This past week has been an absolute blessing. Wednesday, as I said before, was Diwali. It was, indeed, one big party. The fireworks, or “crackers” as they say in India, began at about 4 am and literally continued until the 5 am the following morning. We had the day off of school; we were basically free to do whatever we wanted until our Diwali party at one of our fellow BACAS student’s house. We did have a team “debriefing” mid-day, where we watched a documentary called India: Untouched, about the caste system. More on this later. After our debriefing, I was about to watch High School Musical, come to find that two others in my apartment wanted to watch with me! This never happens; no one ever wants to watch that movie with me. I was on cloud nine when the movie was over, not to mention that I had an intermission when Mom and Dad called to say “hi!” The lazy day was perfect. At 6, we left for the party. We all piled into a jeep and drove through what sounded like a war-zone with so many loud crackers and bright flashes. When we arrived at Brianca’s house, we immediately began to light crackers. To put it simply, fireworks in India put fireworks in America to shame; Diwali makes the 4th of July and New Years combined look like childish. We all took turns lighting off fireworks that literally were the loudest things I’ve ever heard. Safety is not really a priority, however, because the crackers are not well-made and they release shrapnel like nobody’s business. Our director, Kirk, got a piece in his eye and was taken to the hospital. Thank goodness he is okay, he can see, and he walked away with a pretty gnarly black eye. In the middle of the fireworks, the family invited us to perform puja (hindu worship). We politely declined but we watched as they sang to and offered food (bananas and sweets) and incense to the gods and their ancestors. At 11, we had dinner (yeah, “eating late” takes on a whole new meaning here) at a Chinese restaurant. It was after midnight before we got back to our apartments and Brianca told us that they would still be blowing of crackers all night.
Thursday was a long day because of the long night preceding it. Friday should have been too, but we had the afternoon off and four others and myself had the chance to explore, shop for really great souvenirs, and get mehindi. India is famous for its women sporting armfuls of henna tattoos, or mehindi as it is called here. It is generally done for formal occasions, so, since we will be attending a wedding this coming week, we thought it only appropriate. The process takes a while – they oil your arm, then basically freestyle draw and doodle. Then, the goo that is henna has to dry and harden, meaning that you cannot move your arm or fingers for a good 4 or 5 hours. Next, you have to peel the dried substance off. All that’s left is your arm and a lot of dye in your skin. Its pretty neat to be quite honest and looks awesome. And, it only lasts for around a week; don’t worry, its not permanent! I love it.
Now back to the caste system. It has become somewhat of a taboo in India because it is illegal according to the constitution. This is not to say, however, that it is gone. It is hard for us to see it as outsiders, but after watching the documentary, it became apparent just how prevalent the caste system still is. It is heartbreaking. And, it is everywhere. Those of lower caste families still live in lower caste areas and do the dirtier jobs, like cleaning and other types of grunt work. Its difficult to see such a system still in place, yet it is understandable that it is the only system India has ever known and thus cannot be broken completely at one time. That being said, seeing the sweet ladies who take out our trash cans in the morning or the hysterical men who bring our professors water throughout class and knowing that there was never really any hope at all for them to have a better life is absolutely devastating.
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| Happy Diwali :) |
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| Mehindi. My whole arm is covered. |
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