I am feeling much better after the accident and seem to be almost done with the never-ending cycle of doctors visits, which is good because going to the doctor takes an obscenely large amount of time, is not cheap, and is usually mildly frustrating. In addition to seeing a doctor for my accident injuries, I was simultaneously seeing a specialist about my tummy (which has been a little gerber - Urdu for chaotic). The first attempt at seeing a doctor was quite interesting because I had to go to his office (in a hospital) at 8 pm at night. But there are no appointments or lines in India, so what the scene at the office looked like was about 40 people crowded around a closed and locked door. Occasionally, the door would open a crack, the patient who had just seen the doctor would leave, and whoever could squeeze into the door next would then go to see the doctor. After waiting for about 2 hours, I left without having seen the doctor. Feeling mildly out-of-sorts, I stopped at a very nice temple on my way home that had music and food (sweets!) and general fun. This little stop greatly improved my spirits. The next day, I went to the doctor's home and saw him there.
That same weekend was full of Hindu festivals. One of these was the Durga Puja, which is an important holiday for Bengalis. While I am living pretty far from Bengal, there are some Bengalis living in Lucknow and different groups of people constructed statues of the goddess Durga and performed puja (including drumming and incense burning) in front of the shrines. People came and watched the festivities late into the evening. Specifically, the festival was celebrating Durga killing a demon, Mahishasur. Here is a picture of one of the Durga shrines:
The Monday of the Durga Puja was Dussehra, a special day that seems to be celebrated by most Hindus in Lucknow. On this day, they celebrate the god Rama killing the demon Ravana. This is usually done by making a statue of Ravana, putting firecrackers in it, and lighting him on fire. We did this on the roof of the house I live in and I really enjoyed the spectacle. The daughter of the house made the statue herself. And the firecrackers were both loud and shot crazily over the roof - so it was really exciting. Here is a picture of our Ravana before his demise:
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