The Festival of Lights

Saturday October 17th was India's favorite holiday, Diwali! And just like with every other festival here in India, people started celebrating it about a week before it actually began, and have yet to stop. To celebrate, we were all invited to the community center of a group of Muslim people that one of our students (John) has been working with and befriended in the course of his research. At the start of the evening all of us girls were cajoled into playing some 'throw-ball' with all of the women and the older girls. Its really as simple as it sounds; you have a team on either side of a volley-ball net, and you just toss the ball over and they catch it then throw it back. You score points and rotate just like volleyball, except you serve by throwing the ball over the net instead of hitting it. It sounds like a pretty mellow game, but boy were we wrong! All of the women started changing into their tennis shoes, and showing how to tie our scarves across our front like a sash so that it doesn't fall off while we play. These women were so intense! And they made it look so easy to throw the ball from the far end of the court to other, but the first time I tried it my ball didn't even make over our side of the net! It turns out there is a definite technique to throwing correctly in throw ball. After I figured out the game though I did pretty well, and they seemed pretty surprised that a little weakling American could keep up with them at their own game. I definitely earned some respect for my throw-ball skills!

After we finished the match- my team won 2 games to 1 :) -the men took over the court and played real volleyball, except with a soccer ball! Ouch! While they played, the women sat around and talked about life and gossiped with each other. It was fun getting to know them and they were eager to include us in their group and help us feel at ease. So many of the women there had advanced degrees, children, and a professional life. It is also amazing to me how many languages people here now. Many of them speak English, Hindi, Telugu, Arabic, Urdu, and other languages as well. It makes my little 2 and 1/2 seem pathetic. Anyways . . . Once the men finished their game we all sat down to dinner, where I was excited to see some chicken! Our cooks are all Hindu and vegetarian so they only cook meat once in a while. The fact that the chicken was so spicy that my lips went kind of numb and tingly didn't detract from the excitement.

Once dinner was finished and cleared away, we got to the real celebration of Diwali; fireworks! Here they call them all firecrackers, but Indian firecrackers should really not be confused with our measly little USA fireworks. They only things they passed out to us Americans were little sparklers -People are always worried that we're too delicate and can't handle the same things they can- but even their sparklers were bigger and more powerful and had further flying sparks. Here in India all types of fireworks are legal everywhere, including the big mortar ones that we normally only see in professional shows. And the people here seem to love this one kind of cracker, not sure what the name is, that does nothing but make a huge booming noise. Its probably the same kind of flash bomb the CIA uses to disperse protesters, thats how loud it is. The scariest part of the whole thing is how young the kids are that they let light off the fireworks! Some of them could not possibly have been older than 5 or 6. Kids that I wouldn't even let play with a sparkler on their own are given free reign with a lighter stick and whatever kind of firework they can get their little hands on.

Regardless of the danger, it was definitely a very very fun night! Their little community center was such a peaceful little retreat, with lush trees and flowers everywhere, and their beautiful mosque. Its in the middle of the city, but its surrounded by a wall thats at least 12 feet tall so you would never know it. Its just a beautiful little oasis in the middle of a rather hectic, loud, raccous city and I really enjoyed our evening there.

The next night, one of our sweet cooks Durga shyly asked me if I would help her get the Diwali lamps ready. I was so excited that she wanted me to help her! She had pot thirty or forty shallow little clay dishes/pots, which we filled with sunflower oil. We then twisted strands of cotton into wicks and placed on in each little dish. We then placed the lamps all along the half-wall that closes in the porch/balcony which runs all across the front of the second-floor program house. She found a wax candle for me, and then let me light all of our little lamps. It was such a beautiful sight! All of the little lights flickering in the dark, it was a very fun project and a very happy night. Durga and I were very proud of our work, and called everyone out to see it. One of the students, my friend Dan, took some pictures of the lamps and of Durga and I, which I will post soon.

I'm keeping busy with my research, and I absolutely cannot believe how quickly my time here has gone by! I am definitely excited to come back home and see my family and take a real shower, but I will be very sad to leave here. I certainly hope this is not the last time I will get to be in India, I have a feeling it will pull me back again eventually.

Pictures to follow shortly!