Lady Boss and Dada have come and gone - and survived their first (but maybe not last - they have 5 year visas!) trip to India. A clarification of names - Lady Boss of course refers to Mom and is the name given to her by our Agra auto driver who had extremely nasty teeth, very thick glasses and a clever streak. Dada is Pops nickname given to him by the children of SBT who thought he was my grandfather (I think its the white beard). Both names are in accordance to one of the many assignments I gave them for their trip - to earn nicknames other than the generic 'auntie' and 'uncle' most Indians use. Other things on the list of things that MUST be done in India were:
- Watch a Bollywood movie and learning at least one dance step
- Choose a favorite Bollywood hero (or learn a name and pretend he is your favorite)
- Try the following drinks: sweet lime soda, chai, lassi, ginger lemon honey tea, mango juice, nimbu pani...
- Understand the difference between Indian breads: chappati, roti, naan, kulcha, romali, banthura, puri...
- See the following animals without stepping foot in a zoo: elephant, peacock, camel, green parrot, monkey, white wedding horse
- Buy something for less than half of the quoted price (showing superior bargaining skills)
- Ride an auto on the meter
- Stumble upon a street wedding
- Active walk with the aunties and uncles in Central Park
- Take a ride in the super-modern and ultra-crowded metro
- Try a Maharaja burger from McDonald's
- Participate in a pick-up game of cricket
- Not blink when asked extremely personal questions within the first five minutes of conversation with a stranger
...There were others - I think Mom and Pops accomplished about 85% of them!
In short their trip was great - I loved having them here so they could see my life and what I do and where I go and how I live. Though I didn't dare take them on the bus, I did force them into some pretty seedy neighborhoods and pressed them quite a bit, especially at the beginning of the trip (part of which was bringing them to SBT!) They got to see my substandard working conditions (and my desk in the bookcase) but they also got to hang out with the kids a bit!
We spent one day in Agra, of course to see the Taj Mahal - but what we mostly found was heat and frustration....and the Baby Taj which Mom liked to call the Little Buddha (you can ask her what Buddha has to do with the Muslim leader who ordered the building of the Baby Taj - called so because it is physically smaller than the real Taj, though its more extravagant and was built beforehand – I have no idea of the Buddha reference myself ☺ )
Baby Taj
Pops soaking in the real Taj
And then we escaped to Goa - we found incredible beach shacks on a quiet (and warm!) ocean, watched the monsoon slowly come (in the form of clouds only, no rain yet) and endless seafood with which to stuff our faces. We spent lazy days laying in the sun and reading books, walking along the small beach, shopping for jewelry from the beautiful girls who come from Rajasthan to peddle their wares, and sleeping in hammocks. We also found a few Portuguese monuments and learned that during the 4 months of monsoon many Goans frog hunt. We also learned that many temples look like churches, many churches look like temples, some bones (and diamond-encrusted fingernails) scattered throughout the state attract great pilgrimages, and Goa is nothing like Delhi.
In pictures...
You can find many more pictures on Facebook and you can ask the nitty gritty details of the trip from Mom and Pops - I'm sure they have tons of stories about Indian stares, Indian dirt, Indian heat, and Indian spice - all the things that I'm used to by now.
I hope you are all well! Who else is coming to see us?
No comments:
Post a Comment