Diwali - Part 1

It's Diwali -- the Festival of Lights. Think of Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, and the Fourth of July all rolled into one week-long festival.

The main dates of Diwali this year are November 3, 4, and 5. But this is Gujarat. In Gujarat, Diwali celebrations started on October 31, and will continue for 10 days. This is also the Gujarati New Year. The "crackers" (firecrackers) are continuous from sunset to midnight, with occasional outbursts at any time of day or night. At night, houses are lit up with strings of colored lights and oil lamps. I'll try to get some of those pictures tonight -- it's much more difficult to photograph at night!

Sand paintings on thresholds are common this one is at Spice Academy, where we take our Hindi lessons.

The one, with a clay lamp, is at Ruby Macon's main office in Vapi.

You can tell it's a festival season when marigolds are sold by the kilo.

Bags of marigolds on Main Bazaar Street.

In this blow-up of the photo above, you can see the marigold seller with her child sleeping on milk crates amidst the motor scooters.

More marigolds. In the background you can see marigolds already strung.
You can buy marigold strings every day -- you never know when an auspicious moment will occur!

This is also a major shopping day. This photo doesn't really do justice to the crowds crammed into this little lane just off Main Bazaar Street.