Gandhi and Gold

I got a prez-ENT! Yesterday when we got to Aai’s house, she presented me with a beautiful gold bangle bracelet. I wish I had taken a picture of it for you. It’s handmade. Her instructions are to wear it all the time, everyday, and I plan to. I can’t even tell you how lovely it is and how much it means to me. I never expected to get such a wonderful gift.

You can see the bracelet in this photo of Aai and me.

We had a really nice breakfast of Poha (Poha is Rice flakes--Rice, pounded down into flakes.), and then we all, and I mean ALL (including Aai and Usha Maushi) got prepared for a day out on the town. Our driver, Girish picked us up and drove us to a few places I really wasn’t interested in ;) and then, we went to Bombay University, which I had been to before. This time, we weren’t allowed into the gates due to security concerns, but there was a little girl in a red dress, about 3 years old, who was outside the gate with her mother. Her mother was a homeless woman, selling peacock fans on the street. The little girl reminded me so much of my youngest niece. I think it was her mischievous smile. At one point, she picked up a HUGE piece of concrete, dropped it on an old plastic bag, and started pulling the concrete around on the bag...her only toys are concrete and plastic bags.

We went to a place called Marine Drive, which is also called the Queen’s Necklace because it lights up like jewels at night. Then, just as I was getting SUPER BORED, we stopped in at a market and strolled the stalls. We saw all kinds of interesting things both foreign and familiar. As I was strolling along, a little ahead of my husband, I had an encounter with a beast I had only heard of in fairy tales: The Tapori. A Tapori is a guy who thinks he knows what he’s talkin’ about when it comes to the ladies. They’re also very forward. So when this guy gave me the Indian form of a Cat Call, I didn’t know whether to be disgusted or flattered! :) My husband has been telling me about the Taporis for years and it makes me feel like I’ve gone through an initiation process having now encountered one.

After the market, we went to a place called Mani Bhavan- which was Gandhi’s house from 1917-1934. I may be put to death for this, but I’m not all that into Gandhi, so it was basically just an interesting house for me. It didn’t have much cultural meaning. Perhaps later on in my life I’ll appreciate it more. There were some cool pictures of Gandhi- one with Charlie Chaplin- & my husband and I shamefully tricked Aai into believing it was a picture of Gandhi with Bill Clinton. :) We shouldn’t tease her.

There was talk after Mani Bhavan- (all in Marathi, so I really couldn’t understand it) of going to the Planetarium. Abby & I were hungry and did not want to go to the Planetarium, so when we pulled up outside the Planetarium the backseat crowd (Abby and I) were unenthused. But we were happily surprised when we entered a restaurant called The Copper Chimney, in the shadow of the Planetarium instead of the Planetarium itself. Whew. We had a delicious buffet lunch, and Girish, our driver, joined us.

Lunch was so filling- and so late in the day- that we just went back to Aai’s house. Usha Maushi’s daughter (Ashwini) and adorable grand-daughter (Tanhvi) were there to meet us, so we visited with them for awhile, while Aai made us some tasty Indian omelettes (cilantro and onion), before my husband took us back to the hotel for the night.

I went to bed early- shirking my blog duties (which I think I’m going to do in the mornings from now on) and now I’m currently in a taxi on my way to meet a woman named Vinita who is going to take us on a walking tour through the Chor Bazaar (Chor meaning “Theives’”, “Bazaar” is Market) It should be fun to do some shopping! You can count on me to do let you know how it goes!