After such a wonderful evening, it was easy to sleep so well.

I woke up feeling refreshed and great! But, I woke up a little later than I wanted to originally, and for that reason missed Anna Srinivas in the morning before he went to the clinic and/or house calls to visit patients.

I got moving at around 7:45/8:00AM, and with the Y&M, it wasn’t until about 10:00AM (post shower) that I was out and ready to see what Manni had in store.

Idlis and sambar. That is what was in store! But first, coffee! Manni made me this fantastic coffee with the perfect amount of sugar (every morning she did this), and we sat and chatted at the table with all of the history.

After that, Manni told me that Priya, and her husband Dhrua, would be stopping by and taking me out as the day of the strike meant that they didn’t have work as they normally would have. I went downstairs and they were waiting in the taxi.

I felt a little nervous because there were potential attacks on everyone working. They seemed confident and OK, so off we went.

We didn’t travel far, as they had just completed their yoga calss for the morning and we went to Madras Café.

After all this idli sambar I was like nah, I can’t possibly have anything to eat.

Until I had some more to eat.

They each ordered a vada and sambar, and it looked so good! So I had to get a dosa, a very very thin dosa, with sambar. That came, I ate it. THEN, I was cajoled (and I was a willing partner) to get a vada with sambar. So so tasty. I can’t get enough of these vada and sambar, dosa, curd rice dishes.

 

After we had some coffee, we decided to take a walk around and see the sites right around their neighborhood. We started walking (after waiting for the rain to lighten up) and came across a temple. We went in, and saw the various idols. There was a shrine that was characteristic of temples in Kerala as it had a specific kind of roof.

We made our way out and continued walking, where Priya pointed out to me where her grandfather’s original clinic was located across the street. She said that there was a photo of him, her father, and her brother (Rahul) in front of that space. Unfortunately it was sold, converted into a store, and that store has since gone out of business. Really amazing history though.

We continued walking and Priya showed me this hub where they do allllll the garland making. These garlands were intense! There were two levels of people making them, too. They had some really REALLY big ones too used for when there are politicians etc. that require them. After visiting a store which lots and lots of history of being in the area, we later asked how much they were, and the gentleman said that because the day was slow he would sell it to us for around 1,000Rs. I thought it would be at least 10x that amount!

We continued walking around and made our way to a different portion of the market. Now, normally, Priya said that this area would be so mobbed that you wouldn’t be able to walk. BUT, because of the strike, it was accessible, which was great as far as I was concerned.

We made our way around, stopping here and there at little shops. I was looking at various incense oils, and then we stopped at the sweet shop and got some things to bring home!

Ok OK, so then we came home. And Manni had FRESHLY MADE PURI ready to go. Got washed up and we sat down to eat.Now I was already full, but freshly made puris!?!? I went IN. Started going at them with the potato baji that it paired with. Padma also joined for lunch, and we opened up some Kingfisher beers as we dined. Also we took another photo of youngest/eldest cousins on Mom’s side!

The food was SO. GOOD. It got to the point where I was just eating puris by themselves. Too good. Also yogurt.

Needless to say I was so full. So so full. In fact, I had to start doing laps in the kitchen because I was so full.

Then it was nap time. So I made my way to the room, and tried to sleep. I think I was so full! But I ended up sleeping for probably around 45 minutes, and woke up to get second round of Y&M.

Just as I was finishing up, Manni and Anna Srinivas came to let me know that my cousin Padma and come to visit (she works as a radiologist and she stays far out of town). I got dressed quickly and came out.

After an embrace,…we started chatting! And chatting. We were catching up on everything that was happening, and I was told that I look more and more like Dad! We talked about work, looked at old photos, and I even had a chance to video chat with Padma’s husband, Vikram! We also video chatted with Mom! Afterwards mom texted and said “That was great!”. There was even an OLD photo of us from maybe 1999(?) when they had come to visit us in Lawrenceville. Talk about a throwback! I had the shaved head look, not that super shaved, but buzz cut look, almost unrecognizable to today!

After a bit of time, Padma wanted to perform Raksha Bandhan, as the day is celebrated on 26 August this year. Because I wouldn’t be with them, we performed the ritual this day.

Raksha Bhandan is meant to celebrate the bond between brother and sister, which has expanded to include people who are close. It is celebrated with the sister tying a red thread (or Rakhi) and then the brother gives a gift. Saroja I got us stuff to do this, be ready.

We finished the ritual and said our goodbyes. I then went down and spoke with Anna Srinivas’s sister, Padma, downstairs in her flat. She had been upstairs several times, but it was nice to be able to see the flat downstairs and continue catching up.

We spoke about her son and daughter, about our family and stories from the past. Apparently mom used to live there for a while, and I had no idea! Way to hold out on us mom!

The next thing I knew it was around 9PM and time for dinner! I went upstairs and we were watching some Tamil serials. I had a beer and Anna had some rum, and we soaked the show up. I couldn’t really tell what was happening, but I got the general idea of the plot.

After the show ended, it was time for dinner!  We went to the kitchen and began to eat more food! In some ways I didn’t know how I was doing it! Oh, probably because it was delicious. We had some sambar and chapatis (I believe) and of course…yogurt! Also samosas! So much delicious food. And, we took some more photos!

I got showered up after dinner and went to bed feeling so contented once again! What an amazing day full of family and food once again!