Diwali in Delhi-Christmas in Florida

This year was my first true Diwali experience. We taught on Saturday in order to have a few days of Diwali celebration off. My venture began on Saturday at 3 pm. Anwer and I got offered a ride to Delhi via one of our students. At first hearing this, I was quite excited. I had never been on a true road trip in India. I had spent most of my time traveling via train.

The beginning of the trip set the tone for the rest of it. The student and I both suffer car sickness when we have to travel down the mountain. We had to stop at three various points for one or both of us to puke on the side of the road. I was miserable from the start, but I was optimistic to get to the “highway”. We were stuck in traffic within an hour and a half of our departure. I took this opportunity to nap.

I woke up hoping to be on the highway or at least McDonalds. Neither. We were still puttering along through village after village. In one village, we were literally stopped in traffic because some people were lighting fireworks in the middle of the road. I knew that I had a long drive still ahead.  I was in and out of consciousness waiting desperately to reach a highway that would allow us to drive at a real speed.

We finally reached Delhi around 11 pm, went out to eat with the family, and returned to sleep around 2:30 am. Let's just say I'm really not adapted to the life of staying up/out late anymore. 

Being in Delhi for Diwali was similar to the feeling of being in Florida for Christmas. There's no snow, your family is nowhere to be found, and you're just not sure if Santa will find you there. It did feel nice to be a part of a "real" holiday in India. The cons that came with this holiday are nothing like Christmas, however. Everyone was cheerful, with the exception of anyone trying to get anywhere. The traffic was busy and auto drivers were charging special holiday rates.

Diwali-festival of lights, noise, and pollution. On the days leading up to and the official day, people light candles, eat, buy gifts, play cards, and shoot fireworks off. Most of the fireworks are only noise making ones. On Diwali, from sunset to about 3am there was non-stop sounds of war in Delhi. The sound of fire crackers was unending and triggered the occasional car alarm. The apartment was full of smoke, and I really thought that if someone was dropping bombs on the city, I'd be clueless.

This is what it sounded like around 11:30.