Monday, November 15, 2004

Happy Belated Diwali

Happy belated Diwali, folks.

I like this holiday mainly for the sweets. I'm also more or less happy that the God Rama managed to slay the demon Ravana, but the whole rescuing-of-Sita thing seems a little sexist, doesn't it? It's not my favorite Hindu myth. I prefer the Mahabharata, which is populated primarily by human beings fighting wars, over the Ramayana, which is full of Gods, and seems to be obsessed with female chastity.

I'm also not big on firecrackers everywhere; lots of kids get hurt every year because of them. The American model -- for July 4th -- is perhaps excessively puritanical (many states ban firecrackers entirely), but at least you don't hear stories about kids who lose an eye or a finger anymore.

Our celebration of Diwali entailed: 1) eating sweets, naturally (so far: jalebi, chocolate burfi, laddoos), 2) going dancing in New York on Friday night (nothing like Puerto Rican Reggaeton to start off the Indian New Year), and 3) a small party on Saturday in New Haven.

And did I mention sweets?