Divali

Divali

I was very excited to find out that the Hindu holiday was on the 26^th of October, My Birthday! I recently found out that it actually falls on the new moon so it is not always on my birthday But this year YES!

It is a holiday of light when families remain at their homes to invite in friends and strangers. Those who celebrate the holiday at home do not eat meat and neither do those who visit them. Small, inviting oil candles called deyas are lit all over the houses. There are normally fireworks, but they are not allowed this year, so we had plenty of sparklers or starlights!

For 2 weeks leading up to the night of the 26^th there is a large festival on the west side of the island with food, crafts, and entertainment every night. When talking to our host dad Mahais, he offered to take us down there to check it out one night. So we all piled into his Maxi Taxi with him and his daughter and headed down south.

It was a large fair set up for the occasion with booths and a large stage. We hit the food first, sampling a little bit of everything and learning the names and ingredients from Mahais. It was most like Indian food but with a West Indian twist, using tropical ingredients that you can only get here like dasheen bush. We washed it down with a number of fresh juices: paw paw (papaya), barbadine, cane juice, and guava.

I then got a beautiful henna tattoo to match with Ruhini, the daughter who has grown attached to me. We cruised the shops with beautiful clothing for the holiday, bags and small crafts mostly imported from India. Then the show was starting so we found seats and watched a number of different acts. There was dancing and musical groups, but my favorite part was the play about one of the legions related to the holiday put on by a bunch of kids. There was waving to parents in the audience, there was stumbling to the correct location and the occasional yawn. Great!

It was a very relaxing environment with people of all ages and none of the stresses and leering of Arima. All in all a very pleasant evening.

On the night of the 26^th my friends made me dinner and a cake! And then we headed down to the other house to celebrate with our hosts. The entire property was lit up with deyas on structures built out of bamboo and metal. We all played with sparklers and noise making poppers while others set up the bamboo to be busted! Bustin’ the Bamboo is an activity that accompanies most celebrations here. It involves a large piece of bamboo, about 5 segments with the dividers knocked out except for the bottom one. Near this you put a small hole where you pour in the Kerosene. This is then lit and blown out in a rhythmic way to great large blasts that sound like cannon fire. We didn’t get a great piece of bamboo so the explosions quickly split it.

Without our own to bust we set out into Temple Village, the little Hindu cluster of houses across the street. The entire hillside was lit up with the deyas all along porches and rooflines and lining driveways. We found some young men showing off their bustin’ skills and people watching and chatting. Kids ran everywhere throwing poppers at each other’s feet and holding the burning sticks (never really realized why my mom was so concerned when we would play with them when we were young… now I get it).

A main theme of the celebration is inviting people into your home and offering them little bags of sweet dough and fruits. I was sharing my starlights with some little boys who pulled me up the hill to their house were there dad offered me one of the treats of the celebration. I talked with their family for a while soaking in the twinkling lights, the smell of sparklers and new company. It was an amazing birthday and a holiday, which I plan to celebrate in the coming years.