After returning from Mt. Abu, another short workweek was followed by the Diwali Holiday weekend. Diwali is the most 
important Hindu festival, especially in this region and being five days long it’s hard to miss – people clean and repaint their houses, buy new clothes, adorn inside and outside with diyas (small oil candles), and set off firecrackers. So in keeping with tradition, I went to the barber for a shave and a haircut (not two bits, but pretty close to it) and helped to clean the house. Thursday night one of the other interns’ host parents invited us over for a pre-Diwali party, complete with a buffet dinner and a rooftop DJ with light up dance floor – I wouldn’t exactly classify this one as traditional Indian dance, but we had a blast.
Saturday, though, was the real thing. By 5:30pm the sound of fireworks over the city was constant. Everyone, everywhere – big bombs, little whistlers, sparklers, big explosive Fourth of July style, you name it. Pretty incredible to watch from the rooftop of my house which overlooks the city (I took the above picture from our roof); that is, until we noticed at a vacant lot a couple of hundred feet from the house was on fire! I don’t think I’m being unfair when I say that most people throw caution to the wind on Diwali (or perhaps it goes up in smoke?). So I wasn’t terribly surprised to see the fire, although a little worried. Fortunately the fire brigade was called and put it out without a problem before it could spread to any homes or the adjacent Mosque (see the picture below; the illuminated dome of the Mosque is visible in the upper right corner). I got the feeling this was pretty routine for them on this night; “It happens,” I was told.
Well things have calmed down a little by now, and I’ve been enjoying work this week. I’ve been writing an application for a grant for the Nestlé “Creating Shared Value” prize, which is awarded to a project or innovation that improves the lives of farmers or rural communities. At ACCESS, we’ve chosen to apply for the prize for our “ginger” project. The project works to link poor, rural ginger farmers in the area together into a legal company so that they can pool their resources and gain better access to markets, thus improving their incomes and livelihoods. In addition to learning a lot about the ginger project, it’s good experience in writing a grant application. And of course if the application is successful, we can make big steps forward with the ginger project as well!
October 22, 2009 at 5:14 pm |
Unbelievable fireworks!!