HAPPY DEEPAVALI

ஹாப்பி தீபாவளி

அஷ்வின், பிரியா, பிரபாகர் அண்ட் லேஅன்ன்

that's "Happy Deepavali,

Ashwin, Priya, Prabhakar and Leann " written in Tamil script, which both Ashwin and Priya are learning to read and write in school!

After the heat, and then two weeks of incredible monsoon rains, it's a gorgeous day - and today is Deepavali, which is the biggest Hindu festival of the year throughout India. Also known as the 'Festival of Lights', according to today's paper, 'the festival basically celebrates the triumph of good over evil', however there are regional differences in the legend behind the festival and also in how it is celebrated. Here in Tamil Nadu,' the day commemorates the killing of the demon king Narakasura by Lord Krishna's wife Sathyabama.'

As Christian's, we don't have to bother too much about the symbolism behind the festivities, we can just enjoy the trappings. The major elements include: a day off school/work, visiting friends and family, lighting firecrackers, shopping, and of course lots of good food - especially sweets!

Pictured above are a couple of photos from our trip to a local cracker shop (that's cracker as in fire, not Ritz) then of course, lighting the crackers. There is picture of Ashwin and Priya and their cousin Pauline admiring sweets and then a visit to some friends who served us wonderful bonda and the absolute best dosa that kidsinchennai staff have ever tasted! Thanks Meena!!

May the lamps of joy illuminate your life and fill your days with the bright sparkles of peace and good will. Happy Deepavali!

How to Bathe an Elephant

Well, our vacation blogging wouldn't be complete without some photos from the Dubare Elephant preserve. This is billed as a forest home for retired elephants, where you can feed, bathe, and ride elephants who are living a life of leisure. In reality, the preserve seemed like a major revenue generator for the Karnataka Govt, and the vast majority of tourists didn't seem interested in feeding or bathing - just riding. So, the elephants have to walk around in circles all day with large groups of well-fed Indian families, which doesn't seem like much of a retirement. When we visited, however, we lucked out because we found a couple of mahouts (elephant handlers) on their way to bathe elephants which did not belong to the preserve. They were happy to have our help with the bath (along with a few extra rupees, of course). We all had fun getting muddy and wet. What we can tell you is that elephants have really thick, rough skin, they seem to enjoy their baths, and baby elephants are very playful and like to try and headbutt tourists....

Plants and Animals

While we were trekking, and then on our visit to a bird sanctuary on the way back to Mysore, we saw some cool plants and animals. In addition to those pictured here, we saw monkeys and mongers (gooses?) - but they were took quick for our kidsinchennai cameramen. Quick explanation on two of the photos - we are told that the large round structure up in a tree is a 'white ant's nest'. The hill Ashwin is standing next to is the biggest anthill we've ever seen!

Trekking in Coorg

Here are some more trekking photos-

Trekking in Coorg - All Great but the Leeches

Well, since we've had layout problems these past few posts, on the next couple of posts I'm just going to provide a little background text, and then let you scroll the photos. Coorg is an area of Coorg in the hills of the Western Ghats, also home to the headwaters of the River Cauvery, the longest river in South India. It's quite a rural area with forests, coffee and spice plantations. The major activity in Coorg is 'trekking', or what we in the US would refer to as hiking. We took two lovely hikes in Coorg, with the aide of a lovely guide, Chinappa. (a guide is essential since there are no marked trails or readily available maps). After a bumpy jeep ride past paddy fields and pastures, the first hike started in the rain. It was marred only by the presence of a gazillion leeches, which were teeny little critters that dropped onto your shoes and socks looking for a meal. Fortunately, the rain stopped, the trail opened up as we climbed higher, and the leech problem abated.

Out second trek started in the field in back of Chinappa's brothers home, and climbed up through a coffee and spice plantation (photos below of Prabhu with his favorite plant, the coffee tree). Then we were up over a ridge and on to the Abbi falls, where locals love to gather and take a dip - even though the water contains the untreated sewage of the neighboring town of Madikeri (so we stayed on the shore!). We then crossed an exciting bamboo bridge, were up over another ridge and done. Ashwin and Priya were great trekkers! We hope you enjoy the photos.

Lost My First Tooth

We had to interrupt travel blogs temporarily to let everyone see that Priya has lost her first tooth! Not sure if you can tell from the photos, but any minute now she is also going to loose her second tooth. Although the custom here in India is to bury baby teeth in the garden, Priya stuck with US tradition and put her tooth under her pillow last night - and was amply rewarded by the tooth fairy, who managed to find her here in Chennai.

The Road to Coorg - Vacation Part 2

Dear kidsinchennai followers - before the next entry, my apologies that I had a bit of trouble getting the photos in a coherent layout in the last entry. I'm trying a new tact this time -here goes. So, after a few days in Mysore we headed off to the Coorg district in our luxurious Ambassador, fortunately, with a reasonably competent driver (more later about less competent drivers. Formerly the King of the Indian roadway, you actually don't see too many Ambassadors now days. Ashwin and Priya thought it was a great ride. Is that the Corn Palace off in the distance? No, on the way to Coorg, we stopped to see the Namdroling Monastery and the Golden Temple. Not the Sikh Golden Temple, which is much more well known, and in Amritsar. This is the Buddhist Golden Temple. There is a large Tibetan community in the town of Bylakuppe. Apparently, after Tibet was invaded in 1959, the Government of the State of Karnataka offered land to any Tibetans who wanted to resettle there. Quite a number took them up on the offer, and now comprise the largest Tibetan community in South India. Since moving there, the community has built a large temple and Buddhist monastery. The Buddha in the center is Gold plated, and 18meters high!

I have to say, that I think I have been suffering misconceptions about Buddhism. In my mind, I expected the temple and monastery to be peaceful, quiet, contemplative. Instead, there was a riot of color, gory pictorial, and monks who were very affable, fun loving, and made a lot of noise! Priya thought the temple made a great dance space.

Monks playing 'hacky-sack' with a balled-up plastic bag! Ashwin and Berma, one of the monks.