One Year Part 2: Spring & Pani Puri

April, 2019, Mumbai India – Been just over a year now. Spring is in full effect. That means many things.

Weather

It is getting super hot and humid in Mumbai, central India and down south, Dry and hot in places like Delhi, and the weather is perfect in the North up in the Himalayas.

Which reminds me…

Americans pronounce it Him-a-lay-as. Indians pronounce Him-alayas. There are a whole lot of words that are pronounced differently. It’s been a year now, and people still find it hard to understand my American/Chicago nasal twang. Just today a person called me for a reference check for someone I used to work with. She spoke perfect English but could not understand a word I said. I am reminded daily at work that I have to be mindful of my pronunciation and speed at which I speak. Hope the the person got the job! Here are examples of some differences:

Indian Vs. American Pronunciation

Spring Holidays

Gudi Padwa – India has many deities & lots of holidays. But just like the west, the holidays are all about the change of seasons, harvests, planting, the sun and the moon. In Mumbai they celebrate Gudi Padwa: Which signifies the arrival of spring and the crops and is linked to the mythical day on which Hindu god Brahma created time and universe. That’s a creation to be proud of. Basically it’s the new year. There are many versions of this across India and the world. Like many holidays in Bombay it is celebrated with drums. Mumbai is a loud city. Holidays things only get louder. This what it sounds like in the afternoon on our apartment balcony:

Holi

It is known as the Indian “festival of spring”, the “festival of colours”, or the “festival of love”. The festival signifies the “arrival of spring, the blossoming of love, and for many a festive day to meet others, play and laugh, forget and forgive, and repair broken relationships.” It’s like the Mardi Gras of India. Or Mardi Gras is the Holi of New Orleans. It’s a day where people let loose. It is celebrated with this drink called Bhang which is essentially weed juice. It is legal for a couple days in India. People throw colors on each other, do water fights and get high. I celebrated it in Delhi this year. Here are a couple of pics:

School Holidays

Spring also means the end of the school year. That is significant for my job. We are finishing everything up and getting ready for next year which starts in early June.

4 Reasons Why School Holidays Can Get Complicated:

1. There is a shitload of holidays: https://www.officeholidays.com/countries/india/index.php
2. Every State/City Does it Different: 29 states and 7 Union territories (I think). Different cities/states celebrate different holidays on different days. So say the new year in Mumbai is one day. The same new year with a different name in Hyderabad might be 4 days later and could last 2 more days. In Hyderabad they celebrate a holiday called Dusshera for 2-3 weeks but only celebrate Diwali for 2 days. In Mumbai they celebrate Dusshera for 1-2 days and Diwali for 2-3 weeks. Both holidays are around the same time and revolve around the deity Ram.
3. Sun and Moon: Holidays are based on the sun and the moon. Which is cool. It aligns to nature more. But creates uncertainty when planning for the school year.
4. Private Schools: I work with private schools. Private schools are exploding in India and where are a large number of low-income students go. It creates problems for scheduling. One “school owner” might decide to celebrate one holiday for 2 weeks. Another one, 2 blocks away can decide to not celebrate it at all. These school calendars are not posted on the internet and an owner can make that decision last minute. We work with 120 different schools and will get many different calendars.

I work in 3 different cities so keeps you on your toes. You just have to approach these situations with the certainty that there will be uncertainty.

Pani Puri

Panipuri: A common street snack in the Indian subcontinent. It consists of a round, hollow puri, fried crisp and filled with a mixture of flavored water, tamarind chutney, chili, chaat masala, potato, onion or chickpeas.

The taste and ingredients of Panipuri feels like it’s symbolic of India. Is it symbolic or an analogy? Complex, layered, strong flavors usually all mixed together. You see people waiting in line at these stands to slurp them down. You eat it and and for 1 minute you will feel flavors of sweet, spicy & sultry. Textures of wet, dry, crunchy and soggy. You love the taste and at the same time it is a little like torture. You will absolutely be sweaty afterwards and feel super full even if it’s just 3 small bites. At the end people slurp up the final amount of juice on the plate and they give you final dry one to absorb all the spice.

This is my different reactions after eating one. Come visit and we can have a Pani Puri together.