Holidays in India

When people say that India is a very festive society, it is definitely something you have to see to understand. Colors, music, lots of people, crazy beautiful idols and food. Even though I constantly feel the exuberance of celebration for all sorts of festivals I have never heard of, the holidays that I do know and usually look forward to have been spent in completely mellow and nontraditional settings for myself. These landmarks of the year for myself have totally disappeared, leaving me with no idea what month it is anymore. Instead, I am marking time with holidays I have never heard of before (and most of them run on a totally different calendar - the Lunar calendar for many). It feels ironic, sort of like always walking into someone else's party, but not being able to show up to your own. Despite the challenge of being far from home and family though, it's been a good experience to let go of the calendar that I am used to and find other days to jump completely into random celebrations!

The Hindu Wedding: Far away from white dresses and Bride-zillas!

A friend's wedding, 12/18/11

Hindu Wedding Celebration - So many colors!

The walk of commitment -
one foot step together for every life time together

The road to my office is prime location for crazy festivals and parties. In the crowded lane off of Lower Parel station, one has equal opportunities of being ran over by a speeding motorcycle, a mass crowd of people, a taxi or a ox-drawn wooden chariot with a life-size statue of Sai Baba. Randomly, I will arrive on the small roadway en route to the office or home to encounter some new festive surprise -- ranging from big transient temples, LOUUUDD hindi mantra music blaring, towering animatronic figures of Hindu deities, a parade, tribal children performing a huge makeshift drum ensemble, wild chickens running loose, firework mayhem, five cars blocking the way as they wait for cows and a big dance show to break up, or even a whole group of Sadhu's congregating in everyone's way. A lot of the time, they are not even formal holidays and most people have no idea what is going on. For some reason, there has been an equal amount of chaos late at night in Dadar and other near by neighborhoods to mine with massive festivals and wedding celebrations. This has been the scene too often this past month around Mumbai.

Going to work. . . 

Going home from work . . . 

Thanksgiving? Christmas? New Year's? Well, let's just say they were a little different.

Thanksgiving Day - just another day in the trains

Thanksgiving was pretty calm. For some reason, I did not have any desire to make a big fuss out of it and do much other than share a small meal with a few friends at a restaurant. I have never really had any Thanksgiving traditions besides eating with my family. The past few years, Thanksgiving has been spent in so many different ways -- from catching mussels on some rocks in front of my house in San Diego with my roommate and best friend, to eating feijoada and dancing in Rio de Janeiro, congregating with friends in Berkeley over a makeshift dinner, to eating turkey tostadas in Merida, Mexico. Believe it or not (I am no longer surprised by global Americanization, despite the shame. . .), I could have paid a crazy price and had a fancy Thanksgiving dinner at one of many restaurants that were serving it all over Mumbai. Instead, this year was spent with cheesecake and a salad (I vegged out with some familiar food) at some restaurant in Bandra - my hood in Mumbai. Most of the people were from the fellowship, so we opened up a little bit about what we miss about home and what we are most thankful for this year. It was pretty simple and short lived.

Jump to Christmas. After a month of accidentally walking into festival celebrations and see wedding ceremonies, I was excited to see what Christmas offered here. I became really excited and nostalgic since this was the big holiday that marks the year for me back home, and there are actually a large number of people who celebrate it here. A few days before Christmas eve, my friend Nadia Espinoza arrived in town. Some awesome local friends of mine, Karun and Vasu, had a really fun Christmas party on the 23rd that involved so much good food and dancing. I was beginning to feel the Christmas cheer that I was used to and missed, even though it was still 90 degrees outside in Mumbai. And then Christmas Eve? An 18 hour bus ride. We were headed to Rajasthan. Through the night, I laid in a bed on the bus thinking about my family, friends and this crazy year that I've had. I stared at the roof of the sleeper and began feeling the cold air of the desert seep in from the broken window that somehow reminded me of home in the wintertime (both the broken window and cold air). Christmas day, I arrived in Udaipur and had such a nice day in bright sunlight exploring the City of Lakes, until the evening when our host, Megan, had a small Christmas gathering at her house. I made some hot toddies to spark the feeling of Christmas time, and we all sat and enjoyed amazing food and talking about our lives in India.

Udaipur for Christmas

New Year's Eve @ a Gujarati Wedding Celebration

New Year's. After a week in Rajasthan - Udaipur, Jaisalmer and Jodhopur - we headed to Gujarat for a wedding. We were excited to be involved in something festive for New Year's Eve, but were a little bummed out that we wouldn't be doing any sort of countdown. The Gujarati New Year happened after Diwali two and a half months back, so there was not going to be any recognition for the western NYE. It was ok though since we had such an awesome week. We had no idea what we were in for though. We made it for the last two days of the wedding. January 30th was a big day in the village that the groom's family was from, with so much dancing and parading. It was really fun, and even this day seemed a little fancy for us. And then, we went to the final day of the wedding ceremony on New Year's Eve. Wow - I can not even describe what we saw. . . All outdoors, it looked like some sort of mix between a Las Vegas hotel,  a posh NYC club and a space for Indian Royalty. It looked outrageous -- Hindu opulence manifested into shaadi form (Just look at the photo's below). I had heard all the stereotypes of Gujarati festivities, but I never imagined them to be this extreme! Already baffled by how beautiful and extravagant it all looked, I could not think of what the actual cost of it all was. Then, the father of the groom came to reassure me of what I already knew: it was a $700,000 wedding. And once again, the world is crazy.

The Bride to be

This is what a $700,000 wedding looks like
Fireworks at Midnight

This is what a $700,000 wedding looks like - part2

Gujarati dancers watching the bride's procession

One thing about India that is so crazy to me is all of the people and their cultures. Even Hindu culture is not homogenous, but filled with all sorts of different subcultures. Although there are often misunderstandings between groups of people here (like anywhere), there is still this tolerance for everyone that makes it a pretty unique place. All last month, I saw all through the streets various people celebrating such different things: bright Hindu weddings, Eid Al-Adha & Ashura, and even Christmas. Celebrations do not even have to be in the calendar either, as people are constantly celebrating something. All space becomes public, too, with little objections to loud music playing super late or a wedding parade stopping traffic. It has been an interesting experience to let go of my traditions that I feel so emotionally connected to and opening up to new festivities that make me realize more and more how similar humans are with their desires and customs, yet how differently we all express them.

Getting caught in a Jodhpur Festival

Running into Festival Traffic - Jodhpur  

More Rajasthan coming soon. . . .