Thanu's Birthday

Raju (our driver) celebrated his daughter's first birthday with a big party at his home. First birthdays are a big deal in India. The party was preceded by a pilgrimage to a local temple where the men and Thanu (birthday girl) shaved their heads and gave their hair as an offering. The wait at the temple was 6 hours.

Below, I'm including some pictures from the party. I even captioned them. Sorry some are a bit dark; the power was out for most of the evening. We ate by candle light.

It was wonderful to share in the celebration, though we felt a bit awkward as the *obvious* guests of honor... served special food, at the table (while all the other guests ate in the other room on the floor).

Raju was delighted when we celebrated his birthday in June with a cake and candles. He'd never had an "American" celebration, he said. He went crazy with decorations, hats and a FLAMING, musical birthday candle for Thanu's bday. Fun.

And man, looking at these pictures, I am reminded just how white we are... how much we stick out. Oh well.