March Madness

Every March the college kids in USA take off to warm holiday spots for their their spring vacation. This is a 'rite of passage' ritual that has been going on for a long time. Till last year we had been able to convince Suraj and Ravi to take the vacation with us. Not this year !!!

This year they told us they had their own plans. We tried telling them about the never ending roads leading to the big bad world but they dismissed every admonition with a laugh.

Come spring vacation time, like birds, they took off in different directions.

Suraj and two of his close friends drove to Atlanta, stopping in a few places on the way, staying in some small motels and sight-seeing whatever caught their fancy.

They window shopped many malls, trying on many things but buying very little. Money was reserved for gas and food.

This is the Parthenon building in Nashville, Tennessee, that they visited on their way to Atlanta.
Ravi being the gregarious kind got a group together of friends, of friends of friends and of brothers of friends and they all drove in the opposite direction to Suraj's group - to California.

There they stayed with an uncle of one of the boys. This uncle owns contracts to load and unload ships at a large dock. This gave the boys opportunities to go whale watching and sea fishing. Other boys got severely sun burned and tanned; Ravi turned shiny black. I had hard time recognising him when he came back.

First day's catch. The aunt was a good cook and the boys were treated to gourmet dinners.

Looking like a tropical island native, Ravi came home just in time to celebrate his 21st. birthday with us. This is a very special birthday because this is when he gets his 'adult driving licence' and is declared officially adult. This is also the drinking age in USA. Kids often celebrate this birthday bar hopping and getting drunk with friends . I sat Ravi down and gave him a lecture about the dangers of this practice and ills of drinking in general. He gave me a mischievous smile and told me: 'been there - done that - decided its not for me; so don't worry'. We had a wonderful time celebrating his birthday.

This is what Ravi looked like at six months. Papaji , my dad, is balancing him on his hand.

We took Ravi to 'Blue Orchid', a Thai restaurant. Melissa and Kirby, daughters of close family friends, surprised us by joining our group. All these kids have grown up together and maintain close contact.

When Kirby (tan dress) and Ravi were two years old, Ravi had snatched Kirby's Barbie car and taken it for a ride. This was her chance to give him hard time. Melissa was very athletic and both Ravi and her used to spend time cart wheeling and doing other gym calisthenics all over the house. They made our dinner lot of fun and festive. Thank you to both of them for coming over and making the day special.

The main celebration was at Jyoti and Jeff's beautiful home.

Jyoti had planned it in a big way. It started with hugs and gift giving.

Surina decided she liked her gift too much to be given away. It had to be pried out of her hands.

Of course she more than made up by wearing this home made hat for the party.

After putting Surina to bed everyone went out for dinner. I missed the whole celebration due to a bad case of flu.

March is also the birthday month for Shradha (Sini & Sanju's grand-daughter), Leela (Bijoy Mamu & Mai's daughter), Aman (Avtar veerji and Gurjeet's son), Geetu (Jeet's wife), Putul apa (Manu Bhai's wife), Vivek (Babi and Vicky's son) and Anushka (Seema and Sandeep's daughter). March is a busy month. Happy Birthday to all of you.

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Now, continuation of our Indian journal.

From Agra we drove through the night and reached Jaipur in the early hours of the morning. After a short rest and sleep we got ready to experience the desert state of India.

This is the courtyard of the beautiful palace hotel we stayed in.

This is the dining hall. The boys are enjoying their breakfast.

This is one of the rooms we stayed in.

The whole haveli was decorated in beautiful Indian paintings. We took a tour of the whole place before embarking on sight seeing.

This is the entrance to the Jaipur fort. The fort was on a steep hill. The roads were paved with ancient bricks. There were many different ways of traveling up the road. The elephants looked enticing but were very slow. We considered hiking up the hill but the heat was getting to us.

Finally we all piled into a jeep (Indian style). It took us up the paved road at what seemed to us breakneck speed and rattled all our joints loose. After getting down we all burst into laughter at the sheer joy of still being in one piece. That date on the picture is wrong. Ravi could not figure out how to correct it or remove it.

The fort was beautiful. It had a central courtyard around which the whole complex was built. We spent a long time enjoying this place. Different kings from different centuries had contributed to the building of this palatial fort. Some places showed these successive layers of construction and at other places it all merged into one harmonious effort. There were structures meant for comfort in peace time. These were artistic and gorgeous. There were also structures for security and war time safety from hostile attacks. These were massive and utilitarian. it was very interesting to go through the fort. We had hired a guide (against the better judgement of our driver) and he filled our ears with more details than we could possibly retain and still enjoy the visit.

Sachi wanted to spend time video taping the trip; the boys wanted to run around climbing every step and jumping into every pit; Bablee conveniently adopted the role of keeping an eye on the boys, so I haply fell victim to the guide's very ambitious tale telling. He even took to scolding me for not being able to control the family into listening to his commentary. To impress us he reminded us that he was an 'English speaking guide' who had been a flag holding soldier in the movie - Jodha Akbar'. I was impressed but others just snickered behind him. We were in too good a mood to let anything dampen our fun.

We spent a lot of time in this 'Sheesh Mahal', the visuals of many movie dance sequels running in our minds. We tried our best to convey the splendor of ancient times to Suraj, Ravi and Torry. They were sure impressed by the centuries of history gathered in that place.

This was an 'overlook' into the main courtyard for the royalty; now occupied by monkeys. I thought of this title for the picture as Ravi posed for me.

Ravi tried to test his strength by lifting Bablee mousi. His muscles proved up to the task but alas mousi's joints did not.

This is the 'Diwan-E-Aam' - where the king held court for common people. We happily felt we belonged here.

The courtyard had a carnival like feel with elephant rides and these musicians serenading the visitors.

Our many cautions of minding the pick-pockets kept the boys checking their wallets often.

We explored every nook and corner of the fort; the elderly guide surprisingly nimble enough to keep pace with the boys and pestering them with details they did not think they were listening but remember a lot of it.

There were many secret passages leading to different destinations. Some were easy to go through, some very rustic and dilapidated looking, but have nevertheless survived for centuries.

This is an ornate door gracing the decorative part of the fort. It was quite impressive in size too.

This is a door from that part of the fort which was meant for keeping attackers and looters out. We were impressed with this lock. It opens with three keys that are made up of few different parts. These parts were carried by different people. These keys had to be assembled on site and used in sequence for this door to open. I think today's Nuclear Facilities could get a lesson from this technology.

We enjoyed many light hearted moments. The boys kept us interested in things we would have normally just glanced and walked on.

Picture taking with turbaned men was very popular.

The men were as happy to be photographed as Suraj, Ravi and Torry.

This is the exit corridor of the fort. This is where queen Jodha cooks for king Akbar in the movie. Remembering that scene enriched our experience of this place.

The huge cauldrons brought fort activities to life more than anything else.

These snake charmers were sitting at the last stop before the exit and put up an impressive show.

We had been drinking water and fighting the dry desert heat the whole day.

Finally we were, in the boy's words - 'pooped out'- and ready for some respite.

It came in the form of shopping in airconditioned shops. This is a wonderful shop full of amazing bed covers of mirror embroidery and hand stamped printed cotton. We bought some to use as table covers. The beds in USA are of different dimensions than in India and are too long for these bedcovers. But we love using them as tablecovers.

Here is Ravi practising sword fight and testing us to see if we would let him buy these swords. We did not. After shopping we went to visit the Jaipur palace. It was less massive than the fort and more decorative but not as gorgeous as the Sheesh Mahal. Also, we were tired by then and our heart was not in sight - seeing any more.

The kids remembered these camels that we had seen by the road side and knew they were for hire. So we went to this place and took more than fifty pictures while waiting for our turn to ride them. There was a long wait. Then the boys saw 'the elephant'. The elephant won that evening.

We had to wait some more, during which time the elephant took a huge dooki (slang for poop which is slang for number two, which is a slang for - you get the idea I guess!), right in front of the waiting line. We laughed and laughed and shed the afternoon's lethargy.

Bablee joined the boys on the elephant ride. I stayed back to take pictures. The setting sun saturated everything with color, making the scene too beautiful to be true. All that was missing was Rafi singing a haunting melody in his inimmitable voice. The honking horns of passing vehicles that were so jarring to my ears were 'the essence of India's mystery' to the boys - the elephants and modern cars, all on the same road. WOW !

Sachi took video as long as the light was good then he made small talk with our tempo driver. After the elephant rides we had dinner at an interesting restaurant that obviously catered to visitors. There were entertainers and local dancers in Rajasthani garb. With some prodding Suraj, Ravi and Torry joined other young boys and girls from different countries and danced around a bon fire with the local dancers. It was fun. Then, after a night's rest we drove for four hours to go to Pushkar. The day was hot, the road bereft of traffic and there were very few landmarks other than the desert dust and pathetic looking vegetation. It was far from a lush scene and not yet a proper desert. The boys looked bored. AND THEN WE REACHED PUSHKAR.

Our hotel in Pushkar was in fact a true oasis. It was more like an exotic resort. Our rooms were tents (with all the modern conveniences) spread around a large swimming pool in the middle of the dry desert.

Outside the walls of the resort was a true desert for us to enjoy in comfort.

About a mile away was a small village with sparse population that straddled life between nineteenth and twentyfirst centuries. Their only source of water was this centrally built tank; electricity was rudimentary and homes were one room abodes. Goats, hens and stray dogs roamed amicably among the outdoor kitchen outfits. Every adult seemed to be carrying cell phones. The children attended a modern school run by the government.

We rented a few camels to go visit this village. The boys perked up with enthusiasm on reaching Pushkar. They put on these muscle shirts and covered their heads (Rajasthani style) by wrapping their undershirts to look like the local people (Ha! Ha!). Baba stayed in his American clothes and yet looked more Indian.

The four of them chose to ride the camels, singly, with the guides leading the camels on a leash. It was quite a scene. I cannot put it into words. The air was crisp and crystal clear, birds chirped to the drum beat of the camels' footsteps in the sand and we knew what heaven looks like.

Bablee and I travelled in this camel driven cart. I chose this mode of travel to be able to take pictures of the boys. Bablee got tricked into it by me so I would have company. I thought this cart would be comfortable and stable enough for photography. I could not have been more wrong. The cart tilted at a difficult angle so that we felt precariously close to being emptied on the ground at every step. The camel's undulating walk made taking pictures laughable. I clicked hundreds of pictures and got only a few focused ones. But these few are the cream of the crop - if I say so myself.

The boys call this one 'The three wise men from Asia'. It was Christmas day after all. We all agree that this picture embodies our experience in India this time - magical.

Back from the camel ride we all relaxed around the pool till way past sunset. This is Ravi who fell asleep on a reclining cane chair.

We ate in the in-house dining hall, decorated for the upcoming New Year party. The boys had calmed down but Bablee and I had a good session down the memory lane. We remembered all the funny stories and spent the time crying with laughter. Ravi caught us at a poignant moment. Bablee is my gift from god for all the good I must have done in my last life.

After dinner (or was it before - I can't remember) we went to see the only other attraction in town - A world famous Brahma Temple. This is an ancient Temple around which the small town has sprouted. The temple is so surrounded by shops and trees that one cannot see its building from the outside. Inside, it is accessible by numerous marble stairs. The main diety is enshrined on a high dias in the center. On both sides there were steps leading down to small rooms. We went down these steps and found remnants of the ancient temple that has sunk below ground level. One side is Shiva temple and the other side is Vishnu temple. These were very interesting. Outside the temple there were many flower venders and shops selling all sorts of temple paraphrenalia and trinkets to take home as gifts. There were many cows roaming around the crowded streets. The streets were littered with cowdung, rain water and many other unmentionables. We were bare-foot, as is the custum at temples, and Baba worried about us getting infected. But we roamed all over and dodged all the diseases. Torry was fascinated by the custom of offering flowers to the diety.

The roads were lined with these types of indoor/outdoor shops. The boys had a field day shopping, bargaining and enjoying the hilarious mistakes in the rudimentary English signs.

Next day, before boarding the tempo for ride back to New Delhi, the three of them declared Pushkar to be the best place yet.

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At home, it is now the beginning of spring. Last weekend we celebrated Baisakhi and Easter, all rolled into one. It was early for both the festivals but that is when Jyoti and Jeff were free. It turned out to be a nice balmy day and we decided to spend it outside with Surina. The grass has just turned green. The trees and bushes are still naked brown.

The driveway proved too long for little steps, so Aja lent his arms.

Surina watched the yard pensively, having seen it all winter from inside only.

She wanted frequent rides in laps for reassurance. She is very fond of these bead necklaces and insists on wearing them all.

When we took out the basket with the easter eggs she forgot her reticence in the wonder of the colorful basket.

Soon she was walking around playing with the shadows.

Then she noticed our neighbor's horses and wanted to go say hello.

She pets and kisses these ducks as if they are real. Notice Jeff and Ravi quietly finishing off the candies hidden inside the easter eggs.

When Suraj and Ravi were little Jyoti used to take them out and play with them with soap bubbles. I have many wonderful pictures of sunny spring days filled with the three of them chasing soap bubbles amidst tulips. Tulips are not in bloom yet but Suraj and Ravi had great time enchanting Surina with the same bubbles. Jyoti and I spent the time capturing the precious moments for the album. Surina has decided she loves the bubbles. We have to hide the wand so she will stop pestering us to make some more, again and again.

Jyoti had baked delicious lemon bars and we enjoyed them wearing orange shirts for Baisakhi.

All in all it was a day to remember. We felt good as a family.

A very HAPPY BAISAKHI and EASTER to all of you from all of us.

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