Divali in India

Just when I thought India couldn’t get any more colorful (some might say tacky) and crazier, it does. Divali came last Saturday and boy was it nutty. The people here have said that it is similar to Christmas in Canada; except that we celebrate in our homes with family and they let loose on the street with cows. All the towns were decorated with pictures of different Gods, many men were half naked painted orange with tails (we learnt later on that they were dressed up as Hanuman the monkey God), flowers were strung everywhere (there were so many on some autorickshaws that I swear they couldn’t see a thing), and fireworks were going off at every street corner. The four of us just so happened to be on an overnight bus that night so we got to see celebrations in every town as we went along. We saw little 5 year old Billie up on the roof lighting off his first fire cracker as his parents proudly watched from below. Older kids were playing a more sophisticated game trying to get their firework to explode under our bus which meant a delightful but constant hue of green, yellow and red shooting up from every corner of the bus. And the bus driver himself was bobbing along to loud Hindi music sung in the key of “off” rolling the bus around the firecrackers like he was in a video game. I’m honestly not being sarcastic when I say that I love this place. Jenn and I are starting to get really sad about leaving in just two days. This place has taught me so much and I have much more to learn.

While we were planning on heading back to Delhi, in a split second decision, we got on a bus and are now a little further North in Amristar sleeping in the Sikh Golden Temple. I had my first random scooter ride (no worries, I side saddled like all the other Indian women) and just returned from seeing the closing of the Pakistan-India border which was quite the spectacle. Tonight will be the second last night in India which will be spent enjoying the people, tasting the food and discovering the secrets that makes this incredible country what it is.