Diwali | Festival of Lights

Day 24 - November 4, 2021

This morning I woke up and called my friend to take a tour of his land. We had a good conversation, I was able to see the property, and meet his friends as well. Then I spoke with some of my friends in the US and my mom about life here recently. It was a good way to start the day.

Breakfast was coffee, apricots, a fried tortilla, and coconut chutney. There were also eggs but I didn’t have any of those today. I tried to wash my own dishes and was shooed out of the kitchen. A few minutes later Akka said we were going on a drive to visit another town. We hopped in the car and got going. Akka's husband likes to drive fast so we arrived at our destination pretty quickly. Our snack break was a soup for me and a spicy pizza for everyone else. My soup tasted like a hot and sour sauce heated up. Technically it was a tomato soup but it did not taste like it. 

We met with some people to say hi and then went to another house to have lunch which consisted of fried rice, chicken, all things spicy, and a special rice for Diwali. I visited the bathroom while I was there and let me explain what happens here. They do not use toilet paper. I know that, so I asked the girl in the house if she had anything else and she shook her head, no. I dragged my Akka into the bathroom with me and told her to explain how this process was supposed to happen. There was a hose by the toilet and she said that was what I was meant to use. No problem. I used the hose and made my way out of there. Success. Then I started thinking about what happens when you go to a village where there is not a hose. Again I grabbed Akka and began an interrogation. Turns out in the villages they provide you with a bucket and "jug" which you use in place of toilet paper. Which is all well and good but what if you are sick? I'm still loosely contemplating that one and hoping I don't encounter that situation anytime soon.

We could keep going with other things I learned regarding regular activities in rural areas but I will save you that mind picture for now. I have so much fun with Akka and her husband who I call "Annaya" (big brother). This season has been made 1000% more loving, encouraging, and challenging because of them. I am a "sudesh" or "Lucky Man" (this is an inside joke which had everyone in the car cracking up so I'm putting it here to remember). Anyway...when we were ready to leave the lunch spot the girls of the house gave me a bag of “crackers,” which we call fireworks, for Diwali.

Diwali is a celebration from Hindu mythology. I have attached a video HERE to give you a more in depth idea of why the festival is celebrated. Basically there was a prince who was married and then was exiled by the king because of one of the king's jealous wives. Together with his wife and brother they lived in exile for 14 years. During that time a demoness tried to seduce both the prince and his brother but they both said no and cut off her ears and nose. She was mad (obviously) and told her brother, who happened to be a demon king. DUN DUN DUNNNN! The plot thickens. The demon king distracted the men and kidnapped the princes's wife while they were distracted. Long story short...The prince finds his wife, kills the demon king, and is able to return home with his family at the end of the period of exile. On their journey back home they find that the people have placed lamps along the road to light their way back. Thus we have Diwali. 🪔

The mood of the city was joyous and "crackers" were exploding all over the city. The evening consisted of dinner with family, setting off crackers, and lighting "diyas" which are the bowl shaped oil lamps pictured below. The family who lives across from us celebrated by putting out "diyas" and once they went back inside their house I took pictures of their setup. Because my host family is christian we did not celebrate the holiday but Annaya, and I almost set ourselves on fire lighting some spinning things so I'd say we did enough. He and I also had a deeper, serious conversation about life over ice cream which was a sweet time in more ways than one. I took some pictures and listened to the sounds of the city from my window to close out the evening.