Holiday Frenzy

So Diwali is upon us here in India (as it is for Hindus the world over). Diwali is described as a festival of lights, the New Year, the festival of sweets, the festival of too many sweets, the festival of loud but not-so-visually stunning firecrackers, the festival which welcomes Ram back from the forest to Ayodhya in the Ramayana. In short, it is one of the most important festivals on the Hindu calendar. And, much like Christmas, even non-Hindu and atheist Indians tend to adopt some of the traditions associated with the 5-day holiday.

The best part of this time of year is that everyone is excited and hurried, just like at Christmas time. Shops are promoting "Diwali Super Sales," traffic is awful and the shops are crowded - but everyone is still smiling! I rode home from martial arts class last night laughing and smiling with several complete strangers. There is constantly music blaring from tinny temple speakers. So while I won't get the same sort of Christmas spirit here in India, it is really wonderful to partake in a similar kind of festiveness.

Some Diwali traditions I can't help but love:

Tradition One: Firecrackers - set off as many of the loudest mini-bombs as possible before you blow your hands off. The younger you are (ages 4-7), the better!

Tradition Two: Travel to your hometown - Does travelling to your boss's hometown count? Ari and I will be taking a night train from Chennai to Bangalore for a weekend away. Because Tara is the kind of place that lovingly infiltrates every aspect of your life, it turns out that most of the office will be in Bangalore at the same time. So we'll probably just go out for coffee or have mildly artsy dinner parties. With wine...there's wine in Bangalore.

Tradition Three: Eat sweets - Are you kidding me? Dessert is my favourite meal!