Festival Season Begins

Festival season officially began this week in India. With the help of Wikipedia, I will attempt to explain without totally butchering Indian tradition. Navratri is the longest Hindu festival celebrated all over India for nine consecutive nights in praise of Rama and goddess Durga. Dandiya is a featured dance of Navratri in Western India. The dancers use decorated bamboo sticks called dandiyas to interact with the other dancers to the beat of the music. We were invited to two dandiya dances last weekend. The first, on Friday night, was in our nanny’s neighborhood. Chris was not feeling well, so I took the kids with our friends Jeff, Jena, and Kai. It was an incredible experience. The dresses were amazing and we were treated almost like royalty. We were taken to a VIP area and introduced to the crowd. We were also presented with flower bouquets and coconuts. The second dance, on Saturday night, was held at a co-worker of Chris’s apartment complex. This time, Anna decided to play (dance). It was a lot of fun, but Max slept through most of the festivities. Sunday was Dussehra, which is the culmination of Navratri. Hindus regard it as a celebration of life and use the occasion to strengthen family and social relationships. It is also the beginning of the year in some Hindu calendars. On Sunday evening, we attended a Dussehra event here in Magarpatta City which included a burning effigy of Ravan, a Hindu antagonist, and some fireworks. All of this leads up to Diwali, which comes exactly twenty days after Dussehra. Known as the "Festival of Lights," it symbolizes the victory of good over evil, and lamps are lit as a sign of celebration and hope for humankind. My friends and I spent an afternoon shopping for these lamps/pots where they are made. Diwali is the major holiday here; much like Christmas is in the U.S. I plan to sign Anna up for Diwali camp during the first two weeks of November so that she can have some fun and learn about this local tradition. I got Anna signed up for preschool today at Kangaroo Kids. It’s a really nice place with a great sandbox. I think that’s what sold Anna. She will attend Monday thru Friday from 11:30am until 3:00pm and is looking forward to making a lot of new friends. She will officially start December 1st, but we are attending a Diwali party there this coming Saturday. In addition to all of the celebrating we did this past weekend, we also went to the Pune Zoo and Snake Park. Amazingly it cost 12 rupees (30¢) for all of us to enter. It wasn’t quite as fancy as the zoos in the U.S. and the animals were quite a bit different, but we had a great time. Toward the end of our zoo trip we rented a paddle boat. The water was filthy, but it was nice to be out on the water. Since I’ve been rattling on for quite some time, I’ll wrap up by saying that Chris is still working late, I am enjoying the friends I have made, Anna is excited about her new school, and Max is nine months old and getting into everything. All is well here and we hope it is where you are. Until next time, keep us in your thoughts and prayers and keep the comments coming, we love them!