An Indian Theme !

"We're in October already" Diane announced unnecessarily to Stew and Aditty as they gathered to discuss the next monthly event. "Well of course, October's pretty much dominated by Halloween" Stew began. "I know, the supermarkets are full of junk for kids and all the clubs are advertising fancy dress events. But it's a bit old hat and run of the mill for us after the year we've had isn't it ?" replied Diane. "Is there anything else ?"

Stew had come up empty but Aditty replied, "There's Diwali. It's actually on November 1st this year but it can be any time from end of October to beginning of November so nobody would quibble " she suggested. "What is Diwali exactly ? I hear of it every year but I'm kind of ignorant" answered Diane. "Well, it's a religious festival. Festival of light, so celebrations, feasting and fasting, rituals. Difficult to explain in a nutshell but various goddesses are celebrated and I thought we could have Debbi as an Indian goddess ?" said Aditty.

"Wouldn't religious sensibilities be offended if we pulled a stunt with Debbi ?" Stew was concerned. "No problem as long as we don't call her any specific Indian goddess. We won't call her Lakshmi or Durga or anybody, just leave it generic. It'll be like the sumo for the Japanese as long as we leave it vague enough. Especially since we'll be holding it before Diwali itself this year" said Aditty.

"Promising but what exactly would we do ?" Diane enquired. "Another tradition at Diwali is intricate henna designs" Aditty continued. "I've got a cousin who's an expert at drawing them on people. It's normally only the hands that are decorated but I thought we could get Debbi nude and have my cousin etch designs all over her body. Sort of like body painting ?" "Now that I like" Diane enthused. "But wouldn't that take forever to do ?" she wondered. "I've already spoken to my cousin and she's up for it. It would take two or three hours but should be fine if we start first thing in the morning" Aditty answered. "You have done a lot of work" Diane complimented her young Asian protégé. "We could stream the painting" Diane added. "The Japanese can't stop talking about 'Debbi-san's genitals' whenever I call them and they could be seeing them again. She will paint around there ?" "Absolutely" Aditty confirmed. "Then we could have a procession. I've got another cousin who does a great range of costume jewellery and we could get some of that to adorn Debbi with. Nothing that would cover anywhere important of course !" "Of course not" Diane laughed. "And she can provide some kind of headdress. It's only a pity we haven't got an elephant 'cos Ganesh is worshipped too" Aditty concluded with a laugh.

"I might be able to do something about that" said Diane. "Excuse me ?" said Aditty. "An elephant" Diane clarified. "You're joking surely ?" Stew exclaimed. "No, I'm not. My uncle Basil is a minor Earl and he has this mouldering pile of a country house that he tries to help finance by having a small zoo as a visitor attraction. And he's got this old elephant Rajah that is a dear and gets hired out sometimes for events, as long as it's not too far or too arduous. Goodness knows how old he is."

"Is he an Indian elephant ?" asked Aditty. "I'm sure he is. They're smaller than the African ones aren't they ? He can even come with a howdah or whatever they call it that she can sit in" said Diane. "Won't that give her too much cover ?" wondered Stew. "If it does, we can get her down periodically on the procession and have her lead Rajah" Diane argued.