Party on the 15th !

Finally writing about the party on 15th, with Kumar and Priyanka, Neha and Gagan, and Daksh ( who was obviously the high point of the evening) & Mona and Aryan. Can't tell you how much fun all of us had...with the beers, snacks, jokes and so much of Kumar-isms on his life in US. he had everyone in splits..so much so that Mom actually forgot about making paneer! Manish is finally convinced that Geminis can rule the crowd ! Since Gagan is also planning his move to Chicago next year, there was so much of US-talk..and i am more than ever tempted to pack my bags and scoot away. I wish the evening could last much longer, but next day being rakhi, we finally decided to call it quits around 1 AM...tch tch, when will we get this chance again?

Binnie's godbharai and then mine

3rd Aug was Binnie's godbharai, the very India custom for a baby shower! Mom, megha and I went to her house. They had some typical custom of praying to the peepal tree in the temple, and then the usual bit about everyone showering their blessings on her, with meethe chawal and gifts.

14th Aug was mine...Mom did this sweet thing of arranging gajras for everyone who was coming in to bless me. I took leave from office that day, and thank god, as it poured and poured all day.

We have this typical thing of saat suhagane offering lucchi and halwa to the expectant mother ! I got lots of gifts. Embarrasingly Manish cousin Ekta gifted a life size newborn baby toy that cried like a real baby, said mama and papa...and somehow everyone found that real amusing.

The function went off well, bit everyone who left our home went back in 3-4 hours, with all the traffic and rain across the city. Tch Tch, Binnie's car was rammed by a bus, and now is in the garage....I guess everyone is going to remember this day.

Jai Hind

Happy 61st Independence Day India...just jotting down something that tugged my heart. We had Priyanka and Kumar over for dinner on 15th ( along with the Gautams and Mona). The evening was lively with Kumar's stories from the US, his experiences and the ups and down of the 4 years of life gone by. On asking Kumar as to how far he is from citizenship, considering that his Green Card came in early, and effortlessly ( in comparison to manyyyyy) he said " Citizenship could take as long as 12 years. Even if i reach uptil that point, i am not sure if i would be able to read the oath. I have tried reading the oath by myself, and each time i choke. It's like asking someone to leave one mother, and take upon another, without ever going back to the first. I am not convinced in my heart that i have the guts or the willingness to do that".
How i see it is that even if eventually Kumar does take that oath, with all the excitement and success that his time in US brought him, he knew that he didnt really want to leave his motherland, and that it choked him time and time again to prepare to accept another country as his own. It does echo the sentiments of some of the people of my generation. We are compelled by our ambitions to look beyond our boundaries, to relocate, to give up, and move on. Yet, deep down, we would not trade it to turn our backs on the country that created our character.

The 30th Bday

Manish and I went to celebrate my 30th bday at this much talked about place called IndoChine in Lado Sarai. Its like a lounge that serves Oriental food...bang in the middle of the dinner came this news that Sumit and Rupali have had a daughter..oh how cool is that...another gemini sharing MY bday! Manish looked at me in mock horror...Another one like you! But man, we were excited...gulped down dinner and rushed to Max. Met a very esctatic Sumit Kalra and the family.

Here's the one we took at IndoChine, and then of Samaira Kalra, who came to our house excatly 40 days later!