Lord Shiva

I was driving into Delhi the other day to go shopping and have lunch with some girl friends when I heard my driver honk the horn. Now this is obviously a very Indian act as anyone who has ever traveled in India would tell you. Drivers here honk as if to say, 'Hey I am here. Don't hit me.' They really don't (well at least not usually) honk their horn to be rude. You do get used to it.

So, my driver honks the car horn on our vehicle and then presses his palms together and brings them close to his forehead and slightly bows towards the right hand side of the road. The motion was obviously vexing to me so I glanced to the right and there beside the road was a massive, and I mean massive, red stone statue of Lord Shiva. The statue was beautiful to say the least and towered proudly into the air with the usual snake adorning his shoulders. We continue moving at about 60 miles an hour along the highway in the car.



I was awe struck. How long had my driver been doing this motion? Why had I never noticed this before? Why had I never seen this statue beside the road in the past? I knew from its size and location it wasn't new. I remained quiet in the car as it was not my place to comment on such a personal and religious action, and I didn't want to offend Sushil by asking about it.

So, I watched him the next few times we drove by that spot over the next several weeks and every time he did the same honk, pressed palm raise, and bow of the head. It was really lovely to see. It was personal. A quiet moment for a driver to give his respect to a god in which he believes. 

"Servant" Shock

I live in a nice gated neighborhood in Gurgaon and enjoy living in such a lovely, garden filled space but today I was again shocked by the differences in how I think and how my Indian friends do. I have enclosed an email (removing identifiers) that was sent out this afternoon so you could read it and respond in your own mind. This email was sent from one resident in my compound to the rest of the residents in the neighborhood.

"Dear all

A very good morning to all of you

Today I went for the morning walk in block Y GARDEN and had both A PLEASANT SURPRISE and A GREAT SHOCK.

First the surprise, I saw a beautiful lady (owner) walking with her DOG who herself immediately cleared the dog mess. My heart was filled with respect for the lady.

Now the shock, thereafter I found piles of dog poop lying AT SIX seven places around the walking path. I brought the same in the notice of facility worker who seemed reluctant in clearing the dog poop.

I think there may be two reasons for this

1. Although the owners have asked their servants to clean the dog poop but they do not do it.

2. Many dog owners who are not the members of the YAHOO GROUP are not aware of the practice of cleaning the Dog poop by themselves.

I have three suggestions

1. Send a notice through Help Desk regarding clearing of the dog poop by the person with the dog. This will make them aware of this wonderful practice.

2. The dog owners should be strict with their servants in this regard and should do surprise check on their servants.

3. Ask facility to appoint a sweeper in the morning to do this job in case any person is being careless in regard to their dogs.

At end, I will say we pay so much maintenance cost for this wonderful place, so we all should do our best to get the feeling of a wonderful stay here.

Thanks"

The use of the word and concept of "servant" and the need to "be strict" with them is shocking to me. I mean I have a gentlemen who cleans our house every day for 2 to 3 hours (Monday to Friday) but I would never dream of calling him a servant or treating him as such. I have even been given feedback from my Indian friends that I am overpaying him (about double according to them) for his services. I would never dream of paying him less because it simply wouldn't feel right if I did. It would feel like I was taking advantage of his situation. 

To put this in further perspective I have a friend who was given, by her parents, a wedding gift of 4 full time servants. They live with her and work for her today...right now...in her house. She sees nothing wrong with this at all. A true cultural difference and a shock for me. You be the judge. 

Diwali Perfection

Diwali is the Festival of Lights and is held every fall in India. This festival is a five day event devoted to being with family and friends, eating delicious sweets, and lighting small clay lamps (and/or shooting off fireworks). It is the celebration of the triumph of good over evil and thus has spiritual significance for the people here.

My husband and I, being from the US, decided to stay in on Diwali and cook our traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We knew that everyone else would be enjoy good food with family so we would do the same. Our little meal consisted of huge smoked turkey legs, cornbread stuffing, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole (with the marshmallow topping as I could not find pecans here), rolls, and apple pie for dessert. A British friend of ours who was feeling a bit lonely joined us for the meal on the night of Diwali.

We sat chatting for some time and enjoying our food when the fireworks began outside. First one and then another. Bang. Bang. Bang.

So we put on our shoes and headed out to see the show. Wow! Everywhere you looked the sky was filled with fireworks. Kids ran around on the street with sparklers held high in the air. Mothers looked on as sons and daughters lit fountains of colorful fire. Small children clapped and laughed in delight clad in their best attire. Everyone was in happy spirits. Homes were decorated with colors and lights as well. Clay lamps were placed on front porches, steps, and fragrant orange flowers lay strategically placed on homes and sidewalks. We walked around the neighborhood in wonder. Every door was open and every person we met greeted us with a "Happy Diwali." It was lovely.

In a central location in our neighborhood on a high grassy spot we simply sat down for about an hour and just enjoyed the festivities. Three foreigners in a strange land enjoying one of the most important holidays in the this country. I will genuinely never forget this day. Ever! Beautiful moment for sure.

Less Time. Less Money. More Joy.

My husband and I will be heading home in December for the Christmas holiday. We plan on spending quality time with our family, eating good food, and enjoying our house in the US. Christmas is truly our favorite time of the year. Since we will not be in India during the Christmas holiday we decided to put up our tree here so we could enjoy it for a few weeks before heading home. 

I packed a small artificial tree in our shipment when we first moved to India so I got it out of storage and dusted off the branches. It took all of 2 minutes to do this. Then we realized we needed lights so we headed to our local store here in Gurgaon and purchased a nice red set intended for the Diwali festivities (Diwali is the Festival of Lights in India). Once purchased we headed home and decorated the tree with the bright red, lovely lights. 

I had not brought ornaments with us so the tree looked very bare. We spent the next day looking for anything that could be used as ornaments. Nothing could be found in any stores around here. So, at last we decided to string some popcorn for the garland and cut out white paper snowflakes. We listened to Christmas music for the next hour while we worked on creating these trinkets for our tree. All in all, it turned out nicely if I do say so myself. Later our dog Bella would begin to gently bite off a piece of popcorn as she would walk by the tree. Now it only has lights and snowflakes on it but I truly don't mind. :) 

This tiny tree has reminded me of how little you need to be content with your holiday. My tree in the US is about 10 feet tall and every year is decorated with glass ornaments, ribbons, and about 800 lights.... and it takes me about 4 hours to put it up. This little guy brought me more joy than my US tree ever did and took no time at all plus I got to spend good quality time with my hubby making our little crafts (and dog treats).

Less time. Less money. More joy. 

A Southern Tradition

Ok, I was born and raised in the South. And I will admit that I somtimes miss the southern US. I miss good ol' southern iced tea. Front porches. Warm evenings. Brisket. Well you gt the picture. I love the south. So in honor of that tradition I thought I would share a very southern thing with you today. Something that me and my husband don't really get to do....like ever...since we live in India but something that is very American and something that once we move home (someday) we will do again.

While I was home a few weeks ago my family decided to do a time honored southern tradition of target practice. Yup. Guns. Fire power. Excitement. While I am not an avid shooter myself....my entire, and I mean entire, family is. I do enjoy a warm fire, the smell of gun powder, and occasionaly like to practice shooting too. So, enjoy some pictures of a tradition that I miss while living in India. Another thing that seems to seperate me from the fine folks of India.

In these pictures are my parents, sister, brother-in-law, and myself.

Good ole southern fun. I will be home someday! So, keep the tea cold.....

Taj Mahal

My friends and I had the chance to visit the Taj Mahal last week. It is an amazing white marble mausoleum in Agra, India that most consider to be one of the "Seven Wonders of the Modern World." It was definitely beautiful. In the first picture you will see Alan, Amy, me, Lance (my husband), and Ian.

Lotus Temple

The weather had begun to cool down and the days shorten as the month of November began with a kick. Thus some friends of ours wanted to venture into Delhi to take in a few more sites and enjoy the weather before heading to their respective homes on the North American continent. A close friend of mine recommended that we visit the Lotus Temple in Delhi.

The Lotus Temple was build by the Bahai as a place of worship. All people are welcome to attend a service or just visit the temple located in Delhi free of charge. The temple itself is a gathering place for people of all religions to come together and worship God without denominational restrictions such as rules that one must be Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jew, etc to pray together. 

So, on a cooler Saturday afternoon the four of us ventured to the temple. Upon arrival we were wowed by the overall building. White marble was used to create a large lotus shape that contains 27 petals making up the outer walls of the temple. Ponds of blue water circle the structure on all sides. We stood amazed at the beauty of the building. A feat of architectural wonder.

We were then asked to remove our shoes and place them in sacks as no one is allowed to wear shoes inside the temple. We were,of course, uncomfortable walking around without shoes on as Delhi is not a very clean place but quickly adjusted to the request as leaving them on would have kept us from being allowed into the building. So, we took them off and followed the line of folks to the side entrance of the temple. We were asked to refrain from speaking, turn off our cell phones, and not take any photographs once inside the temple. We of course would abide by these rules (others that were not in our party did not). 

Inside we discovered the ceiling and walls showed the interior structure of the lotus bloom (petals and all). There were marble benches strategically placed around the temple. There were no statues, images, or even altars inside the room. Thus everyone just took a seat around the large temple and relaxed in the silence. Some people meditated. Others prayed. Some just sat in silence taking in the space and the lovely quiet solitude. 

We sat on a long, hard marble bench and I found myself choking up as I realized that this was the first temple or place of worship I had ever visited in my life that truly focused on welcoming everyone regardless of religion or belief. It was a welcoming and wonderful feeling. I found myself wishing that every place of worship could be this open and welcoming and non-judgmental. There certainly would be less war, hate, and fear if all were allowed to worship without people trying to change them or make them believe something different. I am myself a Christian but would never tell a Hindu, Muslim, etc that there faith was wrong and mine was right. Likewise, I do get very upset if others try to tell me my faith is wrong and I need to conform to theirs. Living in a country were most people do not believe in the same God (or even number of gods for that matter) as you encourages a person to be more open to the differences between people. (NOTE: I know not everyone reading this will agree with that statement so I will apologize if this offended you as I certainly am not trying to change your beliefs in any way but am simply speaking about myself!)

The lotus flower obviously means different things to different religions. Generally, the lotus flower represents purity, spirituality, and rebirth. A great choice for a temple that welcomes all people. A beautiful moment for me and I hope for others that visit the place.