Thaipusam

At the moment I am staying in Penang in Malaysia. Like Australia, Malaysia is a country with people from many other countries. There are many Indian people who live here. Indians have many different gods. One of those gods is called Murugan.

Each year in Penang, and in other places, a festival is held so that people can ask for help from the god Murugan. To get Murugan's help people carry a burden. The more difficult the burden, the more help they hope to get.

Some people carry a kavadi on their shoulders for a long walk to the temple.



Some put little hooks in their backs.



Some put big hooks in their backs. Remember, the more pain the more help you want.



Some pierce their mouths and their tongues.



I even saw one who put hooks in his face with coconuts hanging off them.



All this happens at a festival called Thaipusam. You can see more photos I took at the Thaipusam festival here.

love from Grandpa

Sujata

Once upon a time there was a young, beautiful girl named Sujata who wanted a husband and a son. She was told to go to a banyan tree near the river and pray to the tree god.

Later she married a good man and they had a son. Sujata was very happy and always wanted to serve the tree god to show her appreciation.

Sujata had many cows that gave sweet milk. She used this milk to make sweet rice to give as an offering to the tree god.

One day, Sujata's servant went to clean the area under the tree but was surprised to see someone meditating there. The servant ran back to Sujata and said, 'The tree god is meditating under the tree. Now you will be able to give him rice in person.'

But it was not the tree god. It was Siddhartha Gautama meditating under the banyan tree. He was meditating so that he could become the Buddha.

Sujata took the bowl of rice to Siddhartha and bowed respectfully. She said, 'Please accept this rice from me. May you be as successful in obtaining your wishes as I have been.'

Siddhartha ate the rice. He continued to meditate under that tree and in time became enlightened. He achieved his wishes and became the Buddha.

The End

The sculpture of Siddhartha and Sujata was on the wall of a temple in Vientiane, Laos.

Huff puff: Grandpa's exercise

When I was in India I stayed for a little while in Mussoorie in the mountains. I stayed in a guest house that was near the top of this picture. If I needed to go shopping I had to walk down this road to the shops. And then I had to walk back up again to go home. It is very steep. Huff...puff. Your grandfather got plenty of exercise while he was living in that guest house.

Sometimes I would go for a walk up the mountain and I would have to climb up this road. Huff...puff. More exercise for Grandpa.

Huff...puff. When I got to the top of the mountain, after I stopped puffing, I could see a view like this. Do you think it was worth the climb? I do.

love from Granddad

Drying the laundry

Hey, how do you dry the laundry at your house? Most Australian homes have a clothes line. When I lived in Bangkok I had to hang my washing on the verandah. It was so hot that the clothes usually dried very quickly. In India many people climb onto their roof and spread the washing out to dry.



I was able to take this photo because I was staying in the mountains and the hills are very steep. I was on a road above the roof of these houses.

Hope your clothes are dry.

love from Granddad

An Indian house

Do you like your house? Would you like to live in a house like this? This is not a cubby house. This is a real house. A whole Indian family lives in it. They don't have much in their house but they have a great view.



Would you like to live there? The hills are very steep and in winter it gets very cold.

love from your Granddad

Please mister, buy a paper

This girl is maybe just a couple of years older than Ben. We were in a taxi in Delhi. When the taxi stopped at the lights she came to the window with a newspaper to sell. She pressed her face against the window and did not leave until the lights changed. Maybe she thought that the foreigner would like to buy a newspaper more than the Indian people in the other cars.

At many of the traffic lights in Delhi there are kids, often younger than this girl, who are selling something: a newspaper or magazine, a toy, some incense. Some kids will do acrobatics. Some kids have nothing to sell and nothing to do. They just hold their hands out and beg. They do this because they need money to buy food for themselves and their families. Some of them never go to school.

Visitor

In India I went to stay in the mountains. In Australia we don't get very high mountains. The highest mountain in Australia (do you know what it's called?) is only like a big hill in India. When I was staying at a hotel in the mountains I had some visitors. Here is one of them.

I asked this guy if I could take his picture and he didn't say anything. So I took it anyway. He didn't seem to mind. Maybe if you went to India he could be your friend but I don't think so because sometimes monkeys bite.

love from your Granddad

Share the food

In India there are many people who don't have enough food to eat. Some people still have some to spare and share it with the pigeons. I saw these pigeons having a feed in Delhi. I don't think the food was meant for dogs but this guy didn't want the birds to get it all.

Another cool trike

In Thailand they have three-wheel taxis called tuk-tuks. In India they have them too, well they are very similar to the ones in Thailand. In India they are called auto rickshaws or autos. I have been riding in these while I am in India. There is a lot of traffic in many Indian cities and these little guys can zip into spaces where cars don't fit. But the traffic fumes are very bad. Sometimes I cover my face with my hat so I don't have to breathe the fumes.