Dīwali at Kripanjali’s

Krips invited us to celebrate Dīwali at her place. From Wikipedia: Dīwali or Dīpāwali (also transliterated Deepavali; Sanskrit: row of lights) is the Hindu Festival of Lights. Dīwali festival symbolises the defeat of evil and the lamps are lit as a sign of hope for mankind. It is one of the most popular and eagerly awaited festivals of India. It is celebrated for 5 consecutive days in the Hindu month of Ashwayuja which usually corresponds to the month of October or November. Hindus, Jains and Sikh celebrate Dīwali and use the occasion to celebrate life and strengthen relationships.

We arrived at Kripanjali’s and were greeted with a blessing and some red stuff and rice was stuck to our foreheads. Not normally having red stuff and rice stuck to our foreheads, we were a little self-conscious at first, but we got used to it. I even thought it was pretty charming on little Ruby. Here, C is lighting a candle for good luck, to place on Krip’s floor-design (I think it’s called rangoli).

This is the outfit that Krips got for Ruby in India. I totally love it!

Our Sunday Picture for this week. Dad went home this week and the children miss him a lot. A quiet week for us… it’s been getting colder, but no more snow.

I like to take pictures with no flash, even in low light. They come out grainy and de-saturated, but I think it is much more pleasant than getting flashed, and I think it conveys more of the mood, the actual feeling of the event, surrounding the picture.

I know! I totally agree. Lighting is the most crucial aspect of a picture. This picture would have sucked if you had used the flash.

Plus, if grainy was such a problem, pointillism would never have caught on. :)

Seriously, though, this is much closer to a good painting than a bad photograph. Since those were your options, you chose well.

From Wikipedia: Rangoli is one of the most popular art forms in India. It is a form of decoration that uses finely ground white powder and colours, and is used commonly outside homes in India. Rangoli can be wall art as well as floor art. The term rangoli is derived from words rang (colour) and aavalli (’coloured creepers’ or ’row of colours’). They are known by different names in different parts of the country; Alpana in Bengal, Aripana in Bihar, Madana in Rajasthan, Rangoli in Gujarat and Maharashtra, Chowkpurana in Uttar Pradesh and Kolam in South India.

C really enjoyed lighting the candles, looking at the candles, blowing at the candles and poking the candles. He really likes candles and usually doesn’t get to play around with them so much.

Ruby and Chris are all ready to go. He has her in the baby bjørn under his coat. He always gets a lot of attention when he carries her like this. People do a double-take and smile, or whisper to each other behind their hands and giggle. I guess it does look a little like Chris has a second head sprouting from his chest.