My First Diwali - Festival of Lights

Diwali in India is like Christmas in America. It is the largest Hindu festival celebration of the year, and largest celebration in India. Called Diwali, or Deepawali, it is the Festival of Lights, and the name translates to "row of lamps." It celebrates the return of Lord Rama, and celebrates the victory of good over evil.

"Rangoli" artwork in colored powder is typically at the end of a home's driveway, I saw many displays in front of the gate. It is created as a sacred welcome for deities into a home. Hanging yellow and orange flowers on houses, cars, doorways, and gates is also very common as an offering to the gods, as is the powder. Hindus have millions of gods, I was quoted 38 million, but people only worship a few of their own choice. I have also been told that Hindu gods are like one god in various forms. 

Even Harley-Davidson dressed up for Diwali.

Many houses and buildings will put up strings of lights for Diwali as Americans do for Christmas (in America we would call these lights "Christmas Lights"). 

Crackers (or Fireworks in America) are a big part of Diwali at night. From about 7-11 pm these were going off constantly all over, made quite a racket, too. People light off crackers outside their homes, and there is a continuous display going on from everyone participating, pretty cool to watch from the roof of the hostel. In the US, we have fireworks, but I would usually just see a 15-20 minute public display when there is a community showing. Here, it is an all night affair, the sky was ablaze with light, and much more common for people to light off their own, so they were being lit off from every direction. Some guys from the hostel picked up some crackers and were lighting them off, but, I decided a couple sparklers were enough for me on the participation end...

This is a Lakshmi-Pooja offering, a form of worship. This particular offering is praying for Lakshmi, Goddess of Money, pictured in the center of the tri-figure image. All of these things are offered so that a person will become prosperous in the future. Diwali is considered a good day to bless certain items so that they may prosper, it is also considered somewhat of a New Year. Many families will set-up offerings like this in their homes, and they will pray to it as a form of worship, and it is also customary for families to go to Temple on Diwali, as Christians would go to Church on Christmas Day or Eve. 

Small clay lamps like this are filled with oil and lit to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. 

Traditional Indian men's wear, worn by a hostel mate. I believe it is called a sherwani, but a simpler version is kurta pajamas if it is a plainer garment. Many offices also had employees wear traditional clothing before Diwali, and people will often wear new clothes and jewelry, and buy quite lavish clothing. The sharing of sweets also is a big part of Diwali.

The office seemed a bit quieter today with some people taking a holiday day or two around this time before and after Diwali.

Well, maybe that was kind of boring for my Indian friends, as they already know about Diwali, but hopefully it was interesting from a newbie Diwali celebrator's point of view. On a side note, I first heard about Diwali on the American TV show "The Office," an absolutely hilarious show for those that haven't seen it, I know most people I've met in India haven't heard of it because it isn't aired here.

Happy Diwali!


"There is a force in the universe, which, if we permit it, will flow through us and produce miraculous results." ~Mahatma Gandhi

P.S. Please inform me if you notice a detail of my blog might not be right on this post or future posts, I try to fact check everything, but, wouldn't want to get anything important wrong! Thanks to those that already have! I love getting feedback from my viewers.

Street Pictures and Clothing Explained

The yellow three-wheeled vehicle is called an "auto rickshaw," or "auto" for short. It's like a small taxi.

I am often addressed in India as "Madam." I find this kind of interesting because generally in the US it would be "Miss" or "Ma'am," but here it is always Madam. It seems the Mercedes Benz is a popular car here, except it is pronounced more like "Benj," which confused me a little at first. I was asked if there are Mercedes Benj cars in the US, and yes, we have them too, but they're pricy.

I am finding that most people don't work until after they're out of college. Usually students' education in India is paid for by their parents, and then students will usually only get a job once they are out of college. In the US, most people get a part-time job by the time they are 17 or 18, and work through college and in the summer. It's common for students to get help to pay for their education, but most have to pay for a least some on their own, sometimes all.

A couple things I'm still adjusting to are the transportation system, and keeping enough small bills on hand. In the US, I didn't really ever have to worry about this, because you can get the right change at any store you go to. But in India, sometimes if you don't have small enough bills you can't get the right amount of change back, which just means you lose money. Auto drivers especially are known for not giving enough change back. I also got a tip to always negotiate price of the auto beforehand and never use the meter price system, because an auto driver will take the longest route possible and a foreigner I wouldn't know the difference thereby paying more than they should.

Thankfully my stomach seems to have adjusted now to the new environment and food after about 2  weeks, and I've been continually trying new Indians foods, though still only mildly spicy. An upset stomach and falling ill when first arriving in India is very common until adjusted to the new conditions.

Today there was a birthday celebration at work, and most of the way birthdays are celebrated are the same. The Happy Birthday song is sung the same way with birthday cake, but after this cake and frosting is then smeared all over the birthday person's face, this is one tradition I've never celebrated in America. People also usually celebrate with family and friends in small or large gatherings depending on preference.

Due to the Telangana strike on day 14, power outages are increasing because there is not enough coal, today in the office we worked without the lights on for about 5 hours instead of the usual 2 hours a day since last week (computers are on a back-up power system so we can still work when power is out).

And now I'll explain traditional women's Indian wear with visual imagery. I learned that "Chudidar" is a name for cloth leggings that comes from the Hindi word for bangles, because of the way the material bunches near the ankles to resemble bangles (I'm actually wearing leggings here but you get the point). "Chudi" is the Hindi word for one bangle, "Choodiyan" is the word used to describe lots of bangles.

Here I am wearing a kurtie and leggings, or salwar kameez. The kurtie/kameez (kurta for men) is the top, and the leggings/salwar/chudidar is the bottom (chudidar is tighter than salwar or pyjamas). The kurtie often is worn as a mid thigh to knee length. Most women also wear either sandals or ballet flats like what I'm wearing in the top picture, because, like I said before, it's impossible to wear heals on the streets, flats are much more comfortable and easy to get around in. Also, because of the climate, I think sandals can be worn year round in India (definitely not possible back home in Minnesota, US! From about December to April it's boots). One of the best parts about Indian clothing? It is so comfortable! (Although I have yet to try the sari, which I'm thinking will take a little skill to wear). This and western clothing is mainly what is worn in the office for women. Men really only wear western clothing in the office.

Can you say that for me again?

This is a question I've been asking a lot lately. I've told people I meet to keep correcting me if I mispronounce their names so I can improve. A few have given me shorter nicknames to try to learn instead, since Indian names have very different pronunciations that can be difficult to remember. I have also found it helps if people will write down the word for me so I can see the spelling, which makes it easier to learn how to pronounce. They and the woman who runs the hostel are also teaching me names of various food items I am trying. Dal, dosa, idli (a sort of compressed rice patty), butter milk (which tastes totally different than cow's milk in America, it is made from curd and has added salt which gives it a salty taste), and fatafat (aka churan) are all foods I have tried, and hopefully that I can remember how to pronounce. Fatafat is like a refreshment served after a meal at a restaurant, like how mints or chocolates are given in the States, it is very small spheres with a slightly spicy flavor.

"Chal bey" I have been taught to say in Hindi is a casual dismissal that means 'just go,' and I've been told to use it if I think someone is making fun of me. I was a little confused when I heard "cracking some pj's" which is a slang phrase meaning that someone is cracking some "poor jokes". I told them pj's in America are pajamas, and are sleepwear. Apparently pajamas in India are loose fitting pants, and women will sometimes have Pajama parties where they wear these to. Sometimes people will also refer to the Indian currency, Indian Rupee (INR), as "bucks." This confused me at first because I thought it was referring to prices in American dollars, and $100 is a lot more money than 100 rupees ($100 = 4732 INR), but it is just another slang term used.

Sometimes when people are speaking very rapidly, I have a hard time telling if they are speaking English or not because the English accent is so completely different, and the tonal undulations how people speak are also different. I think in the Midwest, we tend to end our sentences in a higher pitch. In India it seems the pitch varies more when people speak, and sentences don't necessarily end with a higher pitch. Many people switch between English and Hindi quite frequently at the office, and I can't always tell which they are speaking. Since many people come to Hyderabad for work, it is a mixed culture where the main languages are English, Hindi, and Telugu. I have heard that Diwali is a good festival coming up, the festival of lights. Indian people very much enjoy their festivals, and I heard of a recent one that stretched for 11 days.

Curious about the various signs to tell if an Indian woman is married, I have learned a few. In America, the only symbol is a ring on the left ring finger, but in Indian that is not really important. "Bindi" is a red dot on the forehead that married women wear. It is placed between the eyebrows, considered a major nerve point on the human body since ancient times. Vermillion is a red powder on the hairline. Married women also wear toe rings. Apparently some of the signs vary depending on location in India, and I guess they've become looser now, but these are some of the most common.

There is a mannerism that really confused me for a few days, and that is that I often see people respond here with a sort of horizontal side-to-side turn of the head, which I assumed meant "no" as it does in the States, but it seems to just be a habit when responding to a question, because usually people do not mean "no" by it.

For schooling, Indians go through 10th grade, then they can go to a junior college for two years, then a university for 3 years. The university is equivalent to our bachelors degree. Masters degree is another 2 years, and Phd can be completed in 3 years but most often takes people 5 if they are working simultaneously. It seems there is more leniency in choice of coursework for a degree in India, instead of having more set classes required to take for a program.

A happy discovery I made yesterday, which will greatly amuse my friends from back home, was that my female co-workers had read the Harry Potters books or seen the movies and are fans. It was an even greater discovery to learn that many are also Jane Austen fans (I mean how can you not be a Jane Austen fan, right?), and had read Pride and Prejudice. One said she liked Emma and Northanger Abbey as well, and asked me if I had read anything by Charlotte Bronte. Um, heck yes, Jane Eyre is also awesome!

P.S. In addition to what I wrote about driving earlier, I have been reminded again a few times to be careful of traffic, because I have been warned I could get run over if I don't watch out. When I mentioned to someone that traffic is much different in India, she said it's not different, it's horrible... Apparently buses are the worst because they need to complete their routes in a set time and are on a strict schedule, aka: they will stop for no one. In general, people just drive much closer to each other, in somewhat of a jumble. It is pretty common to only miss each other by a foot or two in stop and go traffic. Also, for those that don't know, an auto is a 3-wheel taxi. I have been asked if I drive back home, and if I drive a 2 wheeler or a 4 wheeler (instead of calling it a car). Since mopeds have 2 wheels, autos 3, and cars 4, it seems to be a pretty common way to differentiate. There also aren't really any traffic lights or stop signs, and if there are they aren't really given any notice. To be honest, I'm not really sure how traffic tickets would be given out here at all as they are in the states.

View from Stairs towards front of hostel

Stairs in the Hostel which connect the rooms from the levels

View from my window

Another view from my window (the roof has an even better view, will post more pictures from there)