Diwali- Goan/Punjabi/American/Candadian/Australian/Brazilian Style
This past weekend, Diwali weekend, I was fortunate enough to have two visitors from Delhi, Dan and Rafaela. Dan is an Australian friend of mine who works on and off for the Delhi office of a Melbourne-based engineering firm. We met in India last summer. Rafaela is a friend of his who recently moved to Delhi from Brazil with her mother, who works for the Brazilian embassy there. They arrived in Mussoorie Saturday morning and since Dan had Monday off of work for Diwali, stayed until Monday evening.
Dan and Rafaela and I explored many things that I had been wanting to check out: the actual town of Mussoorie and the market there, the nearby British-run boarding school, the views from Camel Back Road and Gun Hill. To get to the boarding school, Woodstock, we walked down a steep hill that was so thick in exotic looking trees and plants, and since it was so misty that day, that we could barely see 10 feet in front of us. Gun Hill, the site of another of our explorations, is a peak perched right above the main bazaar in Mussoorie. There is a cable car that runs up there, but being fit young people, we decided to scale the peak on foot. Did I ever regret that. The peak was only about 500 meters above the town, but it was an almost completely vertical climb. Up here, the altitude really gets to you. At only 20 meters from the top, I stopped suddenly and felt my blood boiling, my head pounding, my stomach swirling, my lungs gasping for more air... fortunately I was fine in about 15 minutes. And it was pleasant on top- views of the villages and mountains on all sides, and a little cafe where we sat and drank some water.
On Saturday afternoon, we bought loads of fire crackers and Indian sweets from the bazaar, in preparation for Diwali evening. Back at our hotel, there was a small group of Americans, Canadians, and Indians who run an NGO together in Chandigarh, as well as a couple from Goa. Turns out these people had also brought firecrackers and candles. So once it got dark, we all lit our firecrackers and set them off from the hotel yard. We could also see fireworks coming up from the main town of Mussoorie below us. After dinner, we sat around and ate peanuts and candy, and talked into the night.
Sunday morning was the greatest surprise of all. After several days of cold, clouds, and rain, we woke up to sun and clear skies. I was working on some Hindi in my bedroom when I heard some people call me outside. I ran out to the hotel yard, where everyone was staring, transfixed, at the horizon. From this yard, you can easily see the next range of tree-covered mountains. Today, however, since it was so clear, we could see, above and behind the nearer mountains, the peaks of glaciers! Usually these glaciers are obscured by clouds, so it was a very exciting sight for all of us. Someone told me that these far-off glaciers are the Nanda-Devi mountain range, that marks the border between India and Tibet. Apparently this glacier view is the best around 6 in the morning, so one of these days I will try to get up early enough for that. Fortunately, it looks as if the clear skies are staying!
Dan and Rafaela and I explored many things that I had been wanting to check out: the actual town of Mussoorie and the market there, the nearby British-run boarding school, the views from Camel Back Road and Gun Hill. To get to the boarding school, Woodstock, we walked down a steep hill that was so thick in exotic looking trees and plants, and since it was so misty that day, that we could barely see 10 feet in front of us. Gun Hill, the site of another of our explorations, is a peak perched right above the main bazaar in Mussoorie. There is a cable car that runs up there, but being fit young people, we decided to scale the peak on foot. Did I ever regret that. The peak was only about 500 meters above the town, but it was an almost completely vertical climb. Up here, the altitude really gets to you. At only 20 meters from the top, I stopped suddenly and felt my blood boiling, my head pounding, my stomach swirling, my lungs gasping for more air... fortunately I was fine in about 15 minutes. And it was pleasant on top- views of the villages and mountains on all sides, and a little cafe where we sat and drank some water.
On Saturday afternoon, we bought loads of fire crackers and Indian sweets from the bazaar, in preparation for Diwali evening. Back at our hotel, there was a small group of Americans, Canadians, and Indians who run an NGO together in Chandigarh, as well as a couple from Goa. Turns out these people had also brought firecrackers and candles. So once it got dark, we all lit our firecrackers and set them off from the hotel yard. We could also see fireworks coming up from the main town of Mussoorie below us. After dinner, we sat around and ate peanuts and candy, and talked into the night.
Sunday morning was the greatest surprise of all. After several days of cold, clouds, and rain, we woke up to sun and clear skies. I was working on some Hindi in my bedroom when I heard some people call me outside. I ran out to the hotel yard, where everyone was staring, transfixed, at the horizon. From this yard, you can easily see the next range of tree-covered mountains. Today, however, since it was so clear, we could see, above and behind the nearer mountains, the peaks of glaciers! Usually these glaciers are obscured by clouds, so it was a very exciting sight for all of us. Someone told me that these far-off glaciers are the Nanda-Devi mountain range, that marks the border between India and Tibet. Apparently this glacier view is the best around 6 in the morning, so one of these days I will try to get up early enough for that. Fortunately, it looks as if the clear skies are staying!
posted by Molly at 12:00 AM
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