Weekend Getaway!

This weekend I went to Rohtak, my mom's hometown. I traveled down from Delhi after work, with a friend of my uncle's (who is also a Supreme Court advocate up here in Delhi). The distance between the two cities is less than 50 miles, but took about three hours on Friday night, due to a combination of traffic and bad roads.I basically spent most of the weekend eating sweets (my uncle owns a mithai shop, basically snacks and desserts), shopping for earrings with my cousin Rupal, riding around on her Scootie, and hanging out with various family members.

This weekend commenced the Hindu festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. Many of the neighborhoods in Rohtak had pitched in together and made mini-mandirs in their roadways, with a large Ganeshji murti. Later, at the end of the festival, the murti would be taken to a nearby river and immersed in water (along with various accompanying rituals).

Colorful lights were hung over the entryways to the mandirs. The Ganeshji murti was, of course, the center of the display.

Loved these light displays - you can't tell from the picture, but the blue rings were actually spiraling around Ganesh, and he was changing colors.
Of course, peacocks are obligatory :)
A close up of the murti.
OH and I forgot one of the best parts of the weekend: BOLLYWOOD MOVIE!! Yes, three weeks into my trip, I finally got around to seeing a film in the theater. Seeing a movie in Indian movies theaters is such an experience - people cheer when the hero comes on the screen, whistle when the heroine enters, cheer and sing along with the songs... it's one big party. We saw Dabangg, the latest Salman Khan movie. It was (unsurprisingly) absurd and over the top, but generally good fun. The entire country is crazy for one of the songs, which is pretty catchy, I have to say.



There's a new Ranbir Kapoor movie coming out in a few weeks that I have my eye on - can't wait!