impending, imminent exams). Eyes closed and palms folded in devotion (and job opportunity at the back of mind) but who remembers the lyrics (its the feelings that counts ain't they and a little bit of melody) were trying to sync up with one other and the youtube Aarti.

The deviant mind chooses worst of the moments to deviate. A realization dawned on me, what if the building's caretaker who knows nothing about Indian culture at all suddenly pops in the hall curios because of chanting sound. He would surely connect the dots and realize, "Now that's why these Indian buggers are so good in Information Technology, they worship laptops!"