I Say Diwali, You Say Divali

Diwali (actually pronounced Divali) is upon us. It is the Hindu festival of lights and the biggest holiday in India.  People say it’s like combining the festive cheer of Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Year, and then multiplying that sum by four or five.  Diwali is a time of feasting, family, and gifts.  Lots of gifts.  As a family, we will give presents to the kids’ teachers (candles and sweets are the traditional choice), a one month bonus to their ayah (nanny), and a basket of sweets to the housing office (they have worked hard - usually - to address our many work orders).  Being newbies, our list is shorter than others.  As an office, my colleagues and I will put together gifts for the six secretaries, trays of nuts for the guards at the gates and the custodians (both day and night shifts), and chocolates for the computer support staff.  The list goes on and on.  Like Christmas and Hanukkah, taking care of everyone on the list requires a shopping spree.

In order to purchase all of these gifts, it helps to check out a mela and many are hosted across India around this time of year.  Melas are shopping festivals where one can buy all kinds of crafts, textiles, and art work.  And while shopping, there is entertainment (music, dance, puppet show) and food stalls offering a wide variety of traditional cuisine. Over the weekend, the four of us ventured out to the Dastkar Bazaar Mela at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.  We enjoyed shopping and a snack (chicken kathi rolls - delicious!) and made it back to campus in time for the boys' final session of swim school.  I wish we could have stayed longer and bought more;  sadly, it was the final day of this ten-day event.  Next time, we will know to go early and go often!

Dancing, drumming, and some detailed body art:

Our chicken kathi rolls being made to order:

 Other tasty looking food we did not try:

Another sign of Diwali is rangoli, a traditional folk art made with colored rice or flowers.  The school emailed all departments to find out who wished to have a rangoli display. My colleague and I declined due to the anticipated stampede of early decision applicants but here are examples from other areas of the high school office.

Due to the Diwali holiday, we have a long weekend ahead.  Early Friday morning, we will escape the fireworks bonanza in New Delhi and travel north by train to Mussoorie.  Those who have been here a couple of years tell us that when we return to the city on Sunday night, the air will still be thick with smoke. We will surely appreciate the cool mountain breezes and hope that our air purifiers (and all the rest of our stuff) make it through customs in the next week or so.