{"id":2396,"date":"2015-07-10T08:37:05","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T08:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?p=2396"},"modified":"2015-07-10T08:37:05","modified_gmt":"2015-07-10T08:37:05","slug":"hoppers-were-only-half-the-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/hoppers-were-only-half-the-fun\/","title":{"rendered":"HOPPERS WERE ONLY HALF THE FUN"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Don Moore Community Centre at North Rocks, NSW, Australia was the scene of good old fashioned fun and frivolity when the Royal College OBA of NSW and ACT, staged its annual family night, called \u201cthe hopper night\u201d, on 22nd<\/sup> August 2009.\u00a0A good time was had by all, including the many non Sri Lankans in attendance, some of whom were on a high for days on end following the event.<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
The festivities began with the singing of the school anthem.\u00a0The words to the song were printed on the flip side of the flyer\/program enabling attendees to sing to the recorded music.\u00a0We were informed subsequently that a wife of a Royalist in NSW had in fact done the musical arrangement with a slight up tempo for the benefit of the OBA.<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Still, the best was yet to come and arrived in the form of the committee members behaving silly and putting \u201cCarlotta\u201d to shame, as they paraded in drag to Dr Siridev singing live, the Sri Lankan born Bill Forbe\u2019s hit song \u201cLadies of Calcutta\u201d. This segment wouldn\u2019t have been out of place at a university revue and demonstrated that Royalists never baulk from putting their reputations on the line and moving out of their comfort zones. While the compere suggested, somewhat unfairly, that many of these habits were possibly picked up in school, there was no disputing the positive reaction of the audience (including spouses) after they recovered from the shock. Well before hoppers were served it was pretty clear that this was no ordinary family night and that the Royalists were proving to be special by putting on something special.<\/p>\n

It says a lot that the \u201cnon\u201d Sri Lankans in attendance had a unique experience. They all found the hosts and organisers to be warm, welcoming and friendly. One of them remarked that Royalists sure knew how to party. Others praised the family friendly ambience which prevailed. Yet another took stock of the variety of dresses (worn by the ladies rather than the men) and the various ways in which people enjoyed themselves. Without exception all of them praised the food.\u00a0 Despite expressing reservations about the spiciness of the food they nonetheless went for seconds and thirds. One lady was so impressed she extracted the secrets to hopper making from a member of the cooking staff. Interestingly enough, even those who didn\u2019t dance had a great time, which speaks volumes for the atmosphere, food, the people and the choice of music, which was pleasant to the ears, and left many hoarse from hours of singing along.<\/p>\n

Very few DJs read the mood of an audience as well as DJ Neil, who is an old Royalist himself.\u00a0 He was the undisputed hero of the night. Sensing there was an Elvis fan in the house he played a few of the King\u2019s classics. In celebration of Royal\u2019s big match victory in the late sixties, and the presence of the captain of that particular game making his \u201cdebut\u201d appearance at a Royal old boys function, DJ Neil played \u201dThe summer of 69\u201d, which had many singing along.<\/p>\n

Neil catered to those who danced formally as much as to those who preferred to gyrate solo. For the benefit of the ballroom dancers he played waltzes, R & R, jive, salsa and numerous tracks suited for fox trot\/slow rhythm. While it was inevitable that he would cater to the staple musical diet of Royalists whose party motto is \u201dDance or depart\u201d, by playing baila, he maintained good music mix of east and west and kept the crowd on a high throughout the night.\u00a0 It was a night of nostalgia for many Royalists to whom the music was the soundtrack of their youth, and triggered memories of vernacular and western music sung at parties, and the romance of the Royal-Thomian \u2013 but not to the exclusion of those with a passion for contemporary social dance.<\/p>\n

It was quite obvious by now, to non Sri Lankans, that the Royal OBA is a democratic institution where members Sri Lanka\u2019s minorities can feel at home, just as much as they did when attending the red brick institution at Reid Avenue. At a time when Sri Lankan expatriate organisations tend to be ethnically biased, the Royal OBA is an exemplar of inter communal harmony and camaraderie. This is demonstrated by the composition of the over fifties cricket team as much as by the atmosphere on the night in question. It is this spirit of inclusiveness which embraced non Sri Lankans and made them feel at home.<\/p>\n

In 2004 I purchased a t-shirt in Memphis which reads \u201cNo white, no black, just the blues\u201d. Likewise, the composition of participants in activities organised by the Royal OBU, and the ecumenical spirit promoted, justifies the slogan – \u201cno Sinhalese, no Tamils, no Muslims, no Burghers, just Royalists\u201d. Further, the ambience of the Hopper Night, from the school song and music, to the food and the skit (based on a comedy quintessentially English), embodied a main stream and cosmopolitan flavor which allowed the audience to flick between their dual Royal and Australian identities. Many of the \u201cnon\u201d Sri Lankans admitted to having the time of their lives which is the finest endorsement of the efforts of the OBU President and others behind the scenes, particularly their spouses.
\nDISCE AUT DISCEDE
\nEardley Lieversz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Don Moore Community Centre at North Rocks, NSW, Australia was the scene of good old fashioned fun and frivolity when the Royal College OBA of NSW and ACT, staged its annual family night, called \u201cthe hopper night\u201d, on 22nd August 2009.\u00a0A good time was had by all, including the many non Sri Lankans in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2396","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-articles"},"yoast_head":"\nHOPPERS WERE ONLY HALF THE FUN - eLanka<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"HOPPERS WERE ONLY HALF THE FUN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Don Moore Community Centre at North Rocks, NSW, Australia was the scene of good old fashioned fun and frivolity when the Royal College OBA of NSW and ACT, staged its annual family night, called \u201cthe hopper night\u201d, on 22nd August 2009.\u00a0A good time was had by all, including the many non Sri Lankans in […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/hoppers-were-only-half-the-fun\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"eLanka\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eLanka.com.au\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-10T08:37:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"eLanka admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"eLanka admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/hoppers-were-only-half-the-fun\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/hoppers-were-only-half-the-fun\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"eLanka admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/f6e635b74ab35ef88a68a9973cacc5bd\"},\"headline\":\"HOPPERS WERE ONLY HALF THE FUN\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-10T08:37:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/hoppers-were-only-half-the-fun\/\"},\"wordCount\":902,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/hoppers-were-only-half-the-fun\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/hoppers-were-only-half-the-fun\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/hoppers-were-only-half-the-fun\/\",\"name\":\"HOPPERS WERE ONLY HALF THE FUN - 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