Traditional evening gowns and vibrantly colored saris mixed with banded-collar dinner jackets

Traditional evening gowns and vibrantly colored saris mixed with banded-collar dinner jackets and tuxedos at President Barack Obama’s first state dinner.

There also were turbans and bindis and diamonds aplenty, as several hundred guests put on the glitz and joined a White House celebration in honor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

A.R. Rahman, winner of a pair of Academy Awards for the music in “Slumdog Millionaire,” performed.

The 338-person guest list also was a study in contrasts, mixing wonky Washington, Hollywood talent, prominent members of the Indian community in the U.S. and Obama friends, family and campaign donors.

Guest included Spiritual adviser Deepak Chopra, director M. Night Shyamalan and PepsiCo chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi were among those with ties to India. CNN medical reporter Dr. Sanjay Gupta was among those representing the media.

Wow! What can’t get anymore significant than that!

President Barack Obama, in his dinner toast, said the setting conjured images of India, where special events are “often celebrated under the cover of a beautiful tent.”

Singh, in turn, told the president that he was overwhelmed by the Obamas’ hospitality and said the president’s election last year had captured the imagination of millions of Indians.

Naeem Khan, the Indian-born designer of Mrs. Obama’s handmade gown, told CNN’s “Larry King Live” that it took three weeks to complete the dress at his family’s workshop in India — with 40 people working on it.

Looks like the whole world is going Asian!

Source news.yahoo.com