Yesterday's three celebrations in Laporiya
on Indian Bells (India), 06/Sep/2010 12:15, 34 days ago
1) The inaguration of my boss' new badminton court, built within the boundary of our house over period of weeks. Ribbons were tied around the court and a holy man called in to bless and officially open the new toy. Family and GVNML staff laid coloured powder in lucky patterns on the surface, which with last night's rain have now been smudged beyond recognition.2) A cow festival. As with most of the small festivals my family celebrate, I don't know exactly what we're celebrating, but yesterday the women of our house and some villagers put on their best dresses and gave thanks for cows, led by a lady Brahmin (Priest). Offerings of curd, buttermilk and ghee were placed near a cow statue, and later were put in a carefully shaped cow pat.3) A pond party, to celebrate the lakes of our villages being full courtesy of the monsoon. All family members, even baby Pinku, and all GVNML staff were shipped to a temple 15kms away, sat atop a mountain overlooking the flat countryside and watery patches, and cooked a sumptious meal. I was very forcibly encouraged to dance to live music with a gentleman from another party using the famous shiva temple.The views expressed in this weblog are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of VSO.