The Best New Year Ever!!!

Here is the story of my New Years Eve...it was a very long day, and a fairly eventful story, so just bear with me. This is taken almost directly from my journal, which I wrote the next day, when I wasn't in such an inebriated state:

Everything worked out the way they were meant to. Waking up at 10am (the first time getting up after 7am for the past two weeks!) meant that I would have to have a late brunch. Seeing the "Tapas" sign next to the "Siesta" restaurant meant that my interest would be sparked. Asking for sugar from the next table meant that my lack of an Indian accent signaled me as a foreigner. This allowed me to meet an Aussie named Mark, a fairly loud-mouthed, divorced, drug-using, chain smoking, older man who spoke his mind and who had already been traveling the world for two years. He hadn't even been in India for more than 12 hours when he met, which was also by luck, since the previous guest house had raised his tariff more than 200 Rs, thus forcing him to change to the Sri Murugan, which owned the "Siesta." We chatted for a bit, but then I had to leave. He needed to finish checking into his room. So, we parted ways.

On the way out, a Dutch girl named Sille, and her brother, Klaas, stopped me to ask about any parties happening that evening. I knew nothing, but chatted with them for a few minutes. As I said good bye, I bumped back into Mark. Since he was done checking in, we decided to go exploring together. We got a little lost in the back farms, got yelled at by a guy only speaking Tamil, and saw: two mandapas, the Lakshmi Temple, the Lighthouse, the Five Rathas, Arjuna's Penance, the Ganesha Ratha, Krishna's Butter Ball, Trimurti Cave, and the Shore Temple. By about four pm, we were exhausted, and stopped at a beach cafe for a beer and some pancakes (a really bad combination, by the way!). We stayed there for about 2 hours, talking about anything and everything. Mark was such a great character, that he was really easy to like. We got along very well. We eventually had to split, but he told me that he was meeting some people at Moonraker's Restaurant at 8pm, and perhaps he'd see me there.

At 7:30, I met up with Soeren, my Danish friend from the night before. I mentioned that we could meet Mark, and he thought that was fine. But first, we had to buy some questionable, but ultimately fine, vodka from one of the "wine shops," which had tons of vodka in stock. While the shop offered whiskey, brandy, gin, "Night N Day," wine, and other drinks, vodka was by far the most popular. At Moonrakers, we met Mark and his Dutch friend Cora. On the way to the roof, I bumped into my friends from the morning, Sille and Klaas, who were just finishing dinner. They said that after buying alcohol, they'd find us. So, soon enough, the six of us were having a great time. After dinner, we decided to wander down to the beach, and somehow we lost Cora along the way. I bumped into my French friends Natalie and Guillerme, who stayed in the same guest house as me in Hampi; they joined us for a bit before disappearing for dinner.

On the beach, we saw a bonfire, which lured us with its bright light. Many already drunk Indian male students loved having foreigners around, and consistently yelled out "Happy New Year" and "I Love You!" for no particular reason. They latched onto the men, but didn't really know how to act around Sille, a theme that would continue for the rest of the night. Klaas, who had only been in India a week, and for whom this was his first experience ever in a developing country, felt a little overwhelmed (another major theme). After a while of just standing there and talking with drunk Indians, we decided to check out a party happening at a resort further up the beach. It was all very posh. We climbed up a wall to get in, and just sat there, backs to the beach, watching as the people partied. We received many suspicious glances, but while we just sat there, we didn't pose a threat. So, of course this had to be ruined. Silla and Mark thought they could get into one of the dance areas, so the moment they both stood up and took one step in the wrong direction, waiters came over. We needed to pay 4500 Rs each in order to stay. Back to the beach we went.

Then, I remembered seeing a sign earlier for a party at Mamallapuram Stirling, another resort. So, that's where we went. All the while, I was drinking a liter mixture of Sprite and bad vodka. Soeren had vodka and a Fanta. Everyone else had beers that Mark convinced a beachside restaurant to simply give us. He is very charismatic, which is why he took over when the security guards at Sterling wanted us each to pay 700 Rs. Mark convinced them that we had friends inside who had our tickets, so the guards let us in for free. We sat down, drank, and listened to really lame live Tamil music. Still, as midnight approached, we all felt the need to get onto the stage. Once we counted down and the fireworks went off, chaos ensued. The music changed, and drunk Indian men rushed the stage. They grabbed Soeren and started jumping with him, punching him, and generally trying to show off their masculine stamina. Soeren, who turns 40 soon, told me proudly that he was able to keep up. Still, being the tallest and definitely most foreign of the guys, he made an easy target. Sille, the only girl on the stage, had guys staring at her confusedly. Their lower inhibitions made her very attractive to them, thus prompting me to dance with her often to "save her." Klaas was VERY lost. He had a hard time understanding the touching and grabbing and jumping and did I mention touching? Later he said that, as long as they didn't try to grab between his legs, he was fine. At least near the end of the night, after he had gotten somewhat used to it. And Mark, in a typical Mark fashion, was cool about eveything. Nothing phased him. And what of Sapan? Being an Indian, I blended in. But since I came with the foreigners, I was still a bit of an oddity. I participated in my share of the jumping and can-can dancing and touching and grabbing and such.

Never was the "men touching each other" issue so apparent as with a bunch of drunk Indian young men. In fact, many homosexual tendencies were openly displayed. Two men were grinding so closely they were actually rubbing their...ummm...together. We had no doubt as to their tendencies, though I'm sure they never would have revealed it sober. Still, I had never seen such openness in India. It shocked me. And yet it was also a little relieving, because it showed that India wasn't as prude as it seemed. Sure, it took lots of alcohol to reveal this side, but at least that side existed.

The crazy dancing continued until around 1:30. During that time, I had a somewhat scary moment. Because of the alcohol, I had to use the bathroom. On my way back to the dance floor, a guard stopped me. He asked me for my ticket...suddenly, I imagined that I would be the reason my friends and I would get kicked out of the party. I attemped to explain, in a semi-drunk stupor, that my "friends" staying at the hotel had the tickets. I just hoped that he didn't ask to meet these "friends." Thankfully, since he didn't speak much English, and since I knew no Tamil, this exercise was more than he could deal with. He thought I might be Tamil, thus making this easy. No such luck. Being New Years, he really didn't care enough. He let me go! Whew.

After we left at 1:30, we wandered back to Othavaadai Street, which was where all our hotels were. Silla had to use the bathroom, so I let her use the one at my guest house. Before I knew it, Mark and Klaas also were using the bathroom. And Soeren? Gone. I went looking for him, but I couldn't find him. I gave up the search, and we retired to Siesta, where the day had begun. We had more beer, but by this point, I was really tired. Sille asked us a few questions, such as new year resolution and latest loves. Finally, at around 2:30, I couldn't keep awake any more. So, I said farewell, and we all decided to meet the next day for a late lunch. As I was walking back to the Tina Blue View (my place), I found Soeren wandering down the now empty road. We chatted for a bit before walking back to our respective places. There was a crowd outside my place, as it seemed a drunken fight was brewing. I was too tired to see what would happen. Because it was so late, the gates into the guest house were locked, thus forcing me to climb over the fence. Oh well. Sleep came quickly and easily for me.

This was the best New Year celebration I had ever had. Perhaps my other ones had sucked, though the one in San Francisco with Sejal, Joe, and Jamie was a lot of fun. No, this was simply a wild, crazy, long-lasting night with some great personalities from all over the world, in a different country, experiencing something wholly new. It was a blast! Of course, there's really no way to fully express what had happened in words, as the whole night was a chaotic meshing of different sights, sounds, smells, and of course, touchings. You'll just have to take my word on it, that it was a great night. And if you still don't believe me, let me know. I'll send you the e-mails for Mark, Soeren, Sille, and Klaas. Ask them. I dare you! Okay, I'm off topic. That's all...