Today we attended the Puja ceremony for the opening of Farid's new office. I had explained this ceremony in another post, but you can also get more info from this link:
http://www.asia.si.edu/education/pujaonline/puja/background.html
Basically it was a ceremony to bless the office before moving in officially next week. They will hold a grand opening ceremony in a few weeks when the entire office complex is completed. Zach and Emma attended and enjoyed seeing this firsthand (and skipping their morning classes!). For me, as a Catholic, there were alot of similarities in the ceremony. Candles and incense were lit, a table decorated with flowers, fruits, images of Hindu gods and ritualistic prayers were chanted by the priests. At the end of the ceremony, everyone offered flowers and put red ashes on their forehead. Then everyone attending was presented with a box of candied nuts. Aferward, we enjoyed breakfast and visited with the employees. We had some U.S. visitors, as well as a Scottish gentleman, who works out of Belgium. One thing about Chennai is the endless opportunities to meet people from all over the world. That is for sure one of the most interesting things about being here. I'm sure Farid feels like he has moved heaven and earth to get this office up and running and today we were all seeing how well it is coming together. The office is very nicely designed and all the employees seem happy to be a part of it.
Basically it was a ceremony to bless the office before moving in officially next week. They will hold a grand opening ceremony in a few weeks when the entire office complex is completed. Zach and Emma attended and enjoyed seeing this firsthand (and skipping their morning classes!). For me, as a Catholic, there were alot of similarities in the ceremony. Candles and incense were lit, a table decorated with flowers, fruits, images of Hindu gods and ritualistic prayers were chanted by the priests. At the end of the ceremony, everyone offered flowers and put red ashes on their forehead. Then everyone attending was presented with a box of candied nuts. Aferward, we enjoyed breakfast and visited with the employees. We had some U.S. visitors, as well as a Scottish gentleman, who works out of Belgium. One thing about Chennai is the endless opportunities to meet people from all over the world. That is for sure one of the most interesting things about being here. I'm sure Farid feels like he has moved heaven and earth to get this office up and running and today we were all seeing how well it is coming together. The office is very nicely designed and all the employees seem happy to be a part of it.
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