The Diwali festival lasts for several days, but the main day for celebration here in South India was October 26, the night of the new moon. We'd been hearing fireworks every evening for several days leading up to the 26th, but on Diwali we were awakened at 5:45 a.m. (A.M.!) and the noise didn't let up until well after midnight. Now I understand why so many of our expat friends skip town over Diwali.
We spent most of the day relaxing at home and watching safely from our kitchen window as our neighbors set the street on fire. That evening, though, we went to our friend Suyash's house for a Diwali dinner and "cracker bursting," as the firework mania is called.
Making our way to Suyash's house was quite the experience. He came to pick us up, and we walked out the door and into a war zone. The smoke was so thick it was as if the entire city were in a fog. We had to weave in and out of groups of people setting off fireworks in the middle of the street, and we're talking professional grade stuff. The explosions ranged from small "flower pots" (like roman candles) to huge rockets you'd only see in a professional show in the United States. It was insane!
We made it to Suyash's house in one piece, though, and had a really nice time. We watched them do their Lakshmi puja (Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth), and then the family marked each other and us (except for Evie, who was feeling shy) with a tikka on the forehead.
Here are the boys sporting their tikkas.
Then the kids ate entirely too many sweets, and we all ate a fantastic dinner. Suyash's family is from the North, so the food was slightly different from what we usually get here. It made a nice change, though I find that I love just about any Indian food I try (except for the sweets and some of the chutneys). Standouts from this meal were the biriyani, a delicious chola (chickpea dish), and a fantastic plum chutney.
After dinner we all went up to the roof to set off fireworks. The kids had fun with the sparklers and the flower pots and with some that spin around on the ground when they're lit. Evie asked to go inside once the bottle rockets got going. Here she is enjoying yet more candy.
Samuel lasted for quite awhile, but at one point he turned to John and said "This is too scary. I want to go inside." So Samuel joined Evie and me in the apartment.
While John and Johnny continued playing with fire on the roof, I listened to a fascinating political discussion among older members of the family. They were talking about relations between India and its neighbors Pakistan and Bangladesh. You probably know that they once were all one nation. A favorite topic for discussion here is why India is so much better off -- politically and economically -- than its neighbors. As one woman said that night, "We're all the same people." But India is the largest democracy in the world, in terms of population, and has one of the fastest growing economies. This isn't to say there aren't any problems, poverty being foremost among them. Pakistan, however, is bordering on collapse and Bangladesh is extremely poor and hampered by "worse than average" political corruption.
The general agreement at the Diwali party was that India is better off because of two things: freedom of religion and freedom of thought (meaning that the education system is not so politically skewed as it is elsewhere). Speaking as a non-expert outsider, I think I agree.
Johnny enjoyed the fireworks fun until the really heavy stuff came out, but when someone lit a bundle of three "tiger bombs" (shaking the entire building) he decided he was done. We later had to drag John off the roof and into the car to get the kids home. He would have been happy to join in the fun all night.
We had an uneventful trip home through the smoke and lights and got to bed extremely late. It was a whole lot of fun, though.
We spent most of the day relaxing at home and watching safely from our kitchen window as our neighbors set the street on fire. That evening, though, we went to our friend Suyash's house for a Diwali dinner and "cracker bursting," as the firework mania is called.
Making our way to Suyash's house was quite the experience. He came to pick us up, and we walked out the door and into a war zone. The smoke was so thick it was as if the entire city were in a fog. We had to weave in and out of groups of people setting off fireworks in the middle of the street, and we're talking professional grade stuff. The explosions ranged from small "flower pots" (like roman candles) to huge rockets you'd only see in a professional show in the United States. It was insane!
We made it to Suyash's house in one piece, though, and had a really nice time. We watched them do their Lakshmi puja (Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth), and then the family marked each other and us (except for Evie, who was feeling shy) with a tikka on the forehead.
Here are the boys sporting their tikkas.
Then the kids ate entirely too many sweets, and we all ate a fantastic dinner. Suyash's family is from the North, so the food was slightly different from what we usually get here. It made a nice change, though I find that I love just about any Indian food I try (except for the sweets and some of the chutneys). Standouts from this meal were the biriyani, a delicious chola (chickpea dish), and a fantastic plum chutney.
After dinner we all went up to the roof to set off fireworks. The kids had fun with the sparklers and the flower pots and with some that spin around on the ground when they're lit. Evie asked to go inside once the bottle rockets got going. Here she is enjoying yet more candy.
Samuel lasted for quite awhile, but at one point he turned to John and said "This is too scary. I want to go inside." So Samuel joined Evie and me in the apartment.
While John and Johnny continued playing with fire on the roof, I listened to a fascinating political discussion among older members of the family. They were talking about relations between India and its neighbors Pakistan and Bangladesh. You probably know that they once were all one nation. A favorite topic for discussion here is why India is so much better off -- politically and economically -- than its neighbors. As one woman said that night, "We're all the same people." But India is the largest democracy in the world, in terms of population, and has one of the fastest growing economies. This isn't to say there aren't any problems, poverty being foremost among them. Pakistan, however, is bordering on collapse and Bangladesh is extremely poor and hampered by "worse than average" political corruption.
The general agreement at the Diwali party was that India is better off because of two things: freedom of religion and freedom of thought (meaning that the education system is not so politically skewed as it is elsewhere). Speaking as a non-expert outsider, I think I agree.
Johnny enjoyed the fireworks fun until the really heavy stuff came out, but when someone lit a bundle of three "tiger bombs" (shaking the entire building) he decided he was done. We later had to drag John off the roof and into the car to get the kids home. He would have been happy to join in the fun all night.
We had an uneventful trip home through the smoke and lights and got to bed extremely late. It was a whole lot of fun, though.
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