[Phil: this is two week’s
blonteries. Last week we were not able to complete it for technical reasons (computer
problems; no internet access). There was little new this week so we are making
last week’s entry work for both.]
Wow what an eventful
week! This past week was Diwali in India, which is the largest celebration and
festival of the whole year. It is hard to simply define Diwali: it is an
amalgam actually of several holidays in one. As an observer, it seems to be a
combination of Thanksgiving (it has origins as a harvest festival), Easter (it
celebrates the conquest of good over evil; light over dark); the secular aspects of Christmas (there are family gatherings, lots of food, and exchanging
of gifts); and 4th of July (there are LOTS of fireworks. LOTS and
LOTS. Into all hours of the night). From a business standpoint, nothing much
gets done for a couple of weeks other than planning for Diwali, preparing gifts
for employees and important business associates, and then the office
celebration.
Here at least the office
celebration includes a religious element, food, games, and gift giving. You may
have seen Rae post a couple of pictures and make a comment about the Puja or
religious ceremony she came and observed/participate in. At least as practiced
in this part of India, the puja was prayers and offerings to the God Ganesh and
the Goddess Lakshmi. As you can see from these pictures, little clay lanterns
(diyas) filled with vegetable oil is an important aspect of this puja. In fact,
Diwali is called the festival of lights and that is observed through: lights on
the exterior of buildings (think Christmas lights), lights left on in the house
as an invitation to Lakshmi, and of course the lights around the alter. After
two years and two Diwalis, I hardly consider myself an expert. There may be
even further reasons for it being called the festival of lights. In any case,
if you happen to find yourself in India during Diwali, I am told you should try
to find a Punjabi community. Their celebrations, in particular, are supposed to
be impressive.
Well, the second activity
this week has been girls’ camp. For those of you who don’t know, girls’ camp is
an activity that occurs in every congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. The particulars will vary – New Delhi’s girls’ camp is much
different from what we have experienced in the States – but some type of
camping activity is supposed to happen. Last year, if you remember, we didn’t
actually have a camping activity so much (despite what I just said) but the
girls had a day of activities at the Church building and then another day of
activities that occurred at a camp that provided activities that would be
typical of a small village (such as ox cart rides and pottery making) along
with physical challenges like a rope course. This year we actually stayed
overnight although it couldn’t be called camping exactly, as the girls were in
bungalows that at least provided some cover. However, given the nature of the
construction, there was probably less protection from lizards, mosquitoes, and
flies than if they had been in tents. We stayed in Camp Wild (hence the title
for this Blontry). You may recognize the name Camp Wild from the YSA conference
I spoke at a three weeks back. I am glad to see, while still hot, it was cooler
than it was at that time.
Namaste
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