Celebrating the Goddess of Knowledge

So here's what I gathered: Locals give money obligatorily for celebrating Saraswati Pooja (worship of the goddess of knowledge +) . Then the money is spent on contracting stringing of lights along a couple streets around the temple, setting up a temporary tent to display a sculpture of the goddess, some buckets of sweet pebbles that are scooped out by hand to everyone who comes, blaring speakers and dj set, and then another bigger tent with a carpet in front.

The final expenditure is on an entertainment group that consists of a 2 call girls (as called by a friend) dressed seductively and a slickly cool male dancer who clumsily put on a show clearly aimed at lasting as long as the drunk members of the community would continue to hand them cash as tips.

It was saddening to see, and though some people I know here said it was very foreign and unwanted, a decent part of the people stayed far past my bedtime to looped songs. They asked if the US was like that. I said not everyone, not most, not for kids. They said, yeah your sister was modestly dressed - we saw.

As I strolled the block back to my sleeping bag, I passed three kids who had come from bihar a couple months ago. 1 was smoking a cigarrette and clapping. the other two were younger and replicating how the male actress (as called by my friend) would rub his chest against the call girls' chest.