Diwali, India's famous festival of lights, was upon us . Diwali celebrates several important events in the Hindu scriptures, but the most important story comes from the Ramayana, or story of Prince Ram. Several months ago, the demon Ravana had stolen Ram's bride away to his fortress on Sri Lanka. During the holiday of Dusshera, Hindus had commemorated Ram's victory over Ramana. Now, during Diwali, they commemorated his triumphant return home.

Although we hired taxis in advance for just this eventuality, our drivers had neglected to leave their village festivities for work, and we had been waiting two hours as the taxi company scrambled to find Muslim drivers not currently engaged. When the taxis finally pulled up,
we breathed a sigh of relief that drivers could be found at all.  

Diwali may be a pain in the neck, but only because we had yet to adjust to the realities of India. In America, there are enough religious minorities that, even on Christmas, the economy continues, if halfheartedly, but the Indian economy is dominated by the Hindus .

Once we adjusted, Diwali is fundamentally a celebration, and we enjoyed the festivities. As our neighbors lit off firecrackers in the street, the brilliant green and yellow sparks in the sky outshone the moon, and brought smiles to our faces. The nearby Birla Temple was packed with worshipers, and we all joined our host families for Diwali parties.

During the night, we enjoyed the bangs and flashes in the sky, but during the day, we discovered Jaipur, once the hometown of Mughal generals, is now one of India's premier industrial cities. As we visited factory after factory, we asked, "Who buys your goods?" Again and again, they answered, "We export them to America." At a recycled cotton paper
factory, we needed not even ask: they clearly were constructing Christmas ornaments. We also learned that customers prefer the imperfections of hand-printing to the ease of sheet printing and that blue pottery, unique to Jaipur is, unusually, fired only once .

When not visiting factories, we learned about Jaipur's rich medieval history (Indians call the Mughal Empire medieval, even though it occurred from 1526 to 1707.) The Amber Fort has an ingenious water system, using two teams of oxen carrying buckets and a third driving a noria to raise water 45 m.

However, other concerns overshadowed our visit. As we approached, we excitedly announced to each other the camels we passed. Then someone let loose a cry trumping "Camel!"  "Elephant!"  Instantly, we went wild, craning our necks to observe the elephant, palanquin, and mahout. Slowly, it rumbled by, shaking its head at our foolishness. We sighed in awe.

While Rishi bought us entrance tickets, Kevin, as usual, examined the local vendors' wares. Fascinated, we watched as he tried a cross between a sitar and a violin. Disappointed, he bought a hat instead. Instantly, hat-wallahs realized they had missed prey, and swarmed Kevin . To their bewilderment, Kevin was willing...to trade his new hat away! Three vendors later and ten rupees richer, Kevin had settled on a turban.

Meanwhile, Cooper went to go visit a friend of his that he and his mother had made years ago at his jewelry shop in Jaipur. After many hours (and many complimentary espressos) later, Cooper's friend extended to Heather and Cooper an invitation to the Diwali party at the royal palace. Cooper and Heather were pleasantly surprised and thankful for his kindness and generosity about the invite.

Other Diwali celebrations included Katie, Sofia, Emily, and Mia all wearing Sari's for the night as fireworks exploded in the sky all night long.

All in all, everyone in the group had an amazing Diwali experience.

We began each morning in Jaipur with Yoga Class taught by the daughter of "Yoga Mother," who had taught some of the most prominent Hollywood stars. No pressure, indeed! Nonetheless, we persevered, and somehow stayed upright . Meanwhile, our teacher informed us how different poses were good for different ailments, and would say things like, "This is good for legs," or, more inexplicably, "This is good for controlling your emotions."

Afterward, we would join Rishi for Hindi language lessons, discovering how "cha" is different from "chha" (They aren't, I insist!). Too soon, however, lessons had ended, as had our week in Jaipur, and we were buying snacks for the train ride to Udaipur.

Jacob