Golden Jubilee Kickoff and Update....

Sunday evening kicked off the Somaiya College 50 year Golden Jubilee Celebration. The principal had asked that staff be present and had asked that I be there as well. The college was beautifully decorated for the kickoff event. All the walkways were lit up and draped with gold fabric. There were also fountains and statues of Ganesha everywhere. The first event kicking off the Jubilee celebration was a book release, an autobiography of the founder's life. The founder, Mr. Somaiya, was a "self-made" man earning his fortune in the sugar industry (still thriving and being run by his son/grandson) in India. The presentation was held in the assembly hall of the engineering college and many family members, and the like, were present. It was a lovely event despite the fact that the WHOLE three hour presentation was in Gujarati....! That is a long time to sit and listen to speeches that sound like blah, blah, blah, blah.....at hour 2 1/2, I looked at Renu and said..."I am slowly going insane, I am going outside." After crawling over 10 people, I made it out the door. I looked back long enough to see Renu (in a sari, of course) crawling over the same people to escape as well. Needless to say, we were the first in line for the post-celebration dinner!
On the way home after the celebration, the streets were packed with Ganpati celebrations. It was day 5 of the Ganesha festival and many, many processions were water-bound to return Ganesha home. All the way down the highway, people lined up, dancing, drumming, and marching behind trucks, whatever to see Ganesha. We passed a little lake off the highway. I asked the rikshaw driver to stop so I could watch. The people were 10 deep around the edge of the water. It is truly an impressive event to see. I had one of those moments, like, "Wow, I am in India. I am really here and living in India" Surreal at times.....It is said that the more Ganeshas you lay your eyes on, the better your luck. I am due for some luck, so I am following Ganesha all over town. The biggest events are to come this weekend.
In all, this week is rolling right along. I am busy most every day with some school-related event, and have managed a long weekend off to spend with Andrea. We are both looking forward to being "normal" this weekend.......at least, as normal as we can be while sticking out like two American sore thumbs!!