Rituals

Bhakti, my new employee here, said she is fasting to honor Ganisha, the elephant god who grants wishes, today since Wednesdays are associated with Ganisha, her chosen god. I asked if that meant we will not have our daily masala chai break. Although she is fasting there are certain things that are still allowed: water, fruits, a special type of potato chip and masala chai.

It is very common for people to go downstairs between 2:30 and 3:30 to order a masala chai. This is when the heavy lunch starts kicking in and you need a heavy dose of chai to wake you up.

Tomorrow is Nagula Chavithi, an annual festival celebrating snakes! There should be some snake handlers outside the building. It is customary to not use a knife to cut things on this day. Apparently the government is trying to restrict the snake handler performances due to a tradition where people offer milk to the snakes. No one is sure where this tradition came from as snakes do not consume milk. Some people try to force the snakes to consume the milk. Thus it is out of concern for the snakes that the government has started an educational program to make people aware that snakes do not consume milk.