Lighting up Laporiya during Diwali

Yesterday was Diwali, or the Festival of Light, India's biggest festival. It's a 3 day holiday in India, much like Christmas with lots of Happy Diwali phone calls, texts and emails. Living with my family in Laporiya, I had the opportunity to witness the whole process. It started a couple of weeks ago when all rooms had to be thoroughly cleaned, our office was repainted and new bed covers and carpets were bought for each bedroom. This was all to please Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and yesterday was given over to her worship. We invited her into our house, lighting small earthen butter lamps or diyas to illuminate her way and painting footprints before each doorway so that she would know which rooms to enter. Apparently Laxmi likes cleanliness, so will enter the cleanest rooms first.

During the day we had a special breakfast which included keer (delicious, sweet rice pudding), and puri (deep fried flaky roti) and prepared plates for puja (offerings). Half the family went to the nearest city to buy sweets and other items to help make the offerings.

As night fall approached, the small butter candles were placed all over the house, on the edge of each step and on every windowsill. Climbing to a high point in the building we could look out over the village during a regular powercut to see hundreds of flickering candles shining out of the darkness. The priests had given the designated time of 6.30pm to 8pm to make our Lakshmi puja, so each family assembled in their own living quarters to present spices, grains, sweets, incense and holy thread to the goddess, hoping she would bring wealth and happiness in the coming year. The puja ended with a special devotional song to Lakshmi then touching the feet of elderly family members as a mark of respect.

After attending puja with my boss' family, then in my father's study to his cheque books and money, it was time for a brief makeshift session in my room. I didn't have a picture of the right god, but luckily my sister had bought a spare one for me. My father wished me peace, happiness and money for the future and pressed a tilak to my forehead as the room filled with incense. This was one night where the lights in every room were left on to welcome Lakshmi.

Crackers and sparklers followed and afterwards I sat quietly at the front of the house, drinking my evening milk and watching the bright explosions over the village. Quietly contemplative and somewhat missing my family during this time of togetherness.

Today everyone is wearing new clothes, and according to tradition, all the villagers came to our house to offer sweets and say Happy Diwali. More puja was made, this time to Lord Krishna, who is the cow herder. This involved the women of the house gathering around a large cow pat while a lady Brahmin priest mixed it with curd and sweets and other goodies while singing praises to the god. I've been told vehicles will also be worshipped today.

More photos of the village

Inspired by the success of my previous wander around Laporiya, I ventured out again, this time at dusk began to set in and homes were busy with activity before nightfall. Along the way I met a Grandma, saw a buffalo being milked, was pestered by children to take their photo, invited into a house for chai and introduced to a wrinkly day old baby.

A walk around Laporiya

Celia, another VSO Volunteer came to visit me in Laporiya this weekend and this morning we did something I've rarely done before- we went for a walk around the village.

Here are some of the sights we saw on the way...

Time to reflect

Last weekend I went to Delhi. I'd been looking forward to the trip every since Jen and Nikki had invited me to their backpackers fancy dress party a few weeks before. They are both VSO UK volunteers but arrived in November 2009 so had just celebrated their 6 month anniversary, a landmark I was keen to pass.

The long weekend gave me a chance to reflect on my new life in Laporiya village and how it differed to life in Delhi. One thing that constantly comes up in conversations with other VSO volunteers is that every placement has positive and negative factors, there is no perfect placement, and different lifestyles suit different people.

Delhi, frantic markets, 2 minute access to mangos, meaty take aways, american style cafes, air conditioned bedrooms, pepe jeans, wonderful anoki, turtle cafe, pedicures, dentists, hairdressers, olympic sized swimming pools, real coffees, beer, expats, bars, dancing, karaoke, cinemas, western style toilets, showers, dust free flats and english conversations with sympathisers.

Laporiya, my home, quiet, kind to wallets, dusty, filled with family, slow, time for reading and writing, simple fresh food.

I didn't come to India to live an expat lifestyle, i came to be Indian for a year, to live how I never would again. To have time to reflect, rest, recharge and learn to value my own company, to prove to myself I could be truly independant. But the thing I've come to realise is that you are never really alone, there are always people to support you. Yes I'm here in India by myself but in under three months I have a group of new VSO volunteer friends who I'm taking trips around the country to see, 30 new family members, rewarding work to get stuck into with accomodating colleagues and of course my original family and friends on the end of my reliance net connect broadband stick.

Now I can have the best of both worlds. I can live a simple life in the country learning how to appreciate running water, electricity, rain, baths, being able to choose who you marry and where you live, lush English countryside and the cool British air. Then when I've had enough I can pop to Delhi or Kolkata and overdose on filter coffee, air conditioning and conversation.

And I can feel myself changing already. I do feel more independant, somehow stronger, more sure of my gut instinct, trusting that my own decisions are the best for me. Certain that I want to build my own eco-home back in England, that I can't spend my career doing anything apart from trying to make positive changes to people's lives. There are huge problems and I know when I'm back home I won't be able to ignore them. Forced child labour, child marriages, droughts, poor sanitation ruining lives, mothers dying from traditional birthing practices, industries exploiting precious natural resources, a lack of respect for the environment. I knew this year wouldn't be easy. It's a challenge but if you don't keep challenging yourself you won't get anywhere. Yes, I count down the days and seek landmark dates for anniversaries of how long I've done or how long until I see Rob, but I know this year will be seminal for me, a defining period in my personal development. You can't ask for more than that.

Photos: A meaty brunch over the weekend with VSO volunteers in an airconditioned american style cafe in Delhi vs. proudly displaying the butter and buttermilk I churned last week in Laporiya with my kakisa (aunty).

The day CNEB came to Laporiya

On Friday I was woken at 5.45am by my boss, Jagveer, banging on my bedroom door. I rolled out of bed wondering what was happening now. I was told that a news channel was coming to Laporiya to film a piece about the environmental work GVNML are doing and when they’d found out a volunteer from England was living in the village, they wanted to interview me as well. I was to be ready in 10 minutes. Quickly washing and geting dressed into my best Kurta, I managed to knock back two cups of chai before they arrived in true Indian fashion one hour later. The CNEB contingent consisted of a slightly tubby cameraman who looked dishevelled and annoyed to be out of the comfort of city life, a suave interview/presenter guy, and a young driver/general skivvy.
At first they were in a real rush to get their filming done, marching around the village and creating mock situations to include on their news feature. I was made to throw seed up in the air to feed the birds and was put in the middle of a group of village men I’d never met before. In a place where the locals had pledged oaths not to harm the birds or trees, these two men were throwing stones into the tops of trees and shouting to try and catch on film the parrots flying off. I couldn’t help but enjoy it when they’d be trying to disturb the birds to no avail, and a few minutes later when the camera was off all the birds would fly across the landscape in what would have been a perfect shot.

The interviewer was convinced I had come to GVNML to do ‘research’. No, I kept explaining, I’m a volunteer, sent by VSO to support their work and help them with their communications, but when the camera started rolling his first question to me was “What research are you doing in Laporiya?” He went on to ask “How do you feel about Laporiya?”, “What do you think of the community here?” Bearing in mind I had only been living here one week and this was the first time I’d been allowed out into the village proper, I found the whole thing quite amusing. They kept saying “this is an emotion interview”, which I took to mean they weren’t that concerned with the facts.
Later we went out in the jeep with Laxman to see some of the choukas (part of the water management system), and he explained how they worked. In the photo Laxman is drawing a diagram in the sand to camera. Again, they asked me “How do you FEEL about the chouka system, what do you understand by it?” They told me to say I was impressed with it, so dredging up my English Heritage media training I did what they asked and gave quite a good interview I think. Apparently it was being aired on national tv last night. A fine way to celebrate my first week in Laporiya!

20 things you didn't know about my new life in Laporiya village

1. Laxman Singh's grandfather used to be King of Laporiya and a few other villages. I'm living with him and his extended family. They see themselves as members of the Rajput caste, one of the major Hindu warrior groups in India.
2. There are 150 different species of birds. Some are very rare, and it's because of GVNML's conservation programme these birds thrive here.
3. It's very hot in Rajasthan this time of year. In the nights I usually sleep on a day bed outside because my room is too hot. There's not much light pollution here so you can see all the stars.
4. My bedroom is just off a big courtyard and used to be a communal bathroom. It's completley tiled and still has lots of taps in it.
5. Indian toilets are not like the ones back home in England. I'm gradually getting the hang of them and have given up using toilet paper.
6. If I want a shower in the evening it's best to fill a bucket early in the morning, otherwise the water in the tank on the roof gets so hot during the day it's almost boiling.
7. Everyone who lives in Laporiya loves roti, they eat it three times a day normally with one or two vegetable dishes. There is no rice here and wheat is definitely the staple food.
8. My NGO, GVNML is working with a UK development agency called Wells for India. Through their funding GVNML have built lots of new wells in the surrounding villages and spread their innovative chouka system, changing the livelihoods of hundreds of local people. The parents of the girl in the photo can now afford to send her to school, thanks to the crops (field behind) they are now growing on land irrigated by a new water system.
9. My new boss, Jagveer (Laxman's brother), is big on badminton and usually starts the day playing it on a court drawn in the dust in the car park. He's a lot better than me and said my serve was poor- must try harder!
10. Laporiya runs on hot, milky, sweet Chai. I normally get woken up with a cup of chai at 6.45am, prepared by the office cook, who is a sweet lady called Sanju but we have trouble communicating with my limited Hindi and her limited English.
11. Sanju does a mean cold coffee, but only in the afternoon once the freezer has been on for a few hours. I'd say it's better than Cafe Coffee Day.
12. Laxman's father, Ragunate, has a 'mistake in the head' I'm told. He's physically fit but I think he has alzheimers and sometimes shouts or thinks it's dinner time when it's morning, or forgets he has eaten.
13. Laxman has adopted me as his daughter, and says it's now his responsibility to find me a husband. He has joked that when Rob visits in August we will have a big Rajasthani wedding. I wonder whether it would be legally binding!
    
14. Ratan (my new sister) is getting married in November or December- she has only met her husband to be once but seems pretty smitten with him. They tell me that at Rajpoot parties there is drink and non veg (ie. Meat!). My new mother has promised I can wear one of her party dresses too.
15. Spare time in the day is usually spent hiding from the 100 degree heat, inside a dark room with the desert cooler on and perhaps an Indian soap on sky tv (every family in the house has their own box).
    
16. One of our dogs, Jacqui seems to be fighting a losing battle with his fleas. If you give him any attention he nuzzles and leans against you and won't leave you alone. People often have to rescue me from him. I have to be careful not to get bitten.
    
17. You soon get used to the electricity cuts here. It's on from 7pm to 6am, then 11am to 4pm. It becomes an event when the lights and fans work again.
18. Laxman's wife, Anand, is basically in charge of cooking. She doesn't buy 'market food' like bread or biscuits, here they mill their own wheat flour and make their own butter from milk from their own cows. Much of her day is focused on preparing food.
19. In India, what your name means is very important. Anand (Mum) means very fine; Pratab (younger brother) means king; Akshay (cousin) means always win and Laxmi (younger sister) means god of money. When they asked me what my name meant, unfortunately I couldn't remember.
20. My new mum gave me a Rajasthani dress of hers and my sister and cousin had great fun dressing me up in it and getting the scarf just so. See the picture for the final result.