Diwali in Kathmandu!

All is well here in Kathmandu. It is the Hindu Festival of Diwali here, and for the next 2 days. Yesterday we hung around until the office until we had a ceremony to welcome Laxmi, the goddess of wealth, into the place. It was cool. They made a puja, like an altar, with small cash bills, flowers, fruits, incense, colours, pictures, oil lamps....all led into the office by a mandala on the sidewalk outside, and then a trail of smeared cow dung with a few oil lamps and flowers to lead Laxmi inside. All of these were to attract her attention and tempt her to come inside. (Cows are sacred to Hindus - I think this explains Laxmi's attraction to cow dung.) Also, they annointed all of the money-making items in the office (computers, desks, filing cabinets, safe, telephones) with colours and flowers, again to attract Laxmi's attention.


We all did a small ceremony at the puja/altar, where we threw colours and bits of rice and millet at the puja, as an offering. And Deepak, as head of the household, gave each of us a tikka. That's a small blob of colour on your forehead, as a blessing. The ladies also got a small amount of cash.

Later, we went to Deepak's house, where he gave us beer. Hindus are not meant to drink alcohol at other times of the year, so this is significant. And Deepak's wife gave us round, fried, sweet rice bread treats (similar to a doughnut, but not quite) that are only made at Diwali.

Children came to the house, and sang songs and were given a bit of cash. It is said that if the singers come and are given money at your home, this will bring prosperity and wealth into your home this year.

Next, a band of troubadors came to the neighbours' house, wtih big speakers and trained folk dancers. They put on quite a show! Sometimes the dancers were performing, but other times it was a group dance to a popular song. (Keep in mind the Nepalis were all drinking, so they were happy to dance.) I joined in dancing to one song, thinking I'd just stay on the sidelines, but OH NO, nearly immediately I was in the middle of the crowd. I got plenty of compliments on my dancing. Seems all that time "dancing and bouncing my bums" in Africa has paid off in spades.



Another cool part of Diwali is that they worship different animals as part of worshiping the earth and a healthy ecosystem. So far, they have worshipped crows, dogs and cows. I didn't see how they worshipped crows, but on Dog Day, dogs were fed nice food, given flower malas (necklaces) and tikkas on their heads. It was the same for cows today - marigold necklaces and bright colours put on their foreheads.



Tomorrow is Brothers and Sisters Day. Will let you know how that goes.