Happy Ugadi!

Over the course of the last week we've been learning about the holiday, Ugadi. Ugadi is a Hindu holiday, but it also seems to be a cultural Indian holiday, because our Christian and Muslim friends honor it. It is essentially a new year's celebration. One tradition on Ugadi is the consumption of neem and jaggery. Neems trees are medicinal and considered auspicious; their taste is very bitter. Jaggery is raw sugar. The symbolism is quite beautiful: In life the struggle, the sadness, the despair, is intrinsically connected to the joy, the sweet, the happiness. In honoring the passing of one year and ushering in the next, we pause to celebrate both what is difficult, and what is pleasurable, and their connection to one another.

Ambryn and I took the day off of work and went into the city. It seems that most trips into Bangalore present jaggery and neem. Just when we've had it with gaping men and endless questions of whether we want to buy a map of India or take a ridiculously priced auto-rickshaw, the man who sells us our pineapple juice will exude quiet kindness, or trustworthy strangers will emerge from the crowds at the bus terminal informing us how the 295 differs from the 295B, and will in fact tell us exactly which stop is closest to our destination. These moments of sweetness usually happen when I'm at my most sour. You have to take it all together.

We also celebrated the new year with the School of Peace students. The same day is celebrated in Nepal, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Indonesia. At breakfast we were met with a plate of rice, flowers, and sweets, and we were given a blessing from the Nepalese women. Near dusk we all gathered around a a floral creation and a big bucket of "green water", water with flowers. One by one, the young people honored the elder, who happened to be Max, their teacher. They all bowed before him, some prostrated themselves, and they thanked him. They presented him with money (symbolically) and poured the green water on him, until he was drenched. It was very moving. Then, one by one, we all came back to Max and this time he tied a bracelet on our wrist and blessed us. There were laughter and tears, while tinny music played and cameras snapped. Then, the seriousness abruplty ended as the remaining water was poured onto everyone in reachable distance. The festivities did not end until every person was doused, and even then it continued a little longer.