Lots To Look At

It's Been Too Long!

I am embarrassed to say that about a month has passed since our last update. So much has happened that I hope this does not end up sounding like a jumbled mess. At any rate, here goes. Soon after our return from the U.S., the Ganapati festival occurred. Each year for Ganapati, a large number of idols are made of clay or metal in all possible sizes, from one to twenty feet tall. People buy idols of Lord Ganesh (see photo) and install them in their homes and worship the idol for one to ten days, depending on their family tradition. Afterward the idols are taken out ceremoniously through the streets of the town, like a mini parade with singing and dancing. The idols are then immersed into the river, sea or well, depending on what you have access to (see photo). Every Ganesh statue is immersed in the river and you can imagine the toll this is taking on the local water sources. The local government understands this and has made an effort to provide mini emersion tanks for the ceremony. Chris and Anna witnessed the event and did not see one family using the tanks next to the river. I suppose if people travel to the river, they feel compelled to use the river and not the tanks. The following evening Chris and I attended a Bollywood premier with some friends. The movie was titled “Saas Bahu Aur Sensex” and was about women investing in the stock market. It was similar to attending a Hollywood premier, only on a much smaller scale. We could not understand much of the film since the language was unfamiliar, but the film setting was in the city where Chris works so we could relate to the restaurants and the backdrop of the movie. We had a good time and felt a little bit like high society. A Hard Rock Café is in the process of being built here in Pune. It is about four blocks from our apartment and it has been nearly finished for almost a year. It is not yet open to the public due to an unobtainable liquor license. We got word that a concert was to be held there and we couldn’t resist. The performer was Jay Sean, a hip-hop style rapper from the U.K. As most of you probably know, this type of music is not on our list of favorites and it was loud and crowded, but the place was nice and we had a good time. We hope to go there to eat someday, if their license ever comes through. Chris had October 1st off for Id Ul Fitr, a Muslim holiday, and October 2nd off for Gandhi’s birthday. We took this rare two-day break as a vacation to the beautiful Mahabaleshwar hill station. We checked out Kate’s Point, Lodwick Point, and Elephant’s Head Point on the first day. The fresh air and the views were spectacular and a much needed respite from the city life we lead. On the way back to the hotel we stopped for a quick spin around the go-cart track. Anna and Chris had a blast driving fast while Max and I cheered them on. The following morning we spent in the pool watching Anna wear out the water-slide. She went up and down at least fifty times. We hit the race track again and a road side café/garden on the way home. It was a wonderful family vacation here in India. On Sunday, Anna attended a classmate’s birthday party at none other than Papa John’s Pizza. It was really fun watching Anna interact with the other children. She is much more outgoing with her classmates than she was last school year and it is fun to watch her in action. The following week a couple from John Deere, Rene and Deve Detloff arrived for a two-week visit. This allowed me to see a few new places while playing tour guide. The first was Shaniwarwada, which in the past served as the palace and the seat of political power. Today it serves as a cultural attraction and a facility for plays and music programs. The other new spot was a beautiful garden/park called Sarasbaug. We got caught in a late monsoon rain, but had a good time none the less. October 9th was Dussehra, which marks the Hindu New Year. It is a time when good over evil is celebrated and things start fresh. Our driver, Kiran performed an elaborate puja on our car (see photo). He removed his shoes and used lemons, a coconut, flowers, incense, and red and yellow powder to conduct this ceremony. He placed flowers on the front of the car and lemons under the wheels and then smashed a coconut in front of the car and painted the hood with the red and yellow paint. A puja ceremony is performed at dwellings and on automobiles asking for safety throughout the coming year. A puja is a religious ritual that Hindus perform on a variety of occasions to pray or show respect to the Gods. A puja also serves as a means of offering love, praise, thanks, and supplication to the Gods. Most workers perform a puja on their tools and machines during this time to show the tools and machines that they respect and appreciate what they provide. Some of the people at Chris’s work also performed pujas on their computers. Last week we discovered a putt-putt golf course near our house and Anna and Chris braved the heat for a match last Sunday (see photo). Saturday was Anna’s Diwali party at school. There were crafts, games, snacks, and a puppet show. Anna and I went while Max and Dad stayed home. Max was down with an ear infection this weekend. Diwali is actually on October 28th and I’ll write about that next time. Today we went to brunch with friends. There was really good live music and the kids loved it. Anna had a great time singing and dancing to the music. We have included a picture of the lawn mowers they sell here in India. We saw this display while shopping last weekend and could not resist the photo. The photo is only funny because these really are the tools used to cut the grass in India. There is one woman that is employed at our apartment complex to cut the grass and pick up the leaves every day and she uses tools like these to do the work. I also threw in a picture of a five legged cow that I saw while shopping on Laxmi Road. Only in India! Well, I hope I didn’t turn too many circles with this update. I will try to do better next time. Until then, take care and enjoy another video of the kids enjoying their dessert!