Diwali Approaches

It’s been a little longer than I anticipated, but life has been pretty quiet recently.  I have only a few things to talk about before I get to Diwali which is the main point of this post.  First, I went to see Skyfall (Bond 23) in theaters this week.  It wasn't the typical Bond film I anticipated, but it had a good plot and the experience was made all the sweeter by the fact that it comes out in the US tomorrow so I got to see it before everyone back home.  I recommend it to anyone who does not despise having a good time.

For the second thing, I’m going to go a little political on you.  I mentioned in an earlier post that I, along with most of the other Northfield outbounds, completed an absentee ballot in order to participate in politics back home despite being on the other side of the world.  Though there was not much coverage of the election until yesterday on Indian TV, I kept up to date by checking the polls online.  When the results came in, I could not have been more thrilled.  I was so proud to claim Minnesota and the US as my home because I believe we have kept our state constitution the way it should be, and our country is on track for the next four years.  Surprisingly, my excitement was nearly equaled by everyone around me.  Experiencing the election from outside the country is an interesting perspective, and I have learned that Obama is ridiculously popular internationally, and if the entire world had a say it would have been the biggest blowout of political history. 

Now for the festival.  According to the all-knowing Wikipedia (and confirmed by my host family), Diwali commemorates the return of Lord Rama after 14 years of exile and the vanquishing of the demon-king Ravana.  It is basically the Hindu equivalent of Christmas (at least in magnitude) and is celebrated like a five-day Fourth of July with about 100 times the fireworks.  In their excitement at all this great stuff happening, Rama's followers illuminated the entire kingdom in lights and set off about a billion firecrackers.  Diwali today, along with the traditional lights and explosions, signifies ridiculous sales so people buy a lot of new stuff, and you are supposed to wear new clothes for the festival.  What it really boils down to is nonstop noise and light for five days, and it is supposed to be one of the most enjoyable festivals.  At the very least I’m sure it will give me a lot to blog about!  I will make sure to update on Diwali before I leave for my tour of South India, so look for that in a week.