An evening in wonderland......'Sanjha safar'

It was the evening of 6'th November 2007 when we three friends were returning from the much hyped and important event of our b-school, the national summit 07.It was blah blah blah...and blah. For more details contact the other saurabh....saurabh kapoor the student body president. I am not writing about it , its about something much much more enticing and enchanting then that.
The phrase, 'blessing in disguise' came into life for us when we failed to find an auto rickshaw to back home and were too properly dressed to board a bus(suit shuit and all). Oh by we, I mean me , santosh and girdhari by the way.
I called for a walk to India gate nearby and three of us settled for that, santy bit reluctantly though. Little did we knew that we were up for a very pleasant surprise. In the lush green lawns of India gate a awesome experience was waiting for us. It was the 4th International Conference on Federalism being held in the capital, the five-day parallel 'Sanjha Safar'. It seemed that we have entered a different land , a dreamland, a land where a diverse and culturally rich nation was exhibiting all its colors under the sky. The event was hosting delicacies from various nook and corner of India, art and artifacts from places as interior as bastar of chattisgarh, uttranchal, karnatka etc. Every footstep was a harbinger of a enthralling experience. Various stalls from different states exhibiting their native crafts. Food stalls where one could savor everything famous in India. To name a few, parathas from parathe wali gali, chicken from karim's of jama masjid, sondesh from streets of bengal, jhangora ki kheer & mandua ki roti from the hills of uttranchal, what else a food junkie like me asks for.
As if this was not enough, there was musical and dance performance at practically every step, honestly it was hard to decide where to stop. The odisi nitya by kids of orissa, the astounding folk song performance by kids of rajasthan, the awesome folk dance by teenagers from Gujarat, the baul gaan from bengal and not to forget the fakir who was just loitering around everywhere singing praise for allah-o-akbar.
We three then decided to board a ride in the giant wheel, honestly I was bit nervous, but it also proved to be a extension of the mood of the evening. On the top of it I could see the national capital, the giant India gate and below my feet was the conglomeration of art, culture and history. It felt as if the fair was saluting the epitome of national pride, India Gate, reaching out to the world and shouting the best way it could saying that India is not merely a land of snake charmers and beggars, it is the land of strength, of art, of culture, of people with hearts, a nation which was, is and will be a paradigm of civilization.
The mood after we came out can neatly be summed in words of my friends. Santosh said,"abe sapne sa lag raha hai be" and Girdhari lal commented, "If national summits are meant to end like this I am ready to pay for the summit and tolerate it once more "

P.S -The fee for two day national summit-07 at le meridian was Rs 4000 per head :(