In the town we stayed at for days 19-22, there was a huge festival, basically a competition between two temples on either end of a long street. The street was festooned with streamers, ribbons, colored lights and all kinds of booths selling mostly plastic stuff. The locals were having a blast buying bangles and whistles; horns and popcorn; sugarcane drinks and peacock feather fans. It was GREAT Fun. We were allowed some free time to explore and haggle. I bought some of my Team Secret Santa gift. We set a budget of 500 rupees ($10) and are finding that is a difficult amount to spend. We have rules, of course: No regifting and no repeating (of the sarees, or traditional items we have received). Since we have received quite a many presents, this is a bit of a challenge. We are also trying to purchase items that the other person might appreciate, complicating things a bit. Plus, much of what we see is high "tack" or are items we could not possibly get back home, so we are even further limited.
At night, the real action happens...and I am glad to say that I was unable to participate in any of the evening events. My host, Prashant, said that if you rub oil on your body and wade into the crowd, you get a free body massage and don't even have to use your feet to walk. The crowd will propell you forward. We drove by and there was a sea of people as far as I could see. I had no desire in the hot, muggy weather to be THAT close to the locals.
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