We woke up at about 7 AM. We had a relatively smooth night of sleep, which, I think, helped with the jet lag. We had breakfast at the Inn - cucumber and tomato sandwiches and an omelette. I had told myself that I wouldn't eat fresh, uncooked vegetables to stay safe, but the cucumber and tomato sandwiches looked so appetizing that I couldn't resist. The reminded me of my childhood. The sandwiches use untoasted bread slathered with butter, with slices of cucumber and tomato, sprinkled with salt, pepper, and chaat masala.
After breakfast, we headed to Rohini's house to reveal the "Surprise" of our arrival for her wedding. Initially, we waited outside with the idea that Ramesh would call Rohini to the door and open it to reveal us standing outside. However, she wasn't ready and happened to be in the shower. So, we came in and sat down on the couch said hello when she walked in. I think she was quite surprised (and presumably happy) to see us. A little later, Rahul came in and was also surprised to see us there.
A friend of the family who grows organic mangoes in Andhra had sent Rohini 20 cases (yep, 20 cases!) of fresh mangoes as a gift. Since this is mango season, these were unbelievably delicious, sweet mangoes. THESE tasted like the mangoes I remember from my childhood. Completely unlike the mangoes available at Cub Foods or Mount Royal Fine Foods. These have ripened on the tree and not ripened on a multi-week trip from South America to the US. The mangoes were HUGE, and I helped myself to bowl after bowl of the sweet, delicious flesh. Since the servant kept cutting mangoes and offering them to me, I had no choice but to accept them. After a delicious south Indian lunch that was catered, werelaxed catching up with friends and relatives. Rohini was getting her "Mehendi" done and Sheila also got her hands done.
In the evening, we headed to a friend's place for a party. The friend was Bhaskar Pramanik, Chairman of Microsoft India. He has a beautiful 2-floor apartment and while the women partied upstairs for the "Sangeet," I wandered around. I ran into Bhaskar who demonstrated the features of the XBox One (not yet released in India). I could feel myself fading and was feeling quite tired. But, I survived by eating some more of the delicious food that was catered at the party. Aapam, Dosas, Gulab Jamun, Rus Malai, etc. all found their way into my belly.
At about 8 PM, Bhaskar and I drove back to Rohini's place for the "guys' party." There was plenty of beer and other drink and I indulged before finding out that there was another dinner for us at this party. How could I say no? That would have been rude. With the combination of exhaustion and beer, I think I may have volunteered to dance at a party on Saturday night. The details are fuzzy, but I vaguely remember that I agreed to be at a dance practice on Saturday morning. We'll find out more today.
Again, it was a blast catching up with many relatives I haven't seen in years.
It was after midnight when we got back to the Inn and fell asleep almost immediately.
After breakfast, we headed to Rohini's house to reveal the "Surprise" of our arrival for her wedding. Initially, we waited outside with the idea that Ramesh would call Rohini to the door and open it to reveal us standing outside. However, she wasn't ready and happened to be in the shower. So, we came in and sat down on the couch said hello when she walked in. I think she was quite surprised (and presumably happy) to see us. A little later, Rahul came in and was also surprised to see us there.
A friend of the family who grows organic mangoes in Andhra had sent Rohini 20 cases (yep, 20 cases!) of fresh mangoes as a gift. Since this is mango season, these were unbelievably delicious, sweet mangoes. THESE tasted like the mangoes I remember from my childhood. Completely unlike the mangoes available at Cub Foods or Mount Royal Fine Foods. These have ripened on the tree and not ripened on a multi-week trip from South America to the US. The mangoes were HUGE, and I helped myself to bowl after bowl of the sweet, delicious flesh. Since the servant kept cutting mangoes and offering them to me, I had no choice but to accept them. After a delicious south Indian lunch that was catered, werelaxed catching up with friends and relatives. Rohini was getting her "Mehendi" done and Sheila also got her hands done.
In the evening, we headed to a friend's place for a party. The friend was Bhaskar Pramanik, Chairman of Microsoft India. He has a beautiful 2-floor apartment and while the women partied upstairs for the "Sangeet," I wandered around. I ran into Bhaskar who demonstrated the features of the XBox One (not yet released in India). I could feel myself fading and was feeling quite tired. But, I survived by eating some more of the delicious food that was catered at the party. Aapam, Dosas, Gulab Jamun, Rus Malai, etc. all found their way into my belly.
At about 8 PM, Bhaskar and I drove back to Rohini's place for the "guys' party." There was plenty of beer and other drink and I indulged before finding out that there was another dinner for us at this party. How could I say no? That would have been rude. With the combination of exhaustion and beer, I think I may have volunteered to dance at a party on Saturday night. The details are fuzzy, but I vaguely remember that I agreed to be at a dance practice on Saturday morning. We'll find out more today.
Again, it was a blast catching up with many relatives I haven't seen in years.
It was after midnight when we got back to the Inn and fell asleep almost immediately.
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