I spent my first day in Calcutta with my cousins, Janet, Selena, Stephanie, James, and my So Pho (grand aunt) shopping at
South City Mall, which is one of the biggest mall in Eastern India. It wasn't really spectacular, as most of the stores were still being built, and the prices were waaaay marked up, compared to North America. I definitely did not find my dirt cheap bargains at that mall. We had lunch at
Haldiram, an Indian fastfood chain, that serves a lot cleaner snacks than the ones I was craving for on the street. My favourite dishes have to be the
Masala Dosa and the
Raj Kachori (an Indian chaat with yoghurt and potatoes ---mmmmm...delicious!).
Later that night, we all went to
Pei Moi Chinese school (my old elementary school) for the
Lion Dancing show. They had a stage set up, and different groups of lion dancers were supposed to perform one after another on stage. I was so excited to see the lion dancing, as I haven't seen any in Canada, except for the ones on TV. Yup, it's pretty sad. My family never bother to go to Pacific Mall, where it's over crowded, more than usual, on Chinese New Years. Lion dancing was my favourite part of Chinese New Years while growing up. We used to have our own paper mache'd lion head and we used to take turns being the lion head, and ass, as well as playing the drums, cymbals and gong, making all the racket in our neighbourhood. So naturally, I was all ready with my camera and three 2 GB SD cards to document it all for my siblings. Of course, I forgot to bring my extra battery, and I ended up missing recording the end which is called "tsai chang", where the lion dancers arrange themselves into pyramids to try to grab some lettuce and red packets which are filled with Indian Rupees. Doh! Pei Moi was packed with tons of people, and aside from Mei Xian, I haven't seen so many Hakka people all located in one spot, for a long time. The lion dancing show lasted a good 2 hours, and I thought it was over, but my cousin Janet informed me how it was only the beginning. And boy, was she right.
The next day was
Chinese New Years Eve (CNY), also known as "
Nian Sam Soep" in Hakka. During the morning, many families worship the spring gods in anticipation for the upcoming new year. There was a strike in Calcutta (which is quite common, I am told) and we were restricted from entering the city, as we feared possible riots. Nevertheless, this didn't prevent us from enjoying the CNY. In the evening, we all went to the market for some more fire crackers, and lion dancing. The market was PACKED with many spectators and even some reporters. At one point, we were surrounded all over by photographers, and we were quite a bit camera shy, and tried to hide from them. Despite our efforts, according to my parents, apparently, our faces ended up on the news in Toronto! We managed to get back home right before midnight for
"chap sen" which is a tradition where we light incense to receive the fortune gods and light fire crackers to scare the evil spirits away. It surely scared the hibby jibbys out of me! Then we patiently waited for the lion dance groups to start arriving. Groups of enthusiasts, young and old, would form different lion dancing clubs or groups, and will visit all homes in Tangra (our community). These groups would approach each house beating on drums, gongs and cymbals, and they would light fire crackers outside the front door, before the lion dancers enter the house and bless the home by circling the table with offerings, and bowing down three times. In exchange for the blessings, each house would give them lucky red packets or "fung pao" filled with Indian Rupees. My cousin Janet, James and I was fortunate enough to manage to find some Fitness Club T-shirts, which allowed us to join their group as they paraded around the town. This was so much fun!!! It was quite an experience following this group around, visiting strangers homes. It reminded me a bit of Halloween back at home, but no cavities involved. I think I might have gone from slightly hearing impaired to hard of hearing that evening. We ended up coming home a little before 3 am, but we were told that many stayed up till 7 in the morning. Kudos to them! My feet were killing by the time I got home. Thank god I brought some Advil from back home.
New Years Day or "tse yit"!!! We woke up early and went to the
Buddhist temple to worship the gods, asking for good fortune for the new year. According to traditions, we weren't allowed to eat any meat that day. The food was still yummy! If it wasn't for all the energy I expended, following around Fitness Club with the Lion Dancing, I would have gained a few kgs over this holiday. All we did was eat eat eat! Our mouths were not the only thing that was being filled, our pockets were expanding also from all the red packets we would receive from all our relatives. Nothing like receiving a few thousand rupee notes...sounds so much bigger than hundred of dollars! *1 dollar = 40 rupees
"
Tse Nye" or the Second day after CNY. Can you guess what we did this day? Yup, you guessed it! I thought Lion Dancing was all finished, but apparently on this day, all the different clubs visited the houses again for "
tsai chang". Again, we followed Fitness Club, but this time it was waaaay longer. I think we were with them from 10:30am to 7pm. By this time, I was a pro at knowing when to run for cover in anticipation for the fire crackers. I also learned that I lack any rhythm, as I struggled with the cymbal. Luckily, the club was so nice and encouraging and they let me practice, and eventually I managed to figure out how to play that instrument. It was interesting how we managed to get around from one house to another. The children would jump on the carts that carried the lion heads and the drums (I felt bad for the poor fella who had to steer and pedal all that load), while everyone else would jump on scooters/motorcycles. I swear, there were 12 year olds who were riding scooters with 2 other kids hanging off the vehicle. I don't know how they managed not to tip the scooter over despite all the pot holes. I had so much fun being a part of the lion dancing group. No one was too young or too old to participate in this event. I felt like an 8 year old all over again! I made a lot of new friends that day. By the end of the evening, I was exhausted. Luckily, the next day was going to be more low key.
"Tse Sam" the Third day after CNY. Over the past few years, the South Tangra Chinese Youth Club woudl organize a fair/carnival or "
fete" in the Pei Moi Chinese School on the 3rd and 4th day after CNY. Everyone would go to the fete to enjoy all the different food stalls, the carnival games and the entertainment, which included Karaoke, of course, and MORE lion dancing!!!! Yup, it never ends. I think I was all lion danced out by the end of this fete. We planned on going to the fete this evening after a CNY dinner at a neighbour's place but we didn't quite make it, as I was unaware that dinner started at "India Time", which was 2 hours later than I expected.
"Tse See" the Fourth day after CNY. My grandparents threw a huge lunch for all our relatives and friends. I got to meet some more cousins and even my new neice. We ate so much that day. My favourite has to be the fish "chap" (cakes). I ended up spending some time with my Aunty Sandy, Uncle Ben, my cousin Allan and his wife, and their daughter, Ayin that afternoon. She IS SO ADORABLE!!!! My cousin Allan is a rock star in Calcutta, and Ayin grew up listening to him play. She loves to dance! I've never met a 1.5 year old who knows how to head bang! All my family ended up going to the Fete that evening and I finally got a chance to eat my
Puchka/pani puri (an Indian street snack which consists of a round, hollow "puri", fried crisp and its filled with potatoes, cucumbers, onions and spices, and drizzled with tamirind water). D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S! My cousin Janet and I were invited to attend a party at Fusion, thrown by the Fitness Club. It was at the Golden Park hotel, and they served an Indian buffet followed by dancing at the club. Let's just say, I've never seen so many Chinese people dancing to
bhangra (punjabi dance music). Half way through the night, I was already all "bhangra-ed out". All in all, it was good times.
The Chinese New Year celebration actually lasts for 15 days, but in Tangra, this was pretty much it, except most families went to "
Thong Yan Pak Kung" the following Sunday (which of course, included more lion dancing, as well as visits to the temple).
Many families also went on pilgrimages to Gaya, the city where Buddha found enlightenment. When I get a chance, I'll blog next about this pilgrimage as well as my trip to the "Golden Arrow".