Diwali

Also spelled Deepawali and maybe some variations. We just finished this holiday weekend. We had not realized it was quite as big as it turned out to be. While Jim did not have any days as holidays, most companies did and many people took days off from work- mostly Friday or Monday.
The celebrations started last Thursday the 15th with a few firecrackers or "crackers" exploding now and then. On Friday night a lot more were set off. On Saturday many more and Sunday a similar number. Monday night seemed to be the "finale" with many explosions, but with many more fireworks visible on the skyline. So, 3 pretty full days of fireworks and celebrations with some more before and after!
We learned that it is often called "The Festival of Lights" after a story from the Ramayana in which Rama (one incarnation of Vishnu) wanted to have lights after his victory over a demon who had kidnapped his wife. (So we were told.) Lots of lights and fireworks anyway. It is also a time for gifts to the apartment staff and employees and friends- a little like Christmas in the US.
Our Driver, Joseph, bought a small number of fireworks to set off- we made it clear we didn't want any really loud explosions, so he got some more tame things like sparklers and flower pots- all of which seem to be legal (67 people reported serious eye injuries so far- out of very roughly 7 million people in Bangalore). He also got 2 rockets, which did not get off the ground.
We set these off on Saturday evening.
Overall it was a fairly relaxing weekend for us, but Ziggy and Zoe REALLY did not care for it. The loud noises made them very nervous, so we tried to close windows and doors to reduce the noise. It was not so bad where we live, but they hid for a few hours each night.
On Saturday we had a leisurely time by having lunch at a French style cafe in a Hotel which was showing photos of Paris. After lunch we went to the Leela Palace- a huge and very nice and expensive hotel. Janet swam in their pool while Jim browsed the book shop. In the atrium of the adjoining shopping area they had placed a very pretty sort of "Rangoli"- which is a decoration on the floor- often made with different colors of sand. the one at the hotel was made of flowers and you can see a pianist playing nearby.