Yesterday was Buddhimanta's son Parth's birthday so Acintya Rupa and I travelled to Noida on the Intercity Express to help with the celebrations. I don't know why they called it an express since it seemed to stop in every station on the way. It was a second class train as you can see by the decor. The redeeming feature for us was tickets for two came to the grand total of $3.95.

Diwali in Noida was an experience I haven't witnessed since the last Guy Fawkes night held in Australia before it was officially halted. There were bombs, crackers, catherine-wheels, sky-rockets and all manner of fire-works going off left right and centre till at least 1.00 am in the morning. I kept on thinking, "This must have been what World War One was like in the trenches". I had come down with a huge head cold so I wasn't able to enjoy the event to its fullest, apart from the fact I couldn't really get to sleep till it had all died down.

Then there was the mood of the festival itself. It's just like Christmas with friends dropping by with gifts and cards and offering their best wishes. All this based on the return of Lord Ramacandra from Lanka to Ayodhya which happened uncountable years ago. Well, you could count the years but you won't do it in your head. It's just amazing the festive mood that has endured for so long.

Below you will see Buddhimanta and family. Acintya Rupa cooked the cake.

We returned to Vrndavana today after doing a home program at one of the Noida Bhakti-vrksa groups last night. Today's train was the Jan Shatabdhi which was an express. We covered the same distance that took three and a half hours on Friday in under two hours for the same grand price of $3.95.