Monday, April 24, 2006

Nitin Uncle and Muthatha Aunty

This weekend our good friends, Nitin and Muthatha came to stay with us. They had planned to meet us in Kodaikanal for a few days last week, but due to the death of the famous Kannada film star, Rajkumar, they were unable to get out of Bangalore as the entire city shut down for two days and was overcome by rioting. In South India, film stars can rise to god-like stature among the masses and it is a phenomenon that is, admittedly, difficult for me to fully understand. Throughout the south, the worlds of politics and cinema are very cozy. Sure, in the US Ronald Reagan became President and Arnold Schwartzeneggar became the Governor of California, but there is nothing close to the something like the M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) phenomenon. Anyway, this weekend they were able to get out of the city and join us for a really nice time.

One of the things that we did was venture down to Dakshina Chitra, a reproduction of traditional south Indian rural community living that, functionally is a bit like going to Plymouth Plantation except here they have fortune telling parrots and tender coconut water for sale. It is a really nice place to come with Kaia as he can roam around and they maintain the grounds well so there’s no concern about stray dogs or other critters.

Kaia really took to Nitin and was very sad to see him leave (as were we all, and sad to see Muthatha Aunty too!). We are looking forward to having them come stay with us in Seattle when Muthatha returns to the University of Washington to complete her Ph.D.

Why I Love this Time: The other day we were driving on a side street and Kaia saw an older man wearing a white dhoti and walking with a cane. Immediately he said, “papa, its Gandhi!” We all burst out in laughter and it further proved to me that this little guy has indeed become an Indian.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Had to smile at the young one's remark on Gandhi, so sweet. Bless