into making us look at our own treasures in a different light throughout the show i noticed that people of various ethnicities sat through politely silently and reverentially the language the customs and the epic being depicted were alien to them yet even most of the little children sat patientlyquietly and keenly through the onehour programme just a handful left early but even they were bending down and leaving as unobtrusively as possible no flash photography was allowed in order to avoid disturbing the puppeteers and the ushers all local nonindian women were making sure that all the spectators adhered to this etiquette just watching this made me realize that these people who were nonindian were going out of their way to make sure our indian culture got all the reverence it is worthy of and all the respect it deserves sometimesit takes an appreciative nonindian to remind us of what our vast country has to offer and how we should value it at the end of the show having applauded the very skillful puppeteers mentally saluting them and their stunning art i walked away feeling a mix of emotions pride at being indian but a tiny bit embarrassed at not knowing as much about india as i should a feeling of guilt that living in a foreign land away from india one tries to assimilate into cultures that are not our own but in the process letting our own heritage slowly slip away from our fingers making a resolve to attend more such cultural events which show me facets of india i do not know i immediately showed loyalty to my promise by purchasing an exquisite handmade handpainted fan from kerala that was on sale along with traditional puppets of a mindboggling variety this is the least i can do to support and preserve our arts but i am sure i can do more