Diwali in Orchha

There was a small part of me that was hoping that going to Orchha for Diwali break would bring an opportunity to experience a true Diwali celebration. After all the last two years I've been in a desert camp and in Catholic Goa. But Orchha, Orchha is a Hindu town. So I thought that perhaps I'd get a truly local experience. At first it seemed like Diwali might be restricted to people painting their houses, adding a new layer of color to brighten up the town. Don't get me wrong, I loved the bright blue, pink and yellow houses! But I was hoping for more...of course it is hard to know what to expect when you can't even identify which day is the proper Diwali...not that I'm any closer to being able to identify that. The second day we were there, it seemed that the number of people pouring into town had doubled or tripled. Almost all of them were making their way on foot to the large temple in the middle of the town dressed in their finest clothes, many of them waving peacock feathers in their hands. That seemed a bit more like a celebration, but not quite what I was expecting, after all Diwali is known as the festival of lights. I never did see many lights, but the the electricity only seemed to run from about 7-11 pm. However, the last morning we were there, we were awoken by the sound of drums. A peak over the balcony to the riverside revealed trucks coming in with the trailer full of men (all men). As they arrived the guys climbed down and began to get dressed...get dressed up in costumes of "women" (which often just meant tight short shorts, a skirt made out of flowers or some other type of adornment - never mind that women dress quite conservatively here). From what we could figure out on the particular holiday in this particular region of the country, villagers meet up and the men dance as the women are not allowed to. Most of the dances occur along the water front to the beat of the drums. Some groups of men strike sticks as they spin and jump. Others focus more on a jumping aspect. I'm not quite sure I can tell you what the meaning of the dances are, I would assume for good luck/food/fortune but that would be pure speculation. It was a bit uncomfortable being out on the road during that time as there really weren't any woman out and about. But of course I couldn't resist a small wander to take pictures and soak up the unexpected celebration I had landed in the middle of.

Christmas traditions

As I got ready to head home for Christmas this year my mom and my sister were full of questions about what needed to/could happen for the holiday. It really made me sit down and think about what were important traditions for me to experience if I was going to  feel like I had had a true Christmas. There are many things that I don't feel strongly about, after all three years ago I spend two hours in an internet cafe in Kampot, Cambodia skyping with my family and then went out for a peppercorn crab meal on the banks of the river by myself. So what is it that makes a Christmas at home Christmas? It is mass on Christmas Eve (turns out I don't care about which church since the priest I grew up with has been moved). Driving through Leisurewoods to enjoy the Christmas lights and the luminaries. Christmas Eve at my mom's house - opening presents and snacking on tamales, cheese, fresh rolls and fruit. Spending time with family. The lights on a Christmas tree. A nice family meal on Christmas Day with plenty of veggies (also turns out I don't have strong feelings about the main dish - lasagna this year). If possible going to visit the Zilker tree and trail of lights. Crisp weather many of you would think of as fall (but no snow!). Home made Christmas cookies. My mother's pumpkin bread (do I need to point out we have a lot of food traditions in our family?). Throwing sparkly puffs at my mother that turn into a fake snowball fight until we are both laughing too hard on the floor to continue. Seeing the wonder in my nieces' eyes at the magic of Christmas. All with a low refrain of religious Christmas carols in the background. 

Orchha

Back in October we had a long weekend (otherwise known as a travel opportunity!) that found me in the small town of Orchha over the Diwali weekend. I and a couple of friends had gone on the recommendation of a couple of people in my department, and before showing up about all I knew was that it was a fairly small town that was full of old constructions. Located about a 6 1/2 hour train ride south of Delhi it is one of the rare 15th century towns that got built around instead of torn down and repurposed. I believe we saw at least 15 16th century structures before it began to feel like they were all starting to blend together. Okay, maybe they blended together before that, but I wasn't willing to give up the freedom of walking everywhere until then. There is the large Raj Mahal (fort) sitting just in front of the Jahangir Mahal (palace?) with its elephant supports inside. Up on a hill overlooking the town is Lakshminarayan Madir, a temple that still contains some of its original hand drawn decoration. One of my favorite places was the Chaturbhuja Temple which was constructed to house a Hindu idol but was never used for its intended purpose as the idol refused to be moved and so a new temple had to be build around it. Instead we were able to climb all over this open building following a sadhu with his flashing green light up immense stairs to great views of the town. I also enjoyed the cluster of eleven cenotaphs that were a mere five minute walk from our hotel, old tombs situated on the banks of the river; I could have done without the vultures - although there is something a bit fitting about them being perched on the tops of the tombs.

Election time

We got a notice last week that our local hires would be able to take off half of a day in order to ensure that they had an opportunity to vote in the elections that would elect the new parliament members. This brief email made me start to think about what I had been seeing (and hearing) around town (and in other cities) recently. How do you campaign with a population that only has a literacy rate of 74% overall? Well if the advertisements that can be seen all over are any indication you do it with a combination of things. Signs that not only include pictures of the people running, but a symbol for the party that I assume are included on the ballot. I've seen an elephant, a diya, a lotus flower, a broom, and a bicycle for sure. Also plenty of cars have been driving around blaring loudspeakers, presumably encouraging individuals to vote for their candidate. Whatever the case there was a lot of excitement on election day. Delhi votes earlier than other areas of the country, and there was a feeling of hope that if the current leading party didn't win outright there then things might actually change across the country (many people have complained of how corrupt the current dominate party is - I really don't know much at all about Indian politics). What I do know is that people were proudly showing me the brown stripe on their finger which was proof that they had gone and voted (and make sure that a person is not able to vote more than once by going to a different voting site). It was nice to see people excited about elections and feeling strongly about casting a vote that they believed was a chance to make a difference.

For those of you more interested, Times of India is updating a blog regularly as results come in today.

Thanksgiving in Dharamashala

Happy Thanksgiving! The holiday brought us another long weekend, and thus another chance to travel (which seems a bit ridiculous seeing as how I haven't even told y'all anything about the last trip I took in India!). I've been slowly going through my list of places I want to see and this break gave me a chance to visit Dharamashala. Nestled on the side of a mountain it has become a refuge for Tibetans who have fled the Chinese occupation of their land, and serves as their primary religious headquarters housing the home temple of the Dalai Lama. As such you can imagine that it is a pretty low key, relaxing place. For three days I walked without being hassled, enjoyed the views, took in the clean air and took the opportunity to recharge before going into the end of the semester. One day we took a stroll out to see the waterfall in Bhagsu, a neighboring village. Another we took the opportunity to attend a momo (Tibetan dumplings) cooking class. The hour and a half with the lad who runs Lhamo's Kitchen was well enjoyed. We didn't have to do any of the prep work (no chopping!), but just learned how to put all of the ingredients together and how to form a momo (sort of). The best part of course was getting to eat all of the momos we had assembled just as soon as they had finished steaming. All in all a quiet restful weekend which was exactly what I needed.