दिवाली मुबारक Diwali Mubarek

We celebrated the Festival of Diwali on Friday night with a bang.. seriously! Diwali (pronounced Dee-vali or also called Dipavali) is the Hindu version of Christmas or "Festival of Lights". You celebrate by decorating your house with lights and candles. The lights represent the victory of good over evil. They also give gifts and traditionally wear new clothes and purchase new household items. Then, once darkness comes, the night sky quickly erupts into what closely resembles a war zone.

I went shopping on the two days prior to Diwali and let me assure you that last-minute-gift-shopping is just as much an epidemic here as in the US. I was chastised by a few people for going the the same market the day before Diwali that was bombed just a couple years ago during the Diwali season. But what can I say.. shopping waits for no woman!





I bought everyone new "Indian" clothes for Diwali. Richard, Taylor and Tyson wore Kurta Pajamas (pj's were invented here, but in India they are actually worn during the day) and MaKaela got her very first Sari. I bought Morgann a Salwaar Kameez or Punjabi suit. I started out the day in a Salwaar suit as well but ended up in the bright orange Sari you see me pictured in below.





Mutua invited us for Diwali but we already had plans in the evening when the traditional Diwali feast takes place, so she asked us to come for lunch. So we got all dressed up and went to her house for lunch. We brought some Indian sweets for their family and we sat around and talked and then they served us lunch. Mutua kept dishing up our plates over and over again saying "Please eat nicely". After the second or third helping forced upon my plate, I could eat no more (despite their disappointment).



The food was great but we felt very uncomfortable because they would not sit down and eat with us, even after coming close to demanding them too. At first, I thought it was some sort of social or caste issue that kept them from eating with us. But after the dishes were cleared and a little conversation about the food, we discovered they were fasting and wouldn't be eating until the evening meal. That was a little awkward but we still had a great time.



Before we ate, Mutua grabbed my hand and dragged me into the second of their two-room house saying "please come, please come". In the bedroom with all the girls, I was surprised when she handed me a wrapped gift; my first Sari. Although orange is not my favorite color, I thought it was beautiful, I know it was a sacrifice for her to buy it for me and I was so touched by the gesture.





We took lots of pictures, played with the baby and the pet parrot and then finally, headed home. It was such a nice experience.



Then, darkness fell and we headed to the McIllece's for the 'danger-works'! What we did that night would be illegal in the US and most other countries as well, but we had a blast doing it! We only had two minor injuries; Taylor seemed to have the worst luck of the evening with a bit of singed hair and what looks like a cigar burn on his forearm from a stray firecracker. Every time a firworks back-fired Taylor seemed to be the one attacked.







At first, I couldn't stop flip-flopping between; "Oh my gosh this is insane, someones going to lose a limb" and "YAHOO, do it again!" In the end the yahoo in me won out and I was disappointed when we finally ran out of things to blow-up and retreated to the in doors. When we left for home at about 11:30pm the air was so thick with smoke we couldn't see more than about 20 yards in front of us, it was crazy! The next day we woke up with the house filled with haze and the smell of firecrackers.



We've decided that Diwali is one of our favorite festivals so far! The "boys" started making plans for next years fireworks display before the smoke cleared. What's the prenatal fascination between boys and explosives?



Anyway, enjoy the photos and Happy Diwali!