One Loud Country Tonight

Just as I was getting more familiar with Delhi the city took on a new look and feel. Last week marked the beginning of the festival season, a time when the weather cools down, weddings are held and several Hindu and Muslim holidays are observed. The largest holiday, and the one that kicks off the season, is Diwali – a tribute to Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth, and a celebration of escape from the Hindu cycle of rebirth. For many Indians, particularly children and the working classes, Diwali is a time to put down school books and tools, go shopping, hang lights in the trees, burn candles, shoot fireworks, and spend time with family. For more devout Hindus, the holiday holds a religious significance on par with Christmas for Christians. More on the origin of Diwali here. On several major streets neighborhood associations have hung banners asking the public to "Say No to Crackers." Not a jingoistic mantra against corn-fed boys from Virginia, rather a request that people not purchase fireworks as many of the ones sold in India are made using child labor. On Saturday night I was invited to join a co-worker and his family for their Diwali celebration. After a day of shopping in Nehru Bazaar (my first real experience with an Indian open-air market, full of spices and carpets and meandering cows) my friend drove me over to his place, periodically dodging the laughing children who ran into the streets, setting off ‘roman candles’, ‘jumping-jacks’, and all manner of ear-shattering fireworks illegal back in the States. I was introduced to his wife, sister and mother, and learned the rules of cricket from his father while watching Australia defeat England. After I observed their family give “Puja,” or Hindu prayers and offerings to the god Ganesh and goddess Lakshmi, we had a traditional dinner of mostly satvic foods, accompanied by the constant clatter and boom of fireworks across Delhi. "We are one very loud country tonight," my friend nervously joked as the blasts interrupted our conversation, sentence after sentence. Our apartment continues to come together, slowly but surely. It is big and beautiful but still very empty. I now have a bed and a night stand, but there are a host of items, from broken light switches to faulty plumbing, that must be addressed. The Diwali holiday made it difficult to get anything fixed over the weekend, but thankfully our landlord has agreed to send over workmen on Tuesday to finalize repairs. The next priority will be hiring a maid to sweep and mop the floors as dust in Delhi accumulates like snow in Tahoe. I had to pull out the Claritin pills to get a full night's sleep...just another challenge to life here. Another post in a few days, a discussion of the Indian consumer retail sector from my experiences trying to outfit an apartment...