In hindsight, the programme was perhaps jinxed right from the beginning. At 8 p.m., when the Mongolian dance troupe was supposed to begin their show, the hall wore a deserted look, with perhaps 15-odd people scattered among the empty rows. It should have remained that way, if only to save the Vadodara Municipal Corporation a great deal of embarrassment.

Almost true to form, the VIPs came late; the mayor, her deputy, the municipal commissioner, all traipsed in at a quarter to nine (perhaps later). Then followed the inevitable speeches, initiated by a dead-pan MC with a singular lack of expression and followed by Mayor Bharatiben Vyas, who, in a moment of sheer inspiration, described Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi and Kathak as some of India's many ``folk dances''.

That was not all; more was to follow. The announcers had evidently not been informed that the performers were Chinese; Gujarati voice-overs spoke of Mongolia, and the mayor, prompted by the banner at stage rear, called them `Chinese Mongolians'. The first two dances were said to be representative of a ``people of a hard, remote, barren land''. Then the trouble started.

The first indication came when the audio system coughed and spluttered two notes into a dance piece; the performers, true professionals, stepped in with what was obviously an impromptu musical recital. A couple of yearning, touching songs later, the Voice asked the audience to bear with the ``technical snags''.

In the meantime, the musicians stepped in; the dancers even performed to live music, an unexpected treat for the connoisseur, since recorded music is universally acknowledged to take away from a performance.

But there was only so much the four or five musicians -- two of whom appeared to be attired in dance robes -- could improvise. And just over 40 minutes into the two-hour performance, the entire troupe came on stage for the last bow. The disappointment on their faces was matched only by the bewilderment on the by-now-respectable (100-odd strong) audience.

Mallika Sarabhai of Darpana, the organisers of Mahotsav 99, was audibly upset when contacted over the phone. ``It's upsetting for us, having put in so much effort; it's upsetting for the performers, who went all the way to Vadodara just for that performance. And it must be disappointing for Vadodara too'', she said. The arrangement between Darpana and the VMC was that the former would merely transport the performers to and fro; the civic body would handle all other aspects, including technical support, publicity, halls, etc.

Asked why they tied up with VMC, Sarabhai said: ``We had written to about 50 cultural organisations in Vadodara, but then the AMC told us its counterpart there could handle the event. They had, in fact, done a good job at the last Mahotsav, so we plumped for them.'' However, Assistant Municipal Commissioner A F Saiyyed, in charge of organising the programme from the VMC's side, sought to pin the blame on the performing troupe. ``What could we do if their cassette stopped in the middle of the performance? Anyway, they had their own musicians and they performed for as long as they had intended to.'' Sarabhai disputes this. ``The people at the show operated four cassette players; all four had defective speeds. The machines were provided by the VMC'', she said. It was supposed to be a night to remember. It was. But for the wrong reasons.