India has many, many holidays, perhaps in large part because of its many, many religions. Wednesday November 25th was Guru Nanak Gurpurab, which celebrates the birthday of the first Sikh guru. Here is Theo’s Guru Nanak coloring sheet from school.
Theo had the day off school, so we spent the morning at the National Science Centre where we saw a 3D movie about dinosaurs and were in massive numbers of photos with visiting schoolchildren.
On the way back, our tuk tuk was stopped by the street celebrations near our house – music, mock fights, and lots of food. Rather than sit in traffic, we hopped out and headed to a nearby playground, where some girls who we’d met earlier in our trip were playing. One of the girls handed me a packet of cookies, saying, “It’s my God’s birthday! This is a present for you!” She then showed me that she still had another packet of cookies for herself in her bag, so that I wouldn’t feel guilty about taking the first one.
In the evening, Brian and I went walking through our neighborhood to see more of the celebrations. This being India, there were, of course, fireworks. The local Sikh temple (Gudwara) was brightly lit and we could hear a band playing inside. We were slowly walking past it, trying to peek inside without blocking the flow of those entering, when a couple told us that we could go in. So, we took off our shoes, borrowed head covers, and sat inside the temple listening and watching.
