From Bollywood to Bonalu!

Woo, second post in one day.. look at me rock the bloggin!

Yesterday, my CIEE group went to a matinee showing of the Bollywood film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, meaning You Won't Get Life Again. However, its unfair for me to give you the English translation, seeing as we watched this entire Hindi movie without subtitles! Even so, I got the main points of the plot, and our peer language tutors were dispersed throughout the group to answer questions and explain jokes.  

The movie was about three best friends that go on a 'male bonding road trip' to Spain. There were a few amazing scenes of scuba diving, the Tomatina festival, the running of the bulls, and even sky diving. And, of course, there were some over the top dancing/singing scenes as well.  All and all, I think it must have been like a 3 hour movie! But, as in Israel, there was an intermission half way through, and we all got Pepsi (sorry Emory) and popcorn.  The halftime interlude is not the only odd thing about the India movie theater experience... the theater and screen are about three times the size of those in the US, each ticket has an assigned seat, crying babies and answering phone calls are acceptable in the theater during the movie, and the crowd cheers/whistles when famous actors make their first appearance or the plot takes an exciting turn. Then again, you would cheer too if you saw this HUNK and ROCKING dancer, Hrithik Roshan (center stud)! He is my first Indian celebrity crush! So, even though we missed some of the humor and plot, all agree that this definitely will not be our last Bollywood experience. 

Today was another, more spiritual, experience of Indian culture. We went to the Jubliee hills Peddamma temple to celebrate the Hindu festival of Bonalu.  Basically, it is a holiday dedicated to the goddess of power, to appease her by saying thanks (offerings and sacrifices) and making vows (that  you will be devoted if you get certain wishes granted).

At the temple, we took off our shoes and waited in a long line that reminded me of waiting for a ride at an amusement park. I have some photos of the outside, but we couldn't bring cameras into the actual temple.  You'll just have to believe me when I say-- the interior of the structure was amazingly colorful and ornate. When we got to the front of the line, we entered the little shrine (maybe 12 by 8 feet).  The lightbulbs shone red and the whole place smelled like incense and candles. It was pretty cool, and so interesting to see the locals praying to the goddess and celebrating the festival.

After we left the physical temple, there were people all around celebrating with an infinite number of different rituals and traditions, each with a long history and rationale. Kavitha patiently explained soooo much interesting tradition to us while we gathered round (and Indians took this as an opportunity to take out their cell phones and get pictures of the big group of foreigners at the temple).  We opted out of some festival activities, like animal sacrifice, but engaged in a few others. I tied a special blessed piece of string around a special kind of tree to make a wish for good luck in my future! Then, all the girls got their feet painted with bright yellow turmeric. This tradition has both spiritual and biological value in maintaining good health (something to do with the acidic turmeric fighting bacteria or parasites on the feet of women wading in dirty water and working barefoot in the house/kitchen). Interestingly, you have to do all of these rituals with your right hand, as the left hand is seen as unclean and impure. It seems so wrong for me, having grown up in the leftist movement Habonim Dror that emphasizes using your left hand! What living anthropology!!

As you can tell, I am definitely loving orientation! Other exchanges students have been arriving from across the US and Europe. Its nice to have some new faces around the Tagore International House! Most of these students are on much larger, less structured programs, and ours has been described as doing too much "hand-holding." But, I am so grateful to have gotten here with nearly two weeks to adjust before classes, and I love that we have been able to familiarize ourselves with Indian customs and the city of Hyderabad with the security and wisdom of generous locals. The CIEE staff really is the greatest.. all three of them are caring and knowledgeable, each with a great sense of humor. Sometimes, I feel like they are our little camp counselors! And it has been so fun to be like a camper again :)