Happy Independence Day!

Today, August 15th, India celebrates 63 years of independence from British rule.




To my disappointment, the holiday falls on a Sunday, which means we don't get a day off from work. No three day weekend here. Boo.

Happy (much belated) Holi!

I just realized that I never posted anything about our Holi celebrations this year. This was the fourth year that I've been in India for the festival, but the first one that I've actually done anything to celebrate. Either work, a visit to the US or simple laziness got in the way.

So this year we decided that we'd participate in the festivities. Our first stop was a family-friendly party at the Defence Colony (where we live) Club. We were joined there by most of the neighbor and people of all ages enjoyed the food, the music and, of course, the colors!


Those festivities wrapped up around 2pm and we made our way to the party of a local socialite who hosts an annual Holi bash that is widely covered on Page 3. It was definitely an awesome party and now I understand why Ani tried to convince he to go every year. There was amazing food (veg only), free-flowing drinks (until they ran out), great music and a rain tent.

I've included a few more photos from the day below and you'll notice how we got messier and messier as the day progressed.



And on a completely unrelated note, the was what the sky looked light when we walked out of the first party. Amazing...

My 3rd Diwali in India

I'm playing blog catch up today, so I'm going to start with Diwali. Although all of my colleagues thought it was my first Diwali in India, it was actually my third. It was also the first after marriage, which is supposed to be a special one.

Diwali fell on a Tuesday this year and everyone seemed to take off the day before and the day after. This resulted in a fairly quiet work week, and I was able to work from home. On Tuesday, we had a pancake breakfast and later one of Ani's sister's and her husband came by with Diwali sweets (yum!). Later in the evening, we headed to Ani's house for puja, dinner and the required Diwali firecrackers.

This is our house (second floor) with lots of Diwali/Christmas lights. And it's blurry because of all of the smoke from firecrackers. Great for the environment, huh?

Fourth of July in Delhi

We went to a 4th of July party at the US Embassy, which I thought was an exclusive party for US citizens. That was definitely not the case, as friends from all over the place managed to get themselves in the door too. And it was better that way.

The party was held on the baseball field of the embassy. Yes, they have a baseball field. There were moon bounces and thoughts of summertime games for kids, including a pie eating contest and a tug of war. There was lot of alcohol and tons of food stalls. My eyes lit up when I saw the assortment of "American" food: fried chicken, corn dogs, pork bbq, apple pie. It was almost like being at home for the 4th, except it was the 5th of July and we were in India.

The highlight of the night for sure was the dance-off between two 10 year old girls and a few of my much older expat friends. Despite valiant attempts from Rory and Armen, the girls certainly won.

Happy Holi

Today Holi, the festival of colors, is celebrated in Delhi. I'm missing the festivities for the second time in two years and I'm not thrilled about it. I will admit that I don't really understand what Holi is all about, but I do know two things: It marks the beginning of summer (which in India comes immediately after winter). On Holi people of all ages play with colors and water, making a big mess, but having a great time in the process.

Here are a few photos from the Hindustan Times:

Christmas, Delhi-style

I spent this Christmas not only in India, but in Delhi this time. While the holiday season has been a big change from last year's adventure in Mumbai, Pune and Goa, it hasn't been without holiday cheer.

We started out by spending Christmas Eve at Armen and Nyree's apartment, which is conveniently located in our neighborhood. We were joined by old friends and new friends, and even some Christmas carolers.

Unlike Christmas at home, all shops are still open on Christmas Day - and they are jam-packed because everyone has the day off! I wasn't brave enough to hit the markets, but Ani did and was quickly overwhelmed. I just made a quick visit to the grocery store for some last minute dinner items.

In the evening, Ani's family came over to celebrate Christmas with me. Although I didn't prepare a turkey and stuff (I didn't prepare anything), we enjoyed a nice Indian meal together. We had a little Christmas tree decorated in the corner of the living room - and there were even present underneath it. Everyone enjoyed the evening and I got rave reviews on my gift wrapping abilities.

Caption: Kamlesh (Ani's sister), Rajni (Ani's sister), Puneet, (Rekha's son), Rekha (Ani's sister), me, Souhani (Bhupinder and Madhu's daughter), Rajesh (Kamlesh's husband), Sheren (Rajni's daughter), Bhupinder (Ani's brother), Madhu (Bhupinder's wife)

So while it wasn't a typical Christmas, it was a nice one, complete with family and friends.

Happy Holi!

Holi Greetings from Delhi and Pune!

I started the day in Delhi so I could witness some of the Holi festivities in the capital city, and concluded it at a dance party in Pune. Actually, I didn't witness much because I was nervous about venturing on to the street and getting pelted with colored powder and water by neighborhood kids. So instead I decided to sleep in...

My plan was quickly foiled since my neighborhood was up celebrating. I awoke to the sounds of lots of kids in the streets and music coming from down the road. And then my upstairs neighbors started a party of their own - complete with all of the top Hindi and Bollywood tunes, along with musical appearances by Justin Timberlake, Dirty Vegas and whoever sings Bad to the Bone.

And my attempts to stay clean and dry were also quickly foiled. A few of my friends arrived with bags of colored powder and scolded me when I said I didn't want to get dirty. But inevitably, I succumbed to their pressure, although I quickly changed into fresh clothes as I had to leave for the airport, much to the dismay of my friends.

But it was great to see people in both Delhi and Pune enjoying the holiday. Everywhere I turned, kids, motorcyclists, rickshaw drivers were covered in various colors. Again, Holi is the celebration of the triumph of good over evil, as well as the celebration of the arrival of spring. I'm not quite sure where throwing colored powder on your friends came into plan, but it's definitely a cool way to celebrate!

Merry Christmas from Bollywood

Belated Christmas greetings from India. I’ve been offline for the past several days and have been unable to post anything on my blog. Fortunately, I have a host of stories to share from my travels, so stayed tuned.

On Christmas Day I went to see the Indian film Dhoom: 2. Not only is it the biggest movie in the country right now, it also has the hottest soundtrack. People are excited about the film because it’s the first big Indian action movie. Complete with death-defying, unrealistic stunts, it is Bollywood’s answer to our Mission Impossible and Bond movies.

But not only does it have action, but it has singing and dancing! I was incredibly disappointed to learn that these stars do not actually sing their songs. Instead, the tunes are provided courtesy of playback stars and this itself is a huge industry here. But I do have to credit the Bollywood stars with their dance ability. It’s hard for me to imagine Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise breaking into an elaborate dance routine ever.

Diwali 2006

Diwali 2006 has come and gone in the capital and things are beginning to settle down. Everyone warned of the craziness of the fireworks, but it would have been impossible to adequately prepare me for the madness that it actually was.

Saturday was quite nice. It started with breakfast at the guest house with Lauren, a stop in a craft market and then coffee in Khan Market. There, we picked up some sweets to bring to the Diwali lunch hosted by some Danish friend, hence the Danish flag on their doors in the picture to the right. The food at the lunch was phenomenal and the company was even better. After lunch (it was already after 6pm), I squeezed in a quick nap to recourse for the evening. We made our way to Vivien and Elodie's flat in the Defense Colony. Their flat has a beautiful balcony that offered a great vantage point to the firecracker festivities going on below. Coming from the Nation's Capital, I thought I had seen firework displays before. Instead, I quickly learned that it is one thing to watch fireworks when you can settle into a nice spot on the grass and view them overhead, and it's another when they are right in front of you. At home I always had a certain comfort level knowing that the fireworks were far away and that they were being set off by trained professionals. You have none of that comfort here.

From the balcony, we watched as neighbors filled the streets to set off their arsenals. Some fireworks were launched into the air and provided the beautiful displays to which I am accustomed. But many more were just firecrackers that spewed flames a few feet off the ground accompanied by incredibly loud booms. My favorite of the night was one that littered the street with colorful confetti.

And I'm featuring this lovely photo of Lauren, Nic and Louise at the Diwali party on Saturday. It looks like they will be prominent figures in my life over the next few months, so you should get used to hearing about them. Louise is my co-worker from South Africa, social life-planner-extraordinaire, and shopping partner. She's done these jobs extremely well, as I'm now exhausted and sick (see next paragraph). Nic is her flat mate, fellow South African, and cricket enthusiast. He's already taken to calling me Chander - a la Mrs. Roder. He's signed up for a 2 year stint in Delhi, so it's a good thing he's not going anywhere anytime soon. Friday was the first and only day I haven't seen Louise since I've been in Delhi. Lauren (from Holland) picked up where she left off and invited me out for a night of hotel bar-hopping with friends. And we're staying at the same guest house, so I get to see her just about every day too. That's until she moves to a flat of her very own next week, since she will be here for 2-3 years. So, these three and the countless other people I've met so far have made my transition to life in Delhi impeccably smooth and immensely entertaining. I can't help but look forward to the next 5 1/2 months!

Now that things are beginning to settle down, I'm going to use this time to recover from the cold I seemed to have caught here. I'm blaming it on the air pollution, the excessive AC and my general lack of sleep over the past two weeks. I guess with all of the excitement of being in a new city and meeting new people, I have neglected my body. Since this past weekend was Diwali, I didn't want to stay in and miss out on all of the fun and fireworks. And If I had, I would have nothing to write about on my blog!