What's making me happy right now...

Spending the weekend at at Harvard visiting my dear friend Avni. The Chinatown bus that got me there for 15$. Bollywood poses around streetlights outside of Baker Library. Sushi dinners and getting a second helping of salmon sashimi because its both of our favorites. Sitting by the fire "studying" in Spangler. Not needing to catch up. Sharing photos of our very different trips to India. Talking about taking the next step. Dorm rooms. Shopping in Harvard Square. Intelligent conversations at fancy brunches with her section ;). Chocolate fountains and crepe stations. Drinking Bubble Tea together. Thank you.

I'm impressed

Two indian stories on E! news in one week. First Ashwairya Rai was the most googled person in the world on monday and now news from the Shantaram movie. The country is following me.

The second tidbit has got me excited -

"Mira Nair will direct big-budget Johnny Depp starrer "Shantaram" for Warner Bros. Pictures, with Graham King's Initial Entertainment Group and Depp's Infinitum Nihil producing. Brad Pitt's Plan B is a producer as well. "

Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt - this movie is going to go far...

I don't want to be back, I don't feel as though I'm back, but I am.

Things I miss:
- Reading the Times of India every morning– the only constant across the trip, it became part of my morning ritual in every city I visited.
- Lazy days and reading good books.
- Smiling, smiling people everywhere.
- Old friends and family to visit.
- Being in the same time zone as Nirish :(

Things I won’t miss:
- The obsession with food, eating became a focal point of each day and I got the feeling that people were honestly offended when I didn’t eat everything they made for me.
- Not fitting in, no matter how hard I tried, it felt as though I was walking around with a big foreigner sign on my forehead.

Greetings from the land of Che & Cho

Jamnagar is an entirely different world. Its a completely new experience and, to be honest, exactly what I thought India would be like.

Its nice to be somewhere where I understand what the people around me are saying. Although my rudimentary gujarati has severely limited my ability to communicate with strangers.

Life centres around eating and sleeping. The entire city takes a lunch and nap break from 1 to 3. Shops are closed and people make their way home, even the autos seem to disappear from the streets. Dinner is always later than I'm used to, after 9pm. Its going to take a solid month at the gym to make up for all the butter and and oil I've consumed.

Cows are everywhere. They roam around the city all day, mixing with cars and the camel (yes CAMEL, as in Alice) drawn carts. At night they are rounded up and put somewhere, I have no idea where.

The shopping is amazing, buying anything is an adventure, and my Indian wardrobe is now complete - plus I finally have bangle boxes, sari covers (with attached compartments for blouses and pins)& chandla holders, all matching of course.

I've been lucky, I realised that I've gotten away with a lot because I'm unmarried. There is little expectation that I will do much around the house, cooking and cleaning wise, I assume its because I'm not seen as having a house of my own to take care of. Anything I do is a bonus and given that I've cut my fair share of vegetables and wiped a few tables its gone well.

I was at the beauty parlour getting a blowout the other day (something I should have done the moment I landed in Bangalore) and took in all the catty gossip, one girl had just gotten engaged and was answering questions about her future inlaws and getting advice on what to do with her car and money until the wedding, the other girls were complaining about the weather and the lack of boys in their lives, its nice to know women everywhere all have the same problems ;)

More to come after my mid day nap.

So far...

No cities, no crowds for me. I've only been in Bangalore for maybe 2 out of my 7 days so far. The definitely highlight (apart from Kerala) was picking coffee at Nirish's family plantation. I had no idea a coffee plantation could be so beautiful - rolling hills/mountains, creeks, a lush canopy of trees to nuture the coffee plants. Completely unexpected.

New years in Kerala was amazing. Spent our first day on a traditional Kettuvallam - which have been converted into lux houseboats - with bedroom, bathrooms, a cook, captain and operator. Our crew was amazing and we nagivated through some of the most idylic scenery I've ever seen - vast fields of rice, churches, temples, lakes and canals. At lunch time we dropped anchor in the middle of a small lake and relaxed. Nirish spent most of the time sitting on the bow of the boat soaking it all in, I opted for the more relaxed reading and chilling on the divan behind the captain.

Our flight was at 8, someone suggested that we head up to Cochin for lunch at the Taj. Best advice I've heard. We spent the day as drop in guests, swimming in the infinity pool, getting massaged at the spa, a much needed 'layover'- it felt like we were kids crashing a grown up party and the best day I've had in ages.

After today my remaining time in Karnataka will be spent in the hills on the estate some 5 hours away from Bangalore. We already stopped at the bookstore to pick up some tools for lazy evenings. I have paper and pens for capturing all the dreaming we've been doing.

I've taken over 500 pictures so far and I'm having trouble sorting through how much to share, much of the Indian landscape here reminds me of Canada. Never thought I'd say that....