Easter 2009

Easter Sunday was a little unusual in the Ferentz/Pollari household. For the first time in 18+ years we weren't in Boston and it felt weird. We went to an English-speaking Anglican church and it was good: lots of good singing, (even if some of the tunes were different), an overflowing church, friendly people...but it wasn't our church in Cambridge, UniLu. It wasn't our community.
And although we had hoped to host a party here, that turned out to be too much. So we spent most of the day shopping (can you believe that Ann and I went shopping?), eating (two different lunches) and tasting fresh, ripe mangoes with friends. It was a very good day...but it wasn't really Easter.

But the main difference was our Easter Dinner party. As many of you know, we have hosted an Easter dinner every year since 1992. It's an important tradition, and we've always joked that if one year we didn't have it, people would show up anyway. And that's exactly what we did this year.

Several friends (including especially our house-sitter) hosted the party at our house. People helped with organizing, bringing food, setting up, cleaning up and everything else. About 30 people came, and so far as we can tell, they had a good time.

Because, you see, we were there. Well, we weren't there in body, and yes, we were there in spirit, but we were also there through the Internet. A friend set up a video connection and Ann and I were able to see people in our house and they could see us. (There was a glitch in our microphone, but we did a lot of hand-waving, just as I do when I talking to people who don't speak English. Somehow, it all works out.) It was fantastic to see everyone and we felt that we were back in Boston. It was amazing. Just another example of how the internet has changed our lives. Some of you are young enough to think of a video conference over the internet as quite normal, but I'm not that young. I remember when long-distance phone calls usually meant that someone had died.

So this was quite an Easter. It is likely to be our most memorable one for years to come.

Notes about Easter in India:
Most people are aware that this Sunday was Easter and know that, with Christmas, it's an important "festival" for Christians. There were a couple of articles or photos in the paper about Good Friday or Easter. But it's also just one of many festivals. There are at least three festivals big enough to have an article or photo in the paper every week, and there are many more that we only know about because we see a parade in the street.

There are quite a lot of Christians in Bangalore. They are still a minority, but the churches are jammed every Sunday. The Anglican church we went to had at least 500 people there, with people outside watching on big screens. For what it's worth, it was predominantly English-speaking Indians at the service. There were quite a few westerners, but less than 10% of the congregation.

Happy Easter! Alleluia!