Cultural mix gets crowd swaying

My heart beat in rhythm with the loud thumping of the Congolese drums, and as the drums thumped faster, so did my heartbeat.

The subtle clopping of one man hitting a hollow stick tied in with every step each dancer took.

The female performers, with wide smiles on their glowing faces, looked as though they were having fun rather than performing in front of a crowd of hundreds.

I found myself swinging my hips from side to side with the rest of the crowd as the percussion settled into me.

I was being swept away by one of the many unique cultures at the Auckland International Cultural Festival that took place in March.

The power exerted by each performer of each dance as they represented their culture, their identity, was breath-taking.

Dancers, singers and musicians performed beyond the best of their abilities and every person in the crowd received it and respected it in the same spirit.

The epiphany for me came during the final stage performance.

The Mt Roskill Grammar School Community Education Bollywood Dance group didn't just rock the stage, but also my mind, when I saw the group had more non-Indians than Indians.

Suddenly, it was all I could see everywhere I went.

The Malaysian food stall teased my sense of smell as the invigorating aroma of beef rendang and simmering and sizzling satay chicken lured me.

But the Malay feel took a turn for the worse when I noticed a Caucasian manning the order booth.

The food, fortunately, was being prepared by Malaysians, and I was pleased to hear the crepe chefs speak en francais.

To see this new element of mixing different cultures was confusing to me.

Was I to feel enthused or appalled?

Of course the fest was a celebration of cultures, but blending them? I was unsure of that.

My doubts went away when I approached a makeshift pond, adorned with little lamps floating on water lilies, launched by children of many different races.

And as an Asian girl was excitedly having her hair braided at a gypsy stall set up by Uruguayans, I concluded that cultural festivities such as this are not just about being proud of your own culture, but also an opportunity to experience and enjoy other cultures.

It's about sharing your satay chicken with your African friends.

It's about doing the bhangra with your Kiwi mates.

It's about swaying to that Congolese beat with your Bulgarian brothers.

That day I felt proud to live in a country that displayed such a vast diversity of culture.

A country of so many peoples that such festivals may be held and one can reap the benefits of being able to experience such variety of uniqueness.

It's a gift that unfortunately few other places in the world are able to celebrate.

On that note, I found myself swaying my hips in my vermillion ghagra as the beat of the Latin American bongo drums settled into me.

It was another example of how I got swept away by the many unique cultures at the Auckland International Cultural Festival.

Nigaah Khan, Year 12, Mt Roskill Grammar School