Henna Time

On Sunday night I was finally able to check off one of the remaining items from my original India Checklist - Henna!

Monday was the Hindu festival, Karva Chauth, which is celebrated mainly in the north of India. On this day, married women fast for the long life of their husbands. The ritual is supposed to signify the woman's extreme love and devotion to her husband.

While it sounds very one-sided, husbands also give their wives a nice gift (jewelry) after the fast is broken - which is after the moon (or chand) is seen.

On Sunday evening, Ani and I went to dinner with all of his siblings, their spouses and their children to celebrate the 9th wedding anniversary of one of his sisters and her husband. After dinner we all went to a local market where the women got henna in preparation for the festival the next day. I didn't actually participate in the festival (nor did I receive any jewelry), but it was a great occasion to finally get henna.

Charles and Wanda are coming!

My parents arrive in Delhi very late on Thursday night for their first trip to India. I'm not sure how excited they are, but I certainly am. We will spend the first few days in Delhi before heading on to Agra (to see the Taj Mahal) and Jaipur. After Jaipur, I'll return to Delhi, but they will continue on to Udaipur where they will stay in the fabulous Lake Palace Hotel. I'm already jealous because when I visited Udaipur, we only went to the Lake Palace for lunch...

And finally, my parents will return to Delhi just in time for Diwali, which is next Friday, November 9th. Everyone I've about their visit immediately replied, "What a wonderful, festive time to visit India." It's true. This is a great time to be in Delhi because the weather is mild, people are happy and there is excitement in the air. But it also means that more people are out and about on the roads and in the markets. And it means that firecrackers are constantly going off and scaring the crap out of me.

My parents will also meet Ani's family for the first time. In addition to celebrating Diwali with them, next Saturday is also Ani's father's birthday, so I am sure there will be a family gathering for that.

All in all, the next few weeks will be very busy - between my parents visit and the holiday, but it should also prove to be an exciting time.

Beware of the Monkeys

In my time in India, I've heard some crazy stories about monkeys, including a story from Ani about monkeys in his house (see Monkey Business), but the latest one might be the craziest of all.

Over the weekend the Deputy Mayor of New Delhi was attacked by monkeys while on his terrace. In his attempt to escape from them, he fell over the balcony. And unfortunately, yesterday he succumbed to the head injuries he sustained.

People acknowledge that monkeys are a problem. And although there have been initiatives to capture monkeys and remove them from the streets, people are scared of them and little action is taken.

CNN: Man Dies in Monkey Attack

Black Eyed Peas and Beyonce in India

Yes, I've been slacking on my blog in recent weeks, but with good reason. More to come on that later.

What do the Black Eyed Peas and Beyonce have in common?

Both will perform in India in concerts that are co-sponsored by Accenture. The Black Eyed Peas performed in Bangalore on October 16th and Beyonce will perform in Mumbai on October 27th. I guess with 35,000+ employees in India, the majority under the age of 30, Accenture sees a lot of value in co-sponsoring concerts. Unfortunately for me, conservative Delhi is not a concert hot spot (although Akon did perform here the other week), so unless I'm planning a trip down to Bangalore or Mumbai in the near future, I will have to miss out on these and any other concerts that pop up.

Happy Birthday Gandhi-ji

Today is Gandhi's Birthday and a national holiday in India.

It's also the beginning of October - which starts holiday season here. I just counted 13 official holidays between now and the end of the year. But several of these fall on weekends. And most of them I don't get anyway because I work for a private company. But the government gets them all off!

Early November is Diwali, the most festive time of the year and a wonderful time to be in India, so I'm really looking forward to it. Other than that, it's all work for me, believe it or not.