To Recap First:
1) The night after the Garba we attended the connected wedding reception. It was a fairly modest event in that only several hundred people were there. Although the governor of the State of Gujarat also showed up. This was not to be our only close encounter with him this week.
2) A day of shopping in Ahmedabad. Well it was a focused trip to a store called Reve that sells AHIMSA silk products. This is an exciting alternative to traditional silk products in that the silk worms are allowed to hatch from their cocoons and then the silk threads are collected.
On the way home I spotted signs for the circus in town:
And our car was side-rear ended...at like 1mph. It was hardly anything, but it happened in front of a traffic cop in the middle of the intersection. The cop tried to brush it off and told us to go, but mummy wanted to get the driver's info, just in case.
We soon realized why the cop had tried to brush us off...the governor's motorcade was coming through the area. This also explained the inordinate number of traffic police smoothly directing traffic that day.
For lunch we went to a restaurant called "The New Yorker". It was very well designed in the interior. And the scale-wall model of New York was accurate to present day settings.
Furthermore, it is the only place I've been able to get decent spaghetti in Ahmedabad. Now I don't begrudge Ahmedabad for not providing better spaghetti, but for the number of places that have it on their menus, it tastes nothing like actual Italian spaghetti.
On the way home I spotted signs for the circus in town:
(it's the small sign with the tiger...but the tents were big and lovely)
And our car was side-rear ended...at like 1mph. It was hardly anything, but it happened in front of a traffic cop in the middle of the intersection. The cop tried to brush it off and told us to go, but mummy wanted to get the driver's info, just in case.
We soon realized why the cop had tried to brush us off...the governor's motorcade was coming through the area. This also explained the inordinate number of traffic police smoothly directing traffic that day.
For lunch we went to a restaurant called "The New Yorker". It was very well designed in the interior. And the scale-wall model of New York was accurate to present day settings.
Furthermore, it is the only place I've been able to get decent spaghetti in Ahmedabad. Now I don't begrudge Ahmedabad for not providing better spaghetti, but for the number of places that have it on their menus, it tastes nothing like actual Italian spaghetti.
Here's an odd bit of me-trivia...this is the fourth city that I have seen a fairly decent Statue of Liberty. Of course I saw the original in New York. I also saw it's mini-version in Paris. One in is in Las Vegas (New York New York) and now here in Ahmedabad India. Perhaps I've seen more, I can't rightly recall, but I think it's fabulous that these four cities can claim a such an obscure common thread such as this.
3) Another wedding! Last night we went to an appropriately large wedding. You may ask: "Large? You said the one the other night only had several hundred guests...what is LARGE?"
Well large is at a party plot that can hold over 1,000 guests...these views are a 1-2-3 pan of the plot. It's all outdoors too.
3) Another wedding! Last night we went to an appropriately large wedding. You may ask: "Large? You said the one the other night only had several hundred guests...what is LARGE?"
Well large is at a party plot that can hold over 1,000 guests...these views are a 1-2-3 pan of the plot. It's all outdoors too.
At these weddings I feel like I'm in a garden party. A Lewis Carroll garden party, where lovely and bright flowers (albeit inverted) float and flutter across the green grass. But that's just if you look at the ground the whole time.
The one thing about these weddings I don't like is the pushy-ness of the guests. There is shameless line cutting and many can be extremely rude to the servers. It's not like the entitlement-arrogance I have seen in some Americans (when Americans just think they are the best...period), but this comes out of the legacy of the caste system. Although it is officially deinstitutionalized it exists in the words and actions of every person I have encountered (with a few exceptions). Honestly it is more ingrained even then the legacy of slavery is in the US. Of course that isn't so strange since slavery was younger than the caste system, but who goes around asking people: were your family slave owners or slaves. This is a much bigger topic of conversation than can be addressed here and now, but I hope the picture is there.
I tried to pose properly after the wedding but had some timing issues:
AND FINALLY...
We are off to the North:
The one thing about these weddings I don't like is the pushy-ness of the guests. There is shameless line cutting and many can be extremely rude to the servers. It's not like the entitlement-arrogance I have seen in some Americans (when Americans just think they are the best...period), but this comes out of the legacy of the caste system. Although it is officially deinstitutionalized it exists in the words and actions of every person I have encountered (with a few exceptions). Honestly it is more ingrained even then the legacy of slavery is in the US. Of course that isn't so strange since slavery was younger than the caste system, but who goes around asking people: were your family slave owners or slaves. This is a much bigger topic of conversation than can be addressed here and now, but I hope the picture is there.
I tried to pose properly after the wedding but had some timing issues:
Caught woefully rolling my eyes and head in impatient waiting for the snap...shoot.
Okay this is better....although a bit cheesy
AND FINALLY...
We are off to the North:
We leave in a few hours, by train, for Delhi. The train departs about 5:30pm and is an overnighter that gets in near 9am. I'm pretty excited about all of this. I'm thankful that Surnish's parents are indulging me, but they generally travel this way to Delhi anyway.
Surnish will be leaving around the same time on Sunday in the States. We will finally meet up with him Tuesday night at 7:30-ish in Delhi...yay!
I bid you all a found farewell until I post again....which will be while I'm on the road.
Peace,
A Pink American
Surnish will be leaving around the same time on Sunday in the States. We will finally meet up with him Tuesday night at 7:30-ish in Delhi...yay!
I bid you all a found farewell until I post again....which will be while I'm on the road.
Peace,
A Pink American
