Building Bridges

We had a birthday to celebrate around here today! I was actually able to bake a cake and everything!

We all went to the only bowling alley that's here (even though there are millions of people in this city!) and then we went to KFC! There's only 2 in the whole city, but we made the trek to it because of this special day. It was a great time!

When we were leaving KFC, we saw some ladies getting henna painted on their hands. Take a look:





















It was incredible to see this in person. A lot of elaborate decorations are everywhere right now because of the Puja festival that will be in full swing this weekend. People go all out for this and decorate everything, including themselves.

If you are not familiar with henna, it's an old practice of body art. The 'paint' is made from a henna bush or tree. They paint these designs on your hands (or wherever...) and then the paint actually dyes your skin and it will wear off eventually. Kinda like a tatoo, but it does go away. It is very detailed and there is a lot of historical ties to it too. A website about the history of henna said this:

There is something deeply satisfying for an Indian Bride to have her hands and feet painted on the day before her wedding with beautiful intricate menhdi designs. She is revered by the wedding party and henna is used as a means of idolising her. She is not allowed to do any work before or after her wedding until all the stain has disappeared.

Using henna for many women in poor countries was an inexpensive way of adorning herself and becoming exotic, to set herself apart from others. To paint ones friends was also very popular and the ritual that went with it drew you closer to them.

There are all kinds of designs and certain designs come from different parts of the world. For instance, here in India, the designs are very intricate and lots of scrolls and lines. Whereas in the middle east their designs are more geometrical. There are also designs that relate to certain gods or goddesses. This where the spiritual implications can be tied in if that's why it is being done.

I didn't get a picture, but on the way home we saw several trucks carrying huge statues of the hindu goddess Durja. These were being taken to different pandals (see my post from a couple days ago that explains this) in order to be worshiped and have sacrifices made to them. It's really getting interesting around here!

The more we know about what others here believe and practice, the better we will be able to 'build bridges' and relate with those that have been put in our path. As we understand them, we know that we will be given Guidance to help bridge the gap for eternity!