Kids, dressed up for a celebration, at the Firangai Mata Temple in Kurkumbh, Daund, Maharashtra – The little girl in front is the daughter of Ambadas Bhagat, our local office boy (cum office priest, o yes, we have an office priest, don’t mess with us!) (Picture – compliments of Thangaraju, my Malaysian colleague)
Last weekend was Deepavali (or Diwali for short in many parts of India). Here in the UAE, we got a 3-day weekend (Fri-Sun), thanks not to Diwali, but to the Islamic New Year (aka Awal Muharram in Malaysia). Nope, didn’t do anything ambitious. Went to church (it’s on Fridays here in Dubai), and had lunch at the pastor’s house (again, in conjunction with celebrating a church member’s birthday). On Saturday evening (or more like night) we had a barbecue in a park with the church group celebrating the pastor’s birthday. Not much photos as it was at night, and whatever photos we have are still in the camera (as usual). Creek Park was surprisingly crowded at night, with loads of people picnicking, barbecuing, and just plain having fun. There’re kids running all over the place till at least 11pm at night.
In another place (I’m thinking Malaysia), the only people you’d find at a public park that late at night would be young lovers, gang members, drug addicts or suicidal citizens looking to be robbed or stung by a hundred mosquitoes. The beauty with Dubai is that is has NO mosquitoes, none so far anyway. Wonderful huh?
I’m putting some photos of some of the festivals that used to grace our boring routine lives while we’re in Maharashtra, India. That’s the beauty of staying in a country with so many gods. Luckily for these festivals, if not I can’t imagine how tensed up we’d be (especially the missus) when yours truly used to work six & a half days weeks, topped up with unending telephone calls coming at anytime from the horde of heroes and villains of the Project.
Procession at the Firangai Mata (or Devi) Temple, Kurkumbh 2011 in conjunction with… I have no idea, there’re temple-related functions and celebrations every other week! Every temple has its own special day, there’re about a hundred and one temples, or more in our stretch. Now, do the math. (Pictures – compliments of Thanga)
The annual Tukaram Phalki procession / pilgrimage – June 2011. Every June, we have to shut down our road construction works for 3 to 4 days to allow the procession to pass through. About 25 km out of our 54 km stretch of road are affected. Tens of thousands of pilgrims (I don’t know how many, but there’re a lot) embark on a month-long procession from Dehu, near Pune to Pandhapur, a journey of about 250 km, on foot, sleeping in makeshift tents along the way set up by the organizers and villagers. (Don’t ask me how they deal with their daily toilet needs coz I have absolutely no idea.) The centrepiece of this procession is a palanquin (phalki) carrying the things of the Hindu saint, Tukaram.
Tukaram Phalki 2011, at Chaufulla
IJM Trucks cleaned up and garlanded with flowers in conjunction with Vishwakarma Puja, the worship day of the Hindu God of Engineers, Architects, Craftsmen and the like. This day, by the way, is the only day in the year that you’d see machines, trucks and tools in India cleaned up and properly arranged.
Having a feast on Vishwakarma Puja, IJM Girim Camp, Maharashtra
Anu and a neighbour, at our apartment grounds in Daund, on Ganesh Chaturthi 2012 – a festival dedicated to Lord Ganesha, the Hindu elephant-headed god. This is one of the biggest festivals in Maharashtra, and you’ll see countless temporary Ganesha shrines (mandaps or pandals in the local language) set up all over the place.
Anu with a another friend, parking lot below our apartment, Daund
Anu & Justin, Deepavali 2012, Daund
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