Multiple Holidays Weekend

As a result of mid-semester break and Good Friday, the Foundation and Language Institute offices and classes were closed Weds-Fri. Janis and I took time to go the Reflections, the new art gallery and studio space. Because I reached a technical impasse in my painting of St. Francis and the Sultan, it became a collaborative piece as Janis finished it at Reflections studio.








Catching up on laundry - this lady works in our building doing cleaning and ironing - she earns every rupee she charges!

Several holidays were celebrated this week and weekend. One that remains a bit mysterious to us is Holi, the Hindu festival that is described in various ways. Perhaps the most fitting explanation is the recognition of the coming of Spring with a celebration of colors. Below is a visual record of some of the festival.
Colored powders being sold in advance of Holi celebrations.


Even the malls were decorating with color for Holi.

In Varnasi they were making preparations for huge bonfires all over the city. This pile of brush on the ghats of the Ganga became a bonfire on Friday night.


Overlooking the park in front of our house, there's a group of young men colorfully splashed. The gray in the trees is the actual appearance - it's accumulated dust on the leaves.

Our building had a Holi celebration. Here, some of the men ask us to "come out and play Holi." We declined, but they let us take their picture. then they asked if they could put some color on us...

Varanasi (Banares)

We spent last week in Varanasi, also known as Benares.

We visited to take some R&R at an ashram run by colleagues we met in Pasadena, and to attend a seminar for cross-cultural workers who have been in India for 2 years or less.


Varanasi is a very ancient and spiritual city. The folklore of the city is that it is the:
* oldest city in the world,
* site of Shiva's creative act,
* site where a tree grows from the branch of the tree under which Gautama Buddha received enlightenment.

Also, the revered Ganges flows beside it.



Lining the side of the Ganges are a series of steps (ghats) to access the river, many of them have temples of various religions at the top.



Due to all these factors, Varanasi is visited by religious pilgrims from all over India, Asia, and the world. It also draws tourists from all over the country and world - interestingly enough, two of the most common are hippies and Israelis - probably not for the same reasons!

We happened to be there the weekend Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, also visited. Consequently there was a massive clean up effort all over the city - it was reported that one street was paved overnight! Guess what route the PM took the next day. He spoke at a graduation ceremony of Benares Hindu University (BHU), the largest residential university in Asia.


Sam & Chuck




Entrance to the Ashram







Chuck & Janis overlooking the Ganges.