Mango Faux Pas's and New Traditions

One of our professors here at NIRMAN, Naval-sir, insists that because it is the mango season, and specifically the local mango season for the next couple of weeks, we must eat several mangos at every meal. Each. He tells us that mangos are the cure for everything and he bought us our first bag the other day in order to "get us addicted" and motivate us to go out and buy more on our own.
Since he wanted us to eat a whole mango each, we decided that we could just peel the fruit a little bit and eat it out of the skin with a spoon. This worked for a little while until we started having to peel away more and more skin and the juice and pulp was getting all over our hands and faces. In addition, hacking away at the mango with spoons was proving pretty ineffective. One of the men who works in the shop told us that we were doing it wrong and we told him we would work on it. He just laughed at us but unfortunately, one of the Didis who works in the kitchen had been watching us and brought out a knife shaking her head. She told our friend that we looked like little children but that she blames herself for not putting out knifes with the meal. Needless to say we made sure to cut up our mangos at the next meal...

Before things got messy...

Today, we went to one of the teacher's homes to celebrate Raksha Bandhan, the Hindu festival to celebrate brothers and sisters. There is no school on this day and instead everyone gathers with their family to perform a ceremony. Before the ceremony, sisters go out and buy sweets and rakhi for their brothers, which are small bracelets, some very simple and others more ornamental. During the ceremony, the sisters take turns coming up to their brothers and applying red powder and rice to their foreheads, tying on the rakhi that they bought for them, and feeding them sweets. In the family that we visited there were 4 sisters and 1 brother so all of the sisters took turns applying these things to their brother and also to his "new" wife whom he married in December. If one does not have siblings, they are give rakhi to cousins or very close friends but it is important that if you start, you must continue the tradition every year. Many people send their rakhi through the mail. 

 The ceremony was great but my favorite part of the visit was our trip to the roof. The teacher, Vandana, told us this is her favorite part of the house and she goes up there often, even sometimes sleeping there in the summer. We sat and talked there for a long time about the benefits and downfalls of arranged marriages, which are still very common in Varanasi and still being practiced in Vandana's family today. Then she showed us her beautiful sarees and frock suits and pictures from her brothers wedding, all of which she is very proud of. It was so great to be in a home with a family and to feel among friends! We all decided then and there that we wanted to do our homestays at their house! (We wish)

         

Stands selling rakhi have been all over the city

Sweets, rakhi, and powder ready for the ceremony

Tying her rakhi on her brother's wrist

The Kalamazoo girls with Vandana on the roof!