Diwali: The Festival of Lights

Diwali, or Deepavali, is one of the most important holidays in India. It is a five day festival in which many students go home to be with their families and celebrate. Translated as "row of lamps", this holiday is full of lights, fireworks, lanterns, small clay oil lamps, and kolam (brightly colored powder decorations):

The clay lamps are filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil and are lit during the night. Similarly, fireworks and firecrackers are set off to drive away evil spirits.

All over campus lights were strewn across buildings. It felt like the holidays back home so I was overjoyed to see all of the color :)

Credit: Danielle

Credit: Danielle

Credit: Danielle

Appropriately deemed "The Castle". Credit: Danielle

I was lucky to be at Manipal during this celebration! One of my favorite events was the "let's go green" lantern event. Taking place at End Point, a park-like grassy area overlooking Manipal, students bought paper biodegradable lanterns, lit them, and sent them on their way! All in all, over 1,200 were lit. It was an amazing thing to experience and be a part of!

Credit: Meg

Credit: Danielle

Credit: Danielle

While the lights were beautiful, the fireworks did get a bit old...especially after midnight. Each year, hundreds of people die during Diwali because they are set off so haphazardly. I had to run through a basketball court one night since five or six people were individually setting off fireworks with no warning or synchronization! It was pretty intense. Thankfully, none of us got hurt.

Diwali was truly an amazing festival to experience. The amount of lights, from any source, is breathtaking and  the memories will last a lifetime!

Beach Bummin'

There is one weekend each semester deemed "independent travel weekend". There are no field visits or plans so that students may spend a weekend in any part of Southern India they choose (bonus: ANOTHER holiday! Classes were cancelled on Monday, too). Our group decided to spend our time in Goa! Goa is a small state north of Karnataka, about 7 hours away by bus, and known for its relaxed/hippy and Catholic/Portuguese flair. We arrived around 6:30 in the morning - much before businesses were open - and wandered around after a meager breakfast. After crossing a foot bridge we found this beautiful church!

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church near the
Municipal Garden

Coming to India isn't complete without attending a cricket match. One of the girl's roommates is from Goa and suggested a sports complex that was free and not too far from the bus stand. So, shortly after our walk, we hopped on the ancient bus (which probably exceeded no more than 15-20mph at any point...) and found the complex. There weren't very many spectators, but it was nice to sit in a shady area and try to figure out how the game worked.

 Following a portion of the match, we were hungry and decided to travel a little north to a town known for its vegetarian/vegan dishes. This town felt like I'd stepped back into the 1960s or 1970s (I'm imagining)...as soon as I got off the bus everything seemed to slow down and relax. The pace moved at an inches pace; dreadlocks were tied back on endless visitors, surfboards were hitched to the tops of cars, and Bob Dylan played all over. As this advertisement nicely put it:

Photo Credit: Moira Dhaliwal

We then traveled south to Baga Beach - known for its night life - and found a place to sleep and leave our belongings.

Being in Goa made put all of my worries at ease. I was able to unwind, sleep in ('til 11:30 - crazy!), and be carefree! After our lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon either napping or relaxing on the beach. The water was the absolute perfect temperature and the waves weren't too big or too small. All in all, it's a pretty wonderful place to be a beach bum. Beach restaurants and bars are perched every few hundred feet making it an easy place to spend an entire day (or days).

 The next day, after a late night out of food, drinks, and dancing, we slept in and lounged on the beach for a bit. Goa is so different from India because, unlike the rest of the country, there is no such thing as an 11 p.m. curfew. People stay out until 5 or 6 in the morning drinking (I was in bed by 1am). It's a totally different world!

That afternoon some of us also went to see Old Goa - this is what the state is perhaps best known for. Spotted all throughout this area are churches upon churches upon ruins of churches! Some still hold regular services/masses while others are crumbling and left for looks. We visited two of the most well known ones and they sure were beautiful!

This is apparently the largest bell tower in Asia!

 We returned from Old Goa fairly close to dinner time. After a bit of shopping we met up on the beach for a delicious seafood meal! There was also an eager fire dancer for entertainment:

Two thumbs way, way up!

We called it an early night as our train left at 7am the next day and the drive was close to 90 minutes. Unfortunately, the train came over 2 hours late and we were stuck on benches: grumpy, tired, and hungry. Our original intention was to stop in Gokarna, a less-touristy beach town, but with the delay half of us chose to go straight on to the Manipal stop. This is because we wanted to be back in our hostels for the night. The rest of the group spent the day and night in Gokarna (their train left around 3 or 4 a.m.) and returned that Tuesday. What a wonderful weekend in India!

Deepak Hanging Bridge

India, as I have discovered, is famous for having tons and tons of holidays. That being said, holidays equal days off from classes (for my UNH friends/factulty, this is certainly no University of No Holidays!). To use the day off to my advantage, a few friends and I drove to the Deepak Hanging bridge - about fifteen minutes from campus. It was quite a process to get there because there are no clear directions or addresses in this area. After much wandering, asking around, and stopping at a beach, we made it! The footings were questionable at best (many were missing bolts) and covered in rust, but it was really cool to see. This bridge connects two small villages and is the only way to get from one side to the other! Here are some photos:

We reached a dead end road while looking
for the bridge and found this lovely beach!

My Surprise Half-Birthday Party

One night, my roommate Kundan and a few of our friends (Arveen, Asmi, and Rachel) were hanging out. Arveen casually asked whether anyone had a birthday soon. I replied (jokingly) "Well, my HALF birthday is next Wednesday!". Everyone laughed, and that was the end of the conversation.

Flash forward to 11:15pm on Tuesday the 6th. Moira, a friend of mine in the program, eagerly bursts in to my room asking me to do yoga. I immediately declined, as I was already in my PJs and about to go to bed. She kept insisting and insisting until I finally agreed to go to her room so she could talk to me about something. Completely oblivious, I followed her out of the room. After ten or fifteen minutes, Moira said, "Alright, sorry for bothering you...you can go to bed now. But I'm going to walk you back to your room!" Still clueless, I agreed and walked back with her. Here was my reaction as I entered my room:

All photos by Kundan Singh

What I said as a joke actually happened! I had never celebrated a half birthday before, but what better place than in India, with friends, and at midnight?

 I was so flattered and humbled by the caring friends I have made here. It will be so sad to go our separate ways in 10 days...but memories like these will make it easier.

Dhol Baje: Dancing the Night Away

Dhol Baje is one of India's premier cultural events of the year. It is an evening to dress up in your finest outfits, grab a pair of dandiyas (two sticks representing swords), and dance dandiya! Originally a devotional form of dance, dandiya simulates a mock fight between the Goddess and Mahishasura, the mighty demon-king. While I didn't exactly know how to gracefully participate in the dances, I still had one of my favorite nights in India. My roommate Kundan, and our friends Asmi and Arveen, helped pick out my outfit from the costume rental shop, jewellery, and teach me some basic steps.

Photo credit: Priyanka Pant

Now, I'm certainly one who does not srtive to be in the limelight. Tonight was one exception and it was avoidable simply because of my elaborate outfit. Before I even made it to the event people asked me to stop for a photo or complimented me on my overall appearance. I initially shied away from the attention, but eventually came to terms with it. This was probably one of the only nights I would have to wear a shiny outfit and dance for hours on end! Photographer after photographer came to our group to snap photos. Even a television camera took a clip that was aired on the news! Several photos were posted on websites, too. A few days later, my friend was looking through the Mangalore branch of the Times of India. Sure enough, I was one of the selected photos in the paper. I was so surprised!

Photo credit: Priyanka Pant

Upon entering the covered greens for the dance, I was unpleasantly surprised by two things. First, groundskeepers had continually watered the lawns right up until the event. This left the bottom six inches of my dress and feet entirely soaked and muddy. Second, it was HOT. In a matter of minutes I started to sweat and it wasn't just from dancing. By the end of the evening, I was more or less drenched. Yuck. Thankfully, everyone was in the same position as me so it wasn't something to worry about!

Kundan, Rachel, and I

Photo credit: Danielle Pelaez

Photo credit: Danielle Pelaez

All in all, it was one of the most fun and memorable nights I have had in Manipal. I especially had fun because I was carefree and deemed the "Indian Barbie" for the evening. While the costume was extremely heavy, I was soaked in sweat, and my wristlet broke, I don't have one regret or bad memory from the night in its entirety. This was a night I will never forget!