I am back in Fukuoka now. This time I will stay until the first week of June. During these two months, I will be out to Thailand in the middle of May for a week and to Tokyo for three or five days.
I chose specifically this timing to come back to Fukuoka because my Canadian friend M who also lives in Pune was supposed to visit Fukuoka and stay with us at my mother's home on the way during her Japan trip; also, I heard about Namaste Fukuoka event to happen on 15th and 16th April. Thankfully to all these coincidences plus unseasonal cold waves hit Kyushu area at the beginning of April this year, I could catch cherry blossoms almost after 15 years.
As such, I managed to peek Namaste India on 16th Sunday held at Tenjin Chuo Park, although it was only for about thirty minutes.
In the park, there was another Fukuoka local friend of mine R waited for me and my Canadian friend M. We three women had kampai (cheers) with Maharaja Beer, which I had never seen in India so far (but the bottle said it was brewed in Bangalore.) R had samosa and pakoda to accompany with her glass, while M and I were not in the mood of having them any (why, because we have such snacks all through the time in Pune otherwise!)
After briefly meeting a few of my acquaintances at the event venue in the park, we proceeded to see the stage performances, where I saw amazing sight of everyone enjoying themselves in dancing with Indian tunes. How could I imagine there were so many Indian or India related people in Fukuoka!
In the past, I would attend annual Namaste India event held at Yoyogi Park, Tokyo a couple of times. However, Namaste Fukuoka was way more homely to me. One of the event organizers, my Odissi dancer friend A, told me that many Bangladesh, Nepali, and other South Asians also joined the event that seemed to be making the atmosphere looked open and welcoming.
As a person living in India for about 15 years, I was moved and felt the promising future seeing those happy Indians in Fukuoka.
I am truly grateful to organizers for hosting such a fantastic event in my hometown Fukuoka.
