This week we celebrated Dasara here in India. Yet another big festival holiday full of traditions. This was an important holiday for the drivers, in particular, since a puja (prayer ritual) needed to be performed for all things mechanized. Forgive me if my facts are not exactly straight... this is the best I could piece together from various sources (some of which spoke only broken English)...
1.) Harish gathers up all of our mechanized items (bikes (even the pedi-cab!), strollers, and of course, our car.
2.) Harish goes to the city market and shops for puja supplies (flowers, food items, colored puja paint, insence...)
3.) Harish hires a guy to wash everything to within an inch of its bare metal (any sign of dirt is disgracing the gods... in fact, the truck was washed 3 times that day!!)
4.) All items are decorated with the paste, flowers, banana leafs... limes are placed in front of all tires, to be crushed when you pull forward
5.) The puja is performed, complete with chanting and wafting of insence all over the place!
6.) A huge bowl of snacks are bagged up and taken around to hand out to all people of lower castes only (i.e. maids, cooks, security guards etc....)
1.) Harish gathers up all of our mechanized items (bikes (even the pedi-cab!), strollers, and of course, our car.
2.) Harish goes to the city market and shops for puja supplies (flowers, food items, colored puja paint, insence...)
3.) Harish hires a guy to wash everything to within an inch of its bare metal (any sign of dirt is disgracing the gods... in fact, the truck was washed 3 times that day!!)
4.) All items are decorated with the paste, flowers, banana leafs... limes are placed in front of all tires, to be crushed when you pull forward
5.) The puja is performed, complete with chanting and wafting of insence all over the place!
6.) A huge bowl of snacks are bagged up and taken around to hand out to all people of lower castes only (i.e. maids, cooks, security guards etc....)
This is all done to assure safe travel for all who use these vehicles. If you could see the driving conditions here, trust me, you would try anything!!
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