ISKCON temple, PG Cult, and Holi: Mar 11 to 14

On Saturday (3/11), Shilpa and I went downtown to visit a temple and eat some street food. We went to an ISKCON (International Society of Krishna Consciousness) temple. Upon entering the temple courtyard, I had a strange feeling, like I had been to this place before. There was a restaurant next door whose décor looked familiar, but I could not quite place it. Shilpa told me some stories from the Hindu tradition as we looked at the dioramas that lined the border of the courtyard. The temple was on the second floor—in India, this means two floors above the ground floor—and as soon as we stepped inside I figured out why this place felt so familiar. When I came to India in 2014 with Northeastern, we visited this temple on our first day in Mumbai. We had landed at 2:00am, slept for a few hours, then shuffled onto the bus for a city tour. At this point, I had no sense of direction in the city, and when we had visited this temple before I thought it was located in the north area of the city, not a mere few kilometers from our hotel at the city’s most southern point. The timing of our 2014 visit to the temple (10 hours after landing) probably contributed to my confusion about the temple’s location. Here is an excerpt from my May 8, 2014 blog post about the ISKCON temple:

We then visited a Hindu temple where a wedding was taking place. There were about 60 Indian people at the wedding singing and clapping. We roamed freely around the ornate 30-year-old temple. The group had lunch together at a vegetarian restaurant next door to the temple. It was a delicious first meal in India complete with dosas, naan, curry, and mango lassis—for only $5!

Two realizations came to me when I reread this old blog post: I now have a more nuanced perspective on the temple, and it has been a long time since I have paid 300 Rupees ($5) for a meal in India.

There was no wedding going on in the temple this time, but there was a daily worship ceremony that began a few minutes after we entered. We were given some Prasad—ambrosia, or food of the gods—in the form of a laddu upon entering. Considering that it was an Indian sweet, it was relatively mild in its sweetness; most desserts here are incredibly sugary. Though it was small, it was filling. I imagine that one could subsist of off a relatively small amount of Prasad. A man dressed in robes was performing some rituals with candles in front of a colorful alter at the front of the room, and another man dressed in similar robes was leading some chanting. There was a drummer sitting on the floor near the man leading the chanting. Much of the chanting was unfamiliar to me, until the “Hare Krishna, Hare Rama” choruses began. The music ebbed and flowed, as did the worshiper’s dancing and chanting volume. After watching the chanting and dancing for a while, I proceeded to wander around the temple and admire the inlaid floor. While leaving we were given another Prasad and a small handful of holy water. I did not know what to do with the water—drink it, sprinkle it on my head—so I carried it for a little while until Shilpa told me to drink it, which I did, clumsily spilling half on my shirt in the process.

We sat in the courtyard for a while chatting and were given another form of Prasad by a different man who was wandering around the courtyard with a bag of the food. This sweet was kind of peanut brittle-like in appearance, but had much thinner layers. It tasted nondescript; neither Shilpa nor I could identify what it was. In case anyone is concerned about my eating food from strangers, Shilpa informed me that it is safe to do so in temples. From my observations, I would bet that the small Prasad they give in this temple is significantly cleaner than food from street vendors.

We took a short walk on the beach and observed the many families and young couples playing and watching the ocean. I visited this beach briefly in 2016, and it is much more pleasant at night in March than during the heat of the day in April. Nearby the beach was a group of food stalls where we ate some delicious pav bhaji. It was significantly better than what I have eaten on the street in Hiranandani, the neighborhood near campus, and of course much better than the pav bhaji that is occasionally served in the mess.

Saturday night was the PG Cult (Post Graduate Cultural Show), which included music, dancing, and a fashion show. There were six musical groups and six dance groups made up of people from different hostels, each competing for the top prize. The Indian education system’s competitiveness, it appears, also manifests itself in extracurricular arts programs. The most surprising part of the music performances for me was the few American songs that found their way into the mix. Two consecutive groups played “Rolling in the Deep,” and one group did a rendition (shortened, of course) of “Hotel California.” The Eagles cover started out strong until they reached the chorus, when they sang the first syllable of “Welcome” on the downbeat of the chorus rather than the upbeat. This was clearly the way that this arrangement was written, but nevertheless I did not approve of the rhythm change.

My favorite part of the night was the fashion show; two of my friends, Sumit and Shahnawaz, were models. The theme of the fashion show was the Elements; the 15 or so participants dressed up to model either Earth, Wind, Water, or Fire. The stage was set up with a catwalk and the models had clearly put a lot of practice into their show; their poses were stoic and forceful. I had heard a lot of buildup about the show beforehand, especially from Shahnawaz, and I was not disappointed.

After the show we went to eat in the Hostel 8 canteen. Most of the hostels have a canteen, or café, that is open to everyone on campus, not just residents of that hostel. The watermelon juice, bhindi (okra), and dal tadka with plain paratha are delicious; I will be returning here again soon. It is a nice break to from the mess and pretty cheap, around Rs. 100 for a filling meal.

Monday 3/13 was Holi, the festival of colors. Holi is a Hindu religious festival celebrating the triumph of good over evil and the coming of spring. Its manifestation on campus was not the religious nature of the festival, but rather the celebration aspect.

The day started with a 3km Color Run on campus, which turned out to be more of a “color walk.” The description of the run, “every 1km participants will have color thrown on them at color stations,” did not quite match the reality. At each of the color stations, there were a few huge bags of color powder. When a station approached, everyone walking behind the DJ truck would run ahead and grab as much powder as they could. We then proceeded to shove it in each other’s faces, exclaiming “Happy Holi!” as we walked toward the next color station. Then the T-shirt ripping started. In IIT Bombay—and not elsewhere, I am told—it is a tradition to rip off other people’s shirts during Holi. I brought a limited number of shirts to India so decided it was smart to take mine off before anyone ripped it. The walking and powder throwing continued for about an hour. After the run ended, there was a dance party with water being constantly sprayed on the participants. Wet T-shirt throwing ensued. At first they were just being thrown into the air with the giant beach balls also present, then the throwing got a little more violent. I took this as my cue to head back to my hostel and join the party there.

Hostels 12 and 13 each had a dance party of their own. Some students had color powder, others had permanent wet color or “hard color.” I danced my heart out for 3.5 hours to the Indian and American songs blaring from the speakers. It was a blast! I cannot recall a time where I have danced even nearly this much ever before. All of my friends I have mentioned in previous blog posts and some others from the football team and my hallway that I have not named were dancing at the party. Holi was one of my favorite days here, and I think it will be hard to top in my final two months in India. In terms of the color on my body, I mostly avoided the permanent color during the celebration, only ending up with a few bits of green left over in my ears and on my feet at the end of the day. I also ended the day with only a sunburn on my shoulders, which was surprising considering how long I was outside.

There was a gala lunch in my mess after the dance party ended, and I gorged myself on the better-than-usual food and proceeded to take a long nap. I went out for dinner with a few friends at a place near the main gate in the evening and had some great mutton. As a starter, we had chicken liver and gizzards, both of which I had not tried before. The liver was not my favorite, but the gizzards were great.

The next evening, as I was returning to my room from the office, I was approached by another student and asked if I wanted to be in an upcoming drama put on by a few of the hostels on 3/21. I agreed, not at all knowing what I was getting myself into. More on this next time…