Susie's Leaning Tower of Chocolate for 2011 October 25

As far as I can tell, this is the biggest Indian (Hindu) holiday in this part of India. Yesterday our neighbors decorated their doorways with flower garlands, candles, lamps, and displays made from chalk and kum kum powder. It doesn't seem like fire crackers are at all regulated here, so anyone can light fire crackers of any size... anywhere. Including under trees. It was a noisy evening, a noisy night, and a noisy morning, but not as bad as I expected. We just don't understand the fire crackers that crack, but don't even light up.

Yesterday I did some last minute shopping. A lot of the handicrafts shop assistants are young men from Kashmir. That seems kind of random, but we all know there are certain jobs in the US that seem to attract specific nationalities. Anyway, I went to my favorite shop and bought four small, brass idols that I've thought about buying for a long time. They look just like monopoly pieces, expect they're solid brass. The shop assistant and I were trying to identify some of the gods and were able to make most of them out. I think he was quite surprised when he pointed one out as the snake god and I knew the name was Nagalakshmi and we laughed at the absurdity of a Christian and a Muslim sorting through Hindu idols.