i heart my india

volume iii: diwali (or, christmas + new year's divided by indian irresponsibility)

diwali is the most important hindu festival in india. diwali/ deepavali is celebtated on the 15th day of the hindu month kartik and falls on amasvasya, no moon day. according to legend, on this day ram was coronated the king of ayodhya after he returned from exile. during his exile, ram rescued sita and engaged in battle with a demon. unfortunately, this particular battle was won thanks to hanuman and his monkey army, and is the reason we can't truly deal with the monkey problem in india. people celebrate by lighting diyas and candles. in the evening, people observe lakshmi puja. lakshmi is the goddess of wealth. and night is when the fun begins.

cole blume, my student-teaching-husband, used to say the following concerning our much-loved subcontinent, "typically, india is like anywhere else. but there is much more irresponsibility involved." the wonder that is indian irresponsibility, systematically and individually, is highlighted on diwali. brian and i went into the bazaar the saturday afternoon of diwali to rediscover our love and wonder for our home. after a year in india, the irresponsibility of everyday life-- indian driving practices, unreliable shopkeepers and train schedules-- can bog anyone down. but the irresponsibility demonstrated in fireworks is something that any true-blooded american can understand.

bred and i, kids in a candy store, spent more than we had planned on any firework that looked loud, dangerous or appealing. the storeowner selling fireworks, typically a grocer, turns his grocery store into a fireworks business for 2 weeks yearly to satiate the indian yearning for diwali fireworks. brian and i pushed and shoved along with the indian women, children and men in the shop, tightly packed to the brim with explosives. we bounced through the bazaar, stopping for chai, links of merigolds and other tacky leis to adorn our necks.

we returned to the bazaar hours later to take some hindu students to a temple. (yes, this picture of children bearning arms was taken at the temple. man, if you ask me, more kids should have guns-- please hear sarcasm before judging my lack of humanity). the stores, now adorned with strings of lights, glowed like christmas-style marshall field's window displays. we walked through the buzz, slipping students poppers (think of the poppers in america and then put them on an excessive amount of steroids= cock brand indian poppers) and feeling like the cool adults allowing the kids to partake in the forbidden fruit of firework goodness. as the night progressed, as did the level of inebriation and consequent amount of fireworks shot off, without warning, in various directions in the middle of the street. after scarcely manuevering past a few explosions, we made our way to mt. hermon to partake in the fireworks brian and i had bought that afternoon. we laced giant bottle rockets together with sparklers, blew off the overly powerful roman candles from our hands and acted just as irresponsibly as is necessary on the most important indian holiday of the year.

highlights:

1. "hold the line!!!" ethan, jamie and brian firing roman candles at the wall. the video on my camera looks like it was taken from a warzone. (see photo exibiting mt. hermon will never be the same).

2. the stupid comments made from the danger zone. i.e. , when we were all shooting off roman candles, i said the following, "don't point them at anyone!" and brian, "don't let go, because you will want to when it shoots with force out of your hand." i guess in lieu of demonstrating common sense in our actions we felt the need to make up by pointing out the obvious.

3. looking down the valley into dehra dun and seeing hundreds of fireworks exploding simultaneously for hours.

it's a wonder no one lost a hand, or, for that matter, an eye during our shennanigans. here's to you, ram. thanks for rescuing sita from the demon so we could suffer minor burns and live to tell the tale.