THE FILIPINOS of Kolkata got together today at Roger and Lori Calvo's warm, spacious residence in south Kolkata to celebrate Christmas togetherness. As expected, there’s the exchange of gifts and tons of food. The first to go was sisig, a much-beloved Filipino delicacy consisting of chopped pig head—sounds detestable but truly delectable. I packed two full plates of leftover pansit (Filipino-styled rice noodles) and pork afritada for dinner back home.
The most fun moments included a riotous men-versus-ladies dance competition, and I have no clue who finally won because everyone was just laughing their hearts out. I watched the teenaged offspring of Filipino-Indian interracial marriages rap and do the hip-hop, and I realized that mixing Bollywood with Pinoy-styled Hollywood is actually a great combination. (A Filipino with Bengali descent, by the way, looks so beautifully exotic!)
This is yet another of several Filipino get-together events in Kolkata. All of them are organized and implemented through text messages, and and today's event once again shows the ubiquitous power of text messaging amongst Filipinos.
