Story of Diwali

Diwali is a festival of light, joy and prosperity and a celebration of the victory of good over evil. This is the story related to this festival.

Thousands of years agothere was a wise and good king named Dasaratha who ruled along with his three queens and four princes. There had been different wars and Dasartha's second wife saved his life so he repaid her with a wish,  she replied and say I am going to save my wish for the future and you have to honour it then.
The eldest son of the first wife, Ram and his beautiful wife, Sita, lived happily along with his other prince brothers and their wives. But the second wife of King Dasaratha was jealous of Ram and demanded that he be exiled to the forest for 14 years so that her son, Bharat, could be made king. This was her wish. He had to fulfil her wish so the helpless king exiled Ram to the forest. Ram set off on foot accompanied by his loving wife Sita, and loyal younger brother, Lakshman.

A few years into their exile, Sita saw a deer and wanted it for dinner so Ram went to hunt the deer. He ask his brother Lakshman to look after and protect Sita. Then a demon took the form of a golden deer and distracted Lakshman so he also went in search of the deer, he drew a line and told Sita that she will stay protected if she stays behind the line.
Ravan, the demon King of Lanka, disguised his himself as a priest and came asking for food. Sita had to cross the line to give the food and then the priest turned into the ten headed demon (Ravan). He took Sita to Lanka and locked her in his palace.

When Ram and Lakshman returned, Sita was missing! They realised that something bad had happened while they were gone and immediately rushed to find her.

On their way, they came across the monkey God Hanuman and an army of monkeys that agreed to help them. Hanuman knew where Sita was and told Ram. They had to cross the sea to Lanka and a priest told them to write Brahma on a rock and it will float so once making the bridge they began a great battle between to two mighty armies and Ram’s soldiers managed to kill all the demons, except one – Ravan.

The battle was now between Ram and Ravan. He gave Ravan one last chance to apologise and return Sita. Ravan instead rained down weapons on him. Ram too fought back relentlessly but despite all his efforts, nothing seemed to kill Ravan. Finally, Ravan’s brother Vibheeshan told Ram that Ravan’s weakest point was in his navel. Using an arrow given to him by the gods, Ram shot Ravan in the navel and killed him instantly.

And so, Ram and his love,Sita, were finally reunited.

Soon after, upon completion of their 14 years in exile, Ram, Sita and Lakshman returned home to find the entire city waiting for them! The streets were decorated with flowers and lamps and there was happiness everywhere.

And this is why every year on Diwali Festival Facts, you see the streets, homes and offices lit up with lamps.

Udaipur 29.10.16 - 31.10.16

29th
We caught a train from Pushkar to Udaipur sitting with the locals. It was cramped, hot and the seats were uncomfortable but we played games and passed the time. Udaipur is the cleanest city in India, I thought because it was Diwali that the streets had been cleaned and decorated but the streets are always clean.
In the evening we took a boat out on Pichola Lake and Dino told us the story of Diwali before we went for dinner.

30th
HAPPY DIWALI
We started off the day by going for breakfast and then Dino took us to show us some miniature paintings, they are famous for this in the area. I then took an art class with Jess, Olivia, Alex, Amber and Mackenzie, we learnt how to draw and paint a peacock. We added in very fine details, the first brush we used was made from camel eyelashes and the  very thin brush for detail was made of chipmunk tail fur. I also learnt that they use natural dyes for the paints most of them made from stones but white is from mother of pearl and yellow is made from cows urine. My lunch today got stuck in a traffic jam; the waiter came to apologise  that my food was late because they were waiting for the paneer to arrive! After I had more mehendi done.
In the evening we went to a firework market to buy fireworks for Diwali.  Then off to Dino's second cousins house (a prince for a Kingdom in Rajasthan) for a Diwali pray then dinner and fireworks. This was my favourite evening so far...there was so much laughter from all, I even got to light a firework! We got sparklers and wrote #yolo and Diwali with them, I got some great photos.
#bestDiwaliever!

31st
We had a free day to explore so I went to a cooking class and learnt how to cook masala chai, samosas, dal fry, palak paneer, zeera rice, vegetables and chapatti. Afterwards we go to eat it for lunch, tasty! Kate and I went for a walk over the lake through the town then the park before we went out to a local show. This show had musicians, 4 different dance forms and a puppet show. It was so colourful and interesting to see the dances , I especially liked the dance where they were playing bells on different parts of their bodies with the movements.

Pushkar 27.10.16 - 28.10.16

When arriving in Pushkar was took a walk through the town to the Temple it is the only Temple in India that worships Brahma because his wife cursed him (there are a few other now). We then spent more time shopping before we went for dinner, wasn't the best food of the trip so far. The restaurant was over looking the lake a holy pool in Pushkar; it is said to be the tears of Lord Shiva; the other lake from his tears is in Pakistan. On the way back to the hotel we get stopped by the police! There was 8 of us girls walking with Dino; the Police thought that he was leading us a stray or selling us drugs. They where going to send him to prison but luckily we could get hold of the local guide to help sort the issue.

Up very early for the sunrise but before we could do that that we had to climb up to Savitri Temple (Frist wife of Brahma). It was such a beautiful sunrise. On our walk down we saw many many monkeys. So cute but need to keep your belongings close. I decided to have a chilled day resting by the pool and went for a dip. Kate decided to dye her hair with henna so now it looks orange.  Lots of older men and woman dye their hair with henna because either is a natural herb and covers gray. Henna was used in the olden days to cover the body to stay cool in the summer but now it has become a part of the traditions and culture.

For dinner we went into the desert, we had a show by a magician. We got to dress up in the local attire and join in with the band and dancers and then the entertainment finished with a fire eater display. We were then serviced dinner under the stars. It was a beautiful evening.

Tordi Sagar 26.10.16

Well partying hard the night before ment most of us were not feeling great in the morning but some managed to get up for yoga on the rooftop...not me though! We then spent the morning traveling from Jaipur to Tordi Sagar in jeeps. I loved travelling by jeep, I had the party bus with Vengaboys, Sharika and Saturday night!

Once arriving in Tordi Sagar we took an open jeep on a mini safari visiting the farms and a small village. Here I met some children that  were asking for chewing gum. The only thing close I could offer them was some polos so I was handing them out,they looked at me funny thinking what is this but it smelt minty so they started to eat it and spat them out. One kid came up to me and gave it back but then I realised he had already put it in his mouth, he was telling me to eat it as it was not like chewing gum...lovely!

 After having dinner on the terrace a few of us were chatting when a stray dog had got in to the hotel and jumped on the table. Elizabeth decided to go to bed and Dino was telling it to follow her, it did and went and sat out side her bedroom door and started howling; we could not stop laughing!

The next morning we took a short walk around the village and we got to see a man making clay pots on a home made wheel where he was spinning with a stick getting it up to speed before he made different shapes pots from one piece of clay. I even got a chance to make one, it surprisingly worked well and didn't break.

It was party time again in the party jeep;
The party jeep is coming,
And everybody is jumping,
From Tordi to Pushkar City,
An intercity disco.
The wheels of steel are turning,
Diwali lights are burning,
So if you want to party,
Come on and move your body.

Jaipur 24.10.16 - 25.10.16

Today (Monday) we arrived in Jaipur after taking a local bus. I loved this hotel it was owned by locals and had a very chilled atmosphere. We went for a walk around the city then caught rickshaws...racing down the street till we arrived at the cinema. We went to see M. S. Dhoni, this film was in Hindu and was about Dhoni life and how he became a famous cricket player.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RILEY!


To start the day (Tuesday) we went to another fort. I saw an elephant. I visited a block printing factory/shop and a jewellery factory/shop. Back at thr hotel I did a bollywood dance class with; Elliott, Riley, Umber and Mackenzie,  it was so much fun and we were really good at it. At Riley's party we had a cake and lots of alcohol, Sung songs with rapping from Elliott and Kate. I hope Riley had a fantastic birthday.

Taj Mahal 23.10.16

Today we went to Agra on the train we had to get up at 4 to catch the early train. Breakfast was on the train and wasn't as good as the dinners I've had on there! Once arriving in Agra we visited Agra Fort, it was interesting to learn how it was built and we could see the Taj Mahal from there. It was time for lunch and we got a chance to go to Sheroes Hangout, I was excited to go here as I had a recommendation from other who had been. This is a restaurant run by survivors of acid attacks. It was sad to hear about their stories and great to hear what they have got out of this charity. Here is a picture with the group and the waitresses we had today.

After lunch it was nap time so we where refreshed for the Taj Mahal after a very early start. I loved visiting the Taj Mahal  again as there where less people and I got to see it in a different light. The design is so beautiful, we had a wonder around and found a lovely quite spot to see the sunset on the Taj Mahal. The colours in the marble looked phenomenal and the sunset was undiscribeable.

I managed to spot some huge bats flying around before we headed out for dinner, they where so memorising. 

Start of second tour - Uncover India 22.10.16

So I went for breakfast and found a lost looking face (Jess) and invited her to join me. We got chatting for a while then the hotel staff came and said I had to pack up all my things and move rooms. This is when I met my room mate,  Kate...not Katie or Katherine just Kate! The 3 of us decided to visit the Red Fort, we braved it and caught the metro...safety in numbers we thought. After we figured out how to get a token and where we needed to get to and how it took us 1 and a half hours as the other end we had to navigate the people and traffic on the roads to find the Red Fort. Finally we arrived and had enough time to wonder around before making our way back for the tour meeting. We were the only westerns on the metro and we got to ride in the ladies only carriage.

Once returning we met all the other people on the tour and went to dinner. We have Jess, Olivia, Ashleigh, Tara, Amber, Elisabeth, Alex, André, Sarina, Espen, Umber, Mackenzie, Elliott, Riley, Laura, Orla, Kate, me and our tour guide Dinesh (Dino).

Sapphire International School 16.10.16 - 21.10.16

This week I have been visiting a school in Noida, Delhi, India.
This is what I have been getting up to:

Sunday 16th
I met some children  and we went to visit the Taj Mahal. They were very excited but a bit shy at first. The children enjoyed asking me lots of questions all day about myself and England. The Taj Mahal was very, very busy. Such a beautiful building, we spent some time wondering around and taking photos. We had some food on the way back as we got back late.

Monday 17th
This morning I was welcomed into the school, they put a tilak on my forehead with rice and a garland around my neck. I met the principle, chairman and his daughter and many students and staff. They were very welcoming. First I got a tour around the school and saw lots of art work they had created whilst studying artists. I had a music class perform a song, i joined in on an art class and went into to see some classes working. I then got to see a dance class,  they had a lot of energy...then I was thrown in and had to teach them some ballet for 10 minutes. After my tour I went with some children to 2 different local temples then it was back to school for some lunch. That was the end of my day.

Tuesday 18th
I arrived at the school to have breakfast. Then I was taken to teach 2 classes. The first class had a hand full of girls and lots of boys about 30 children. They get very excited. The next class was a lunch time club and the room was packed. They had 50 to 60 children, I taught them some ballet moves they were very dedicated and really took the steps in. After they continued with there normal club I tried to join in but they have so much energy. I was then taken to Swaminarayan Akshardham, it is such a beautiful building. It took over 13 years to complete by many craftsmen. We went into the exhibitions and learnt about the life of Bhagwan Swaminarayan.

Wednesday 19th

Today I went to another branch of the school. This school is quite new and only have a small number of pupils as it's only been open for 2 years and they will be expanding. I taught 2 classes here and the children were very excited to learn a new dance style and the teaches were intrigued as well. I had many compliments and was told I am an amazing ballet dancer.
I also met another chairperson from another school and she was very interested in linking more schools from the UK to India...my job has begun!

Thursday  20th
This morning I went to school and taught 2 Ballet lessons. Before that I had breakfast...every morning the school have given me breakfast and it has been delicious and something new to try each day. After the lessons teachers took me to Delhi Haat a big market with lots of specialties for each state in India. We had lunch there. Then on the way back Rishi invited me up to her flat for a lemonade,  it was very tasty and made up of water, lemon and sugar.

Friday 21st
This was my last day at the school. I wish I could have stayed longer, I had such a great time and learnt so much. Today I taught a few more lessons, then I had a chance to help the dance teacher choreograph the dance for the next performance as she wanted to incorporate Ballet into it. I can't wait to see the final show.  I want to say thank you to the school for having me there that week and for all your kind gifts I received. I will be back one day to visit again, I'm  am sure.

Friday 21.10.16

This afternoon I have been to Kingdom of Dreams with Kritika  and Richa. It was great to see some beautiful and colourful buildings, we got a chance to eat food from different parts of India and look at some shops. There was also a small dance performance that we watched. It was my last night with the the teachers. I had such a great week and made some friends which I hope to get to see again. Thank you for such an amazing week. It was sad to say goodbye.

Thursday 20.10.16

This evening I went to Lilit's house for dinner, she is a teacher at the school. She prepared such a lovely meal for us it was lovely. Thank you.

Wednesday 19.10.16

On this evening I was taken shopping in a big Mall by the Art teacher, Namisha. We had a great time together, I brought some chocolate, hair clips, a dress and some make up as I forgot to pack some in my rucksack! We then had a small dinner as the school have been so kind and keep feeding me lots of delicious food I was still full from lunch and 2 breakfasts. Namisha was telling me about her plans and dreams for the future and I wish her all the best in achieving them.

I think I have inspired many people so far on my travels.

Monday 17.10.16

This week I am teaching dance at Sapphire International School. I will be uploading a big post about my time in the school at he end of the week. Monday evening Kritika and Richa took me out to get mehendi and to have dinner.

Similarities and differences between schools

Here are some of the similarities and differences between Thomas's, uk and Sapphire school, India:

Similarities
* colourful corridor displays
* 4 houses and inter house competitions
* all lessons are taught in English

Differences:
* there are no toys in classrooms
* they eat lunch in their classrooms
* we have individual music lessons
* they have grades and start with nursery which is our reception year
* we have lots of practical activities and experiments to aid learning and integrated topics.
* they call all teachers ma'am or sir

You thought drivers in the UK are bad???

Sign says wear seat belts...what seat belts?

Driving the wrong way down a one way street.

Over taking on blind corners at the mountain side with no barriers.

Honk Honk Honk, I'm coming ready or not.

No paths...what are they?

Cows and dogs wondering everywhere.

Is that a road? Really!

3 lanes not to worry we can ignore that, let's make 4!

How many people can you squeeze into a taxi? 9!

How many people can you squeeze into a tuk-tuk? 6!

My favourite road sing so far:
Drive slow and enjoy the scenery, drive fast and join the scenery.

Georgia's last day in Delhi

So before Georgia had to get her flight back to the UK we decided to go and explore more of Delhi. We saw the Red Fort, Jama Masjid and we visited:

Qutub Minard

Bahai's Temple (the lotus temple)


Akshardham Temple


Then for Georgia's last meal she choose Pizza Hut!

Shimla and the toy train 13.10.16 - 14.10.16

We visited the Viceregal Lodge it was finished in 1888, and reminded me of being back in England. The garden was beautiful, just like an English garden, I even saw a humming bird. We took taxis back into town and took a lift up 2 street levels. We again spent the afternoon shopping and watched the sun go down...didn't manage to make it up to the Temple but got some great photos on my camera. Mary and Georgina got a henna tattoo and I had a horse ride around the square. It was our last meal as a whole group as the next day we are to get into Delhi late and will eat dinner on the train again, I hope it is as nice as last time.

Our 13 hour journey back to Delhi from Shimla started with the toy train, twisting and turning around the lush green mountains. We went through 107 tunnels and over 864 bridges. The seats were not comfortable and the toilet was interesting. This was the first day I have seen a daddy longlegs...2 came into the carriage and they got removed thanks to Karin, thank you for doing that, I'm not sure what the local people were thinking when I was sitting on the floor trying to get away from it! We then boarded the express train from Kalka to Delhi. Georgina  and I made Sam a thank you cards and yet again had some yummy food.

                  

So this was the end of the tour, we said our good byes and wished everyone safe travels.

Arrived in Shimla

Expiry date

So I decide to by some crips and biscuits for the bus journey...buy them get back to the hotel and see the dates on them...a few months out of date, oh well they taste fine.

Then Georgia and I really wanted some chocolate to get some chocolate we check the date before buying,  it again out of date so we said no. The shop keeper was insistent that it was fine but we said no anyway. He kept saying it's fine for 12 months. Ice try we are not having it, just the water please.

I get back to the hotel and check the packages again...the shop keeper is right they don't have best before dates...it's a packaged date then there is a note about how long to keep it for...woops.

Cows

An interesting fact about cows in India...
As families get bigger and can't keep the cows in there homes they send them out to graze during the days and a whole village will look after the cows and feed them. At the end of the day the cows will automatically make their way back to their homes to be milked.

Bus time 10.10.16 - 12.10.16

Monday 10th we spent the day travelling by bus from Amritsar to Dharamshala this took about 8 hours. It was lovely to see the wonderful countryside. I saw cows, monkeys, goats and bee farms. Many winding roads up the mountain to Dharamshala.

Sunrise

Tuesday 12th we visited another Hindu temple, saw the local swimming pool, viewed a lovely waterfall, visited a Tibetan museum  (this was very interesting as it went through the history of Tibet and how the Chinese invaded and how many escaped). Next we visited Dahi Lama's Temple, we didn't get to meet him as he was in Switzerland. Nature was calling so off to the Asian toilets when I hear no! No!! NO!!! Chris' phone had fallen out of her pocket and into the toilet...luckily it was just sitting in the bowl.

We spent the afternoon shopping in the town. Georgina found real pearls and brought 2 strings, then I was sold to a pearl bracelet, it is beautiful. They don't really haggle much in Dharamshala.

Wednesday 12th was another day spent on the bus travelling from Dharamshala to Shimla.  It took 11 hours to cover 220km.  All the winding mountainous roads but the landscape was stunning to look at, just not the huge drop at the side of the road. We had a fantastic driver.

Golden Temple 09.10.16

Where do I start with what I did today...
I did enjoy today as I spent most of it not wearing shoes. First we went to the Golden Temple. The street leading up to the Golden Temple was a building site as they were renovating it. You had to watch your step to make sure you didn't trip over wires or people buffering the stone path...there is no health and safety out here!

Once we arrived at the Temple we had to remove our shoes and cover our heads. Before entering the Temple we had to walk through  a channel of water, if we didn't do this the guards with spears wouldn't let you in.

The Golden Temple was magnificent; shining and reflecting the sun off the gold. Monty came along sitting on my backpack all day. There were men bathing in the holy pool and woman had a separate private section for themselves.

My favourite part of the Temple was going into the kitchens. We had to wash our feet through a channel going into and coming out of the kitchens. They prepare meals for thousands of people every day. First we went in and saw jabati's being made by machines. At the end of this there were people sitting around a table sat oiling them. Georgina had a turn at it, she was so good the lady beside her wanted her to carry on for the rest of the day. In the kitchens they make about 5,000 jabati's an hour. We then saw lots of people peeling garlic and onions, we walk into a room that everybody was eating in and got to see huge pots of rice and curry. We lost Mary at somepoint around this time. Don't worry about it as we managed to find her eventually.

We still had no shoes on and were walking through, I am not sure what...oil, flour and water???

We then got a chance to make jabati's by hand. We had to roll the balls of dough into circles...well hearts and egg shapes in my case. On our way out we saw large pots for washing up and many people drying up too.

Once we had left the Temple via the channel of water again, we got our shoes back and I made a small donation to the Temple of 200 rupees which is about £1.50. Which they gave me a receipt for.

Back down the building site Street,  we visited a memorial garden which was close to the Golden Temple. This is where the British attacked the Indians.

It was lunchtime and I had a great 'cottage cheese' curry, it was delicious with lots of lovely spices. Afterwards we visited a museum about the border between Pakistan and India many years ago.

This is where I leave this post and start the next one...

I'm a celebrity 09.10.16

...following on;

At the museum as I was walking out a group of school children come bounding round the corner, saw me and came running and jumping towards me. They were so excited to see a Westerner they all wanted a group or individual photo with me, which they called a 'selfie'.  I just stood smiling while they took turns finally I managed to get away and get my shoes.

We didn't get to go to the Wagah Board because of the recent events with Pakistan, so instead of going to see the Beating Retreat Ceremony we visited a local Hindu Temple - this was a replica of the Golden Temple.  Our group were the only tourist there. Again we had to remove our shoes, we entered the Temple and had many eyes watching us. Many Hindu families come to pray for a boy child at this Temple. Every year there is a celebration and families dress up the children as the monkey God - Hanuman. Bringing their girls to pray to have a boy, their boys to say thanks to the God to be blessed with a a boy and families with no children to pray for a child.

I had so many people wanting to shake my hand and have photos taken, I now know what it is like to be famous! For many of them they have never meet a Westerner before and  associate us with Hollywood as they would only see us in films.

In the evening we all went out for a meal at the Yellow Chillie. It was run by an Indian Michelin star chef. The food was lovely,  I had a spicy chicken with a cashew nut sauce. When it came to pay everybody's bill was messed up with either things miss or bits added on. It took an hour to get it right. Sam was very helpful and sorted it out with 7 other restaurant staff and the door man.

Bed was calling after such a jam packed day.

Tour group

As I had all ready mentioned the people on my tour for the Northen India by rail and very lovely and friendly. There are 15 of us altogether of all different ages. Their names are Ken, Karin, Chris, John, Georgia (room mate), Mary, Pippa, Max, Jo-Dana, Martin, Clara, Marion, Jane, Mike and I. Our tour guide is Samendua Singh (Sam).

Street kids tour 08.10.16

Got a new room mate for the first part of the trip and met the rest of the group and went out for a meal last night, everybody is very friendly and come from the UK,  Canada and Germany.
I got my first bite last night...it's very itchy! We also had our first 2 power cuts before I even got out of bed this morning.
Firstly we went on a tour though some of Delhi and was taken around by a guide from the Saham Balak Foundation. This helps Street kids get off the streets and are given help and an education. We meet some of the children in a home and all they wanted to do is play slapping games and thumb war! Then in the afternoon I visited some sites around Delhi; Shri Lakshmi Narain Temple  (a Hindu temple), India Gate and Humayun's Tomb (this was the inspiration for the Taj  Mahal, the picture below is the Tomb).



 That evening we caught a train from Delhi to Amritsar. A meals on wheels service was provided - very tasty food, the best bit was the ice cream! A shaky picture attached.

Safely arrived 06.10.16

Hi All,

I had a great flight managed lots of sleep but what an experience to the hotel!!! So many cars on the road...and we thought the M25 gets bad! Over here they use their horns as indicators and don't pay any attention to the lane lines...3 lanes and 4 queues of traffic and driving across 2 lanes, glad I wasn't driving.  I can just hear my Dad "how much road do you need!!"
Well I'm here safe and sound just chilling in my room, got to rest before the tour starts.
Cat x