Hyderabad...some real pearls!

Hello again!
Today, I may have someone to help me figure hout how to post photos on this blog....am using my cousin Vasant's computer, and his "computer helper"...who actually owns a cyber cafe is here so hope to get some tips.
Now that all the girl cousins have left except for me, my cousin decided that perhaps it was not safe for me to sleep in the next door apartment by myself. I couldn't understand how someone could break in as we have a pretty sturdy door with a latch key system....two windows facing outdoors...one of which would be impossible to climb into....too high. the other has a balcony but the window has fancy bars...one would have to be bound and determined to get in. Between Vasant and Shanti, they can certainly tell you some interesting stories....not just gory ones.

This morning for instance Shanti/Oudesh told me a story of monkeys doing a burial for one of their own in some remote area where she was working. We were in the kitchen when she was narrating the story and both the "kitchen helper girl" and I were rolling our eyes.....I mean who has ever heard of monkeys carrying one of their dead by tying his limbs to a stick and carrying it to an area and burying him like a human by digging a hole with their hands...and later sitting around with the older monkey with one hand cupped on the cheek and then leaving one by one. She claims to have witnessed the whole thing. I thought I had stories to tell....Shanti's stories top mine any day!! I told her this was one for the National Geographic.....when I see it there I may beleive it....but then monkeys are known to copy humans so who knows .....they may have been observing people for a long time.

Anyways, the one interesting thing we did yesterday was visit the pearl dealers and jewellers......Venita will remember this from her last visit. They have changed their location.....no longer on the top floor. Just a smaller shop on the ground floor of what appears to be a number of smaller jewellers in the same location. When we arrived, the electricity was off ...(goes off once a day for an hour or so ....different times for different locations)...so we were trying to examine the quality of pearls in the dark....I am going to get a small "kundan" pendant that I own and which looks like a small owl set in triple layers of seed pearls.....everyone agreed seed pearls would look lovely compared to anything larger. I had thought the pendant was of interest but not much value....turned out it is set in gold and the two red eyes are rubies. Also the old old pearl and kundan hanging earrings...have Basra pearls.....I thought they were garbage pearls and was going to have them replaced....they told me they were valuable because they were no longer available...just get them cleaned.....so Shanti cleaned them with shampoo later at home.....everything looked much better.....I learned something today...that's for sure. Of course they wanted to sell me somthing new as well....so we looked at their semi-precious stone necklaces. I think I felt obliged to get something...as Shanti brings them customers and that's what they expect. Anyways, the jeweller will bring the finished products to our home this evening....and Shanti will probably bring him down a little in price....at least I hope so.

Let me not forget to say...we were offered the customery tea and also given a choice of Lassi......that sounded good...so I asked for Lassi.....wow...this was no Lassi (buttermilk)....this was the richest lassi I have ever had....more like a milk shake.....or if you know of Indian sweets, then it would be like having Ras Malai mixed in your drink.....now go figure....and my figure is not what they were considering!!!...there was samosas as well....which I could hardly finish...and dumped it into my empty glass.

Pearls of wisdom: Know your pearls before you discard them!