My participation in the organization MINDs allowed me to make friends with many local students and alumni of NUS. One of my good friends, Praga, is also a chemical engineering and as such will be inheriting all of my books. Four generations ago Praga’s family moved from India to Malaysia, so Praga speaks Tamil, Malay and English. He is very active with the Indian Student Society and therefore works or attends most of the Indian classical dance, vocal and instrumental performances sponsored by the organization.
At one such event he had the “shock of his life” as he put it when he looked across the auditorium and saw me sitting with a few of my Indian friends. He was delighted to hear of my opinions on the concert and towards the end of the discussion invited me to a Fire Walking Festival taking place that weekend. The festival is held at the Hindu temple in Chinatown. In most places the walking would begin at dusk, however, because of the traffic in Singapore the festival is held at 2 a.m..
My two friends and I arrived at the temple at 1 a.m. and immersed ourselves in the chaos of 5000 people and one temple. Though we had no idea what to do, we eventually made our way into the temple. The night air was hot and damp with the threat of rain. You couldn’t help but touch shoulders with the people surrounding you; all sound was lost in the relentless beating of traditional Indian drums. We stood – waiting for the walking, you could feel the energy of the crowd’s anticipation. Faintly you would hear a clap…. Then more clapping… Suddenly everyone would be dancing!
Finally! At 3 a.m. the walking started. One after another the men walked across the hot coals. The few that chose to slowly walk were always greeted by an uproar of applause.
