October 23-25, 2022. I arrived in India after an overnight flight. I was tired from both the flight and hiking in Georgia. Therefore, all I did in New Delhi was hang out in my fancy Hyatt hotel room (booked with points!) and meet my tour group for dinner. I stayed at the Andaz near the airport and they treated me like a princess. Even though I booked the cheapest room with points, they upgraded me to the “large suite” which included a private driver to pick me up at the airport and lots of little extras. The next day our tour group left the big city and its fancy hotels to experience a more traditional side of India.

My time in India fell in such a way that my second day was Diwali. Diwali is the Festival of Lights. It celebrates the return of Lord Rama’s wife after she was kidnapped by a demon. To celebrate her return, he lit up the entire palace with oil lamps. Or so the story goes. There seems to be different meanings depending on where you are.

We spent the night in Tordi, a small village in Ragistan. This let us see a more traditional celebration. We stayed in an old heritage palace and got to join the family in celebrating.

This involves making oil lamps, decorating the floors with mandalas, lighting off fireworks, and spending time with family and friends. We ate, danced and watched the fireworks. It was a night full of joy. Thank you so much to the family for including us in your celebrations!

We also got to walk around the village. Here is a flooded field from the recent rains. The light was beautiful. Tordi was the perfect village to adjust to life in India away from the chaos of Delhi.

Welcome to India!