Today at work Prakash (on the right), one of my favorite people of all time, lit a lemon on fire then smashed it with his palm outside the doorway of the office. Then he lit a coconut on fire and held it above his head and smashed it on the ground beside the lemon. Next he lit a melon on fire and walked throughout the office with it before he, you guessed it, smashed it to the ground. Amazing! This is how we celebrated Dussehra, a Hindu festival celebrating the triumph of good over evil, at work. Mid afternoon, Claire and I were called out of our office (sans shoes). We joined the whole team near the entrance of the office where a Hindu priest was chanting before garlands of flowers, fruits and other offerings for the Gods.

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It was all fascinating and everyone was nice enough to give us a front row seat. We never have anything this lively in the L.A. office. Once the priest was finished with his chant, he walked around to bless each of us individually. We each walked up with a handful of flowers and rice that we presented as an offering to the Gods. What a ritual! In return, we were presented with a bag of kalle puri (puffed rice), one mosambi and one small banana. Our co-workers told us that it was a gift from the Gods, so we had to eat it. Okay by me, since the kalle puri is delicious.

This celebration put everyone in a nice, lively mood. What a great way to start the weekend. I’m up in 5 hours to head to Kerala where I’ll be staying in a treehouse! Have a great weekend everyone and happy Dussehra.