Lucknow UP...what a trip!!

Well, my loyal readers...here I am again....I know some of you have been asking. Well, there was just no easy internet access ...just the opposite to what I thought would happen in Lucknow. Afterall, my cousins there run a business in the adjoining house. ....Nooooo, the computer in the house was in Aunty Gypsie's bedroom, so naturally I didn't want to be using it all the time, hence I got very little writing done on my blog.

I will have to write up on the visit a little later. Suffice to say it was a wonderful trip...this is where I was doing the interviewing etc. Did that, in spite of the fact I fell sick had a fever, and tummy problems and am still not fully ok. Then my partner Zarina had her brother-in-law die in Goa. ..so she took off for a few days...and I bravely carried on. My relatives provided a car a driver for most of the trip there....really kind of them and we got tea and snacks and lunches and dinners where ever we went....Got some great stories....and met some really neat folks. There were some glitches as well.......Zarina set her micro cassette and started the interview...and made the mistake of handing the device to the guy we were talking to.......He must have been nervous, he held it so tight that he pressed the stop button.......so guess what ....he talked for nothing....we got nothing....and then the micro cassette, fell and broke a piece ....kind of a comedy of errors....

My family of Aunty Gypsie, the two daughters, Amrita and Kavita and Aunty Barri (meaning the older one......real name is Mohini...she is my Dad's cousin ..and was a OB/GYN...did a stint at Johns Hopkin at one time) were regaled daily with our goings on....and they always looked forward to the anecdotes about our interviews. I think pretty soon we had found out lots of interesting facts about people's families. Zarina and I giggled about how, if we were not careful, we could become the town gossips!! However, that was not our intent of course. We felt very priviledged to have so many people open their hearts and share their stories with us.

Incidentally, my family in Lucknow have become my best relatives ever.....all of them. It is really ironic that I had never met them before. All these people I met, including the son Ajit( and his lovely daughter Rohina) who occupy the large apartment upstairs and another cousin Inderjit who lives in another house behind them....were absolutely so welcoming and loving and great.....I am without words to describe. Oh and did I mention the absolutely beautiful and well kept and really professional lawn and garden they have......a full time Mali (gardener) with an assistant or two to help him. ....what more could one want....just a peacock or two to add to the ambiance..and they come around as well!!!...Actually they sat around squawking on the tree in the mornings outside my window...and that I could have done without.

I had a lovely large bedroom and bathroom to myself. Glad I didn't offer to share with Zarina...she was invited everyday for lunch though to our place...which she accepted happily......her accommodations are another story.....The way she described it sounded like a comedy show!!

Tomorrow I leave for Hyderabad. So off to bed.

Tea time and small talk

So this is what happened. Mr. Dilawar Chet Singh who no one would believe is 70 plus was trying to figure out how many Mayadas' he knows...and he asked me if I was related to Ashok and David Mayadas. "those are my brothers" and" how do you know them", I asked, knowing full well when I get those two brothers mentioned in the same breath, it can only mean one thing. They were together in Woodstock (their school in Missouri) I was right. Dilawar is older than them both, but when you are just a handful of Indian kids in an all white school, you get to know each other rather quickly.

We had fun reminiscing.

Delhi - some work and some play

So here I am again. I have to say I am not an expert at this blogging.....I'm having a hard time just finding my blog page....how bad is that!!

I have had an interesting couple of days. I managed to get an invite to see one of the people who had been recommended to me. He is a retired Indian Administrative Officer called Dilawar Chet Singh. His wife is apparently Principal of the school my cousin's daughter taught in. He invited me for tea the day I called, so Reggie (My cousin-in-law) and I drove down to his home, which was not far from our place. They did have a nice tea for us.....but I wanted to find out how much does he fit into the profile. Turned out Dilar Chet Singh had gone to school with my brothers Ashok and David Mayadas. He is older than them, but when you are Indian kids in an all white school, you quickly learn to recognize your kind.

We connected well, and he told me some interesting stuff about his ancestor. He however, didn't think he would be of much use in our project. I listened to him some more, and decided his father had contributed amply to the early Christian college for men in Batala, Punjab. We talked some more, but I simply took notes and didn't tape his conversation, as there was too much going on around us. About that time another gentleman had walked in, apparently he had been invited for dinner. He was an ex-IFS man, who had served as an ambassador in various countries including what they alluded to as Iraq and Afghanistan. I convinced Dilawar to talk again, as we could certainly use some of his stories. I liked the one of his grandfather changing his name from McQwen back to Chet Singh and of him having to leave the army due to insubordination.

I will write tomorrow, about the lovely time I had with my friends from college

Delhi never changes....or does it?

Arrived here via Cathay Pacific...whew...that flight was something. Full of my countrymen and women. Noisy and annoying!! The flight was late and the luggage very slow to arrive. However, it was all there and I was grateful. My cousin's husband and his son in law were there and seemed genuinely happy to see me...so was I. It was a longish ride back but all airport rides are aren't they? We came to their apartment around 4 am and my cousin Marjorie was now up to greet us. They showed me my room and then chatted with me. Somehow we kept this up till 6 am...and then said heck with the sleep "lets have some tea". Well, then we needed some breakfast. Needless to say we never slept that day.

Then Reggie, Marjorie's husband suggested we go to a "Mela" or Fair. I was game for that, and we did get there after struggling through that awful traffic. How do these people ever drive in this mess? Trucks, and scooters, and motorcycles, and rickshaws and cars and pedestrians all trying to make their way through at the same time. I think I know how. Everyone is infinitely patient, and everyone has been driving or walking or scootring through this mess for some time now. I know I did once,but I will not attempt it now. The sensible people keep chauffeurs or drivers.

The Mela was pretty good....lots of stuff for kids, and lots of handicrafts and food for everyone. We did a bit of everything. They also had entertainment and that was pretty good as well.

Came back with some interesting "stuff" including bags for the girls.

Hong Kong and beyond

This is a "must do" in Hong Kong. A visit of Wan Chai market is very invigorating and brings lots of colour for one to enjoy. This was lunch hour and we rubbed shoulders with all kinds of people. Very interesting shopping as well. However, we were on a mission. We needed a bag for the computer. I have never been into a small area with so much electronic stuff. Heaven for someone like Lance.

After that we were determined to get to the Jade Market. Boy that was an experience. We took the very efficient MTR and then wound our way around Jordan and Nathan roads....we walked around in a circle for a while before getting our bearings.

We found our way to this wonderful Jade Market and believe me this is a woman shoppers heaven. It was good having Bubly with me. She is familiar with the place and some of the vendors. We had a ball. Not telling how much we bought. Sufficient to say to was fun.

PEARL'S WISDOM: Always have a Hong Konger who doesn't know Kowloon as your guide. You get more exercise!

I've begun my journey ....

..... into the blogging world.