Diwali In Its Full Glory

My last Diwali post was a little premature as I haven't seen anything yet. As soon as it got darker, the sounds of fireworks started getting louder and louder. Yinon ran to me shivering like a leaf and jumped in place every time we heard a load "boom". It literally sounded like we were in the middle of a war zone. It dawned on me that cracking noises leading up to tonight were just a kiddie game. We must be getting the real deal now.

Diwali must be the reason Indian homes are built without glass windows as they wouldn't last one celebration. Also, because the windows are always open you hear every pop and sound as if it was happening in the middle of your living room.

Soon Raphael came running to get me saying that I am missing something really really fun. Off we go to the upper roof. Here we see the most amazing sight. The whole town is exploding in colorful random spontaneous fireworks shot by families from the rooftops of their houses. Wow, it literally feels like we are part of the fireworks show as they are exploding all around us. All of the sudden the sound does not seem so scary any more as we can see where it originates from. We're taking it all in, big grins on our faces. Maya and Raphael are besides themselves from excitement. They are also quite disappointed that we don't have any firecrackers left. I am quietly grateful for that. Yinon is still shivering and needs to be held.

This it the real freedom, declares Eial. Do whatever you want, fire up whatever you want, with your own family, on your own rooftop. Diwali is a festival of lights after all. And what a way to start a New Year.

Sights and Sounds of Diwali!

Happy Deepawali as they say it here in the South! Diwali is one of the most important holidays in India, it is of similar stature as Christmas in the Western world. I was warned by Mutamma yesterday that everything will be closed today. And yes indeed, all the busyness has stopped. Everyone took a day off and slept in while taking in the cool air of a rainy morning. Only the lonely milkman, plastic bag on his head to protect him from raindrops, pedaled by on his usual morning route and delivered our milk packs at 6:30am. I felt really bad for his no-days-off occupation and was hoping he will be able to take the rest of the day off. I guess you can't have a holiday if you're out of fresh milk, a major ingredient for Indian tea and sweets.

This actually is my first Diwali in India so it was very interesting to observe what was happening around. I was of an impression that Diwali is a festival of lights and that everyone lights lots of candles outside their door. Eial tells me this custom is only observed in the North, we did not see any candle lighting here. What we did see and hear was constant fireworks and firecrackers, shot from every possible angle and direction. There were plenty of them that seemed to be exploding right over our roof. The kids were terrified of the sound in the beginning, but it's the third day of this cracking noise and they are getting used to it. Even more so after Eial brought home a present he received at work, a fancy box of "colorful and soundless" fireworks. Kids were determined to get them tested, and finally, on day three, we finished an assortment of over 100 sparkling fireworks.

Since we were somewhat stuck at home today, we went for a walk around our neighborhood. We saw lots of kids and young adults firing up crackers and fireworks. We also saw families dressed in their best fancy outfits visiting friends and family members. Gift giving is another traditional aspect of the holiday, which we don't know much about. We had purchased a gift sari for Mutamma, our only employee. Other than that we were clueless of who and what to gift. We received sweets and treats from Eial's work and our wonderful neighbor Mr. Selvakumar. Hopefully next year we will be more knowledgeable of how to be part of the Diwali celebration.

Here are some photos that we took during the last couple days:

A gift? For us?

Eial was pulled out of unsuccessful nap to get the fireworks started

Maya is fleeing as fast as she can

Festive celebration at the boys school on Tuesday. Traditional "kolam" design is made out of rice powder 

Colors of "kolam" powder

A white kolam at the entrance to the boys school

In the mean time Maya is out of school this week. She is peeking to see what's happening at the Maruthu Rukmani school across from us

We zoom in to get a better view. There is a flower and candle design in the center, and even some fireworks

We climb over to the upper roof to get a better view of the celebration in the school yard

A robot dance to the traditional Indian music

We zoom in the camera to see the robots up close

Girls join in the dance

Young dancers leaving the stage

Happy Diwali wishes to Mutamma

"Fancy sari" says Mutamma as she discovers red edge on the sari fabric

Day 2 of the fireworks. Very windy and we can't keep a match lit

A little boy joins in the firework fun

Everyone is cheering Eial as he struggles get the flame started

We're half-way done 

Watching the fireworks from the upper roof

A stroll around our neighborhood

Maya's friends up the street have been firing things up for few days now

We're greeted by a load explosion

The girls are dressed in traditional clothes, their hair is adorned with flowers and their hands are painted in hena

I liked this original kolam greeting at someone's doorsteps

Streets are littered with scraps of paper from firecrackers

Day 3, kids insist we finish the fireworks

Watching at safe distance

Yinon is more interested in observing a butterfly and he keeps telling me that a butterfly is in its cage

Oops, the butterfly got out of its cage, says Yinon

Here is our little friend from yesterday

Last four pieces

A little boy's father shows up to give Eial some pointers. Good thing we finished the box. Happy Diwali everyone!

Maya's school and other highlights of the week

The big news of the week is that Maya did start school last Thursday. It is a long story of how she was admitted, but the fact is that now she is a student at Lakshmi school in Madurai which is the most prestigious, the most elite and selective institution in town. Eial worked very hard to accomplish this, but divine intervention had as much to do with this as our best efforts. What can I say, getting your child into a school you want is like getting elected into an Indian Parliament. Educational institutions are such pillars of society here, you have to respect that. 

The other thing I want to address is that I failed to find any time to blog. I am constantly taking pictures and planning stories in my head, but I simply can not find couple hours of continuous quiet alone time when I could sit down and write. I have a long list of excuses which I am sure you don't want to hear. So much for my big plans of staying at home and regaining some "me" time. It's busy and hectic as it's always been. I guess it's time to adjust my expectations and work with what I have...

Here are some random photos of the week that I wanted to share:

Grinding his teeth while writing his letters. I love the little desk I got for the boys to do their homework on. Only two weeks of daily homework and Raphael has made an incredible progress in writing. Who knew...

Checking out a possible school for Maya

The school is only as good as its playground

Checking out commotion at the emergency room as the ambulance has just pulled in

Maya's first day of school - she is so ready

Mr. Selvakumar gave Maya a present, some chocolates and a motorcycle ride to the bus stop. That's how excited he was for our girl

A worried mother

Maya on her first school bus ride

Doing never ending math homework

I love these headless pictures that the boys take of us whenever they snatch the camera

Yinon is jamming away with Eial's ipod

Homemade rice noodles served with fresh ground coconut milk, all gone...

Blogging away while beating the clock. What will happen first - power outage, kids movie failure, kids biting each other?