I was in Sonarpur yesterday with one of my students, Jothi. She was buying something, and when we left the store, she was laughing. "Miss," she said, "the other customers were talking about you." "What did they say?" I really wanted to know! "They were saying, 'Look at that lady! She has the skin disease, and it has made her all white!" They thought I was a Bengali lady with vitiligo, a disease where the immune system destroys the pigment-producing cells, turning the skin in the affected area white. :) What a laugh we had over that!

We are heading into Durga Puja. This is one of the biggest pujas (holidays) in the Hindu year. I have been told that this is the puja where children are kidnapped, and that in some places human sacrifices are still offered to the goddess. Yesterday, I saw two processions, where the idols were being paraded through the streets. So sad! The drums were pounding, and the people were "dancing" in wild gyrations. But the saddest of all was when I saw the smallest children dancing like that. They had a glazed look on their faces, and seemed to be in a trance. It's sad enough to see an adult who has sold themselves to the devil, but how much sadder to see a child possessed who is too young to have a say in the matter! "Come quickly, Lord Jesus!"