October 27 – Market Visit and Diwali Celebration

We slept in a bit today but did make it down for breakfast.  We had a nice visit with several women from Britain.  They are of Indian background but all were born and raised in England and were in India to attend Hindi classes as none of them had learned it in England. 

We were picked up late morning and the group headed out to a large market to do some shopping.  Mainly we all watched the crowds

 and the market scenes and enjoyed the experience.  

There was a lot of haggling over large piles of goods on the sidewalks. 

There were a number of artists doing henna painting.

We stopped for lassi’s (a yogurt drink popular in India).  Excellent!  Tara also picked up some gifts for our hostess this evening. 

After a great lunch at a restaurant specializing in Southern Indian food we went to a nearby stand for kulfi, the Indian version of ice cream.  Pistachio.  Very good.  They drizzle it with rose syrup and it was served with some white noodles (rice noodles probably).  Seemed a bit weird.  We all felt that the kulfi was very good and the noodles didn’t really add anything.  We were dropped off at our hotel by mid-afternoon where we did more repacking and relaxed a bit.

At 6:00 we were off again this evening for a Diwali celebration at the home of Tanuja, a friend of Tara, her husband Raj and their two sons.  We were warmly welcomed and shortly after our arrival they started the Diwali celebration.  Diwali is also called the Celebration of Lights and is one of the most important Hindu festivals.  It also marks their new year. 

They had a small altar of sorts set up on the floor at one end of the room.  There were pictures of several of the main Hindu gods that are featured in the festival.  

We were all able to participate in various parts of the ceremony and the family explained some of the rituals that were being performed.  It was a very special day as we all felt very privileged to be able to share this holiday with the family.

After the ceremony we lit little oil candles and set the around the front courtyard and walls.  

Then we lit sparklers.  It is tradition to set off fireworks but fireworks are banned in Delhi (not that many people seemed to pay any attention to the ban) because they contribute a massive amount of pollution to the already polluted city.  But the sparklers were a fun treat.  Took us all back to our childhoods.

After sparklers it was time for the wonderful feast that Tanuja prepared for us.  Visiting and a gift exchange followed with lots of laughter and discussions about travel and India and life in general.  A wonderful day and a special experience.