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My favorite family and my favorite food! Here's Mom, Me, Aman, Raman, Dad - and below - puri aloo with lots of mango pickle! And a cup of lassi! |
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Here's us at the India-Pakistan border ceremonies. Felt like a football game. There was popcorn, cheerleaders, men in special hats trying to kick higher than the other team. Very patriotic. Very male. |
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We crashed a wedding one night in Chandigarh. In the states, sometimes it seems like attending wedding is kind of a boring event, you go cause you feel like you have to. But in India, it's such a fun, colorful event, wedding season is the most exciting time of the year (winter cause the weather is bearable)! Wedding celebrations last days, sometimes over a week with all the preparations and smaller parties leading up to the actual wedding day. There's so many fun traditions and rituals, it'd take me a long story time to relate it all! |
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We took a trip to Kasauli, a hill army station not too far from Chandigarh. It was a really beautiful drive up. There wasn't much to do or see at the top, but it was nice to see so much foliage and wildlife after being stuck in thriving metropoli like Manila, LA, Beijing...We had lunch at a nice resort after walking around the local shops and after eating they dimmed the lights and started a dance party! So I got to learn a little bit of Punjabi dancing! It was kinda hard cause they don't use their hips, most expression is done through the shoulders! It took a few tries, but I think I got 3 solid moves down!
On a different note, my friend Aman says he's tired of some not well-informed people thinking India is a land of snake charmers, a dirty third-world country stereotypical covered by cows wandering the streets and whatnot. I agree, it's a shame to have such a simplified, savage impression of such a rich and colorful society that is growing more modern and more rich every day. But, while I did not see any snake charmers, or snakes at all, I will admit I saw my fair share of cows cruising the streets. As well as monkeys, boars, stray dogs, and whatever other animals felt like scavenging for food. I thought it was kinda cute, they weren't harming anyone, though I was a little sad for the animals with all the noise pollution and whatnot. |
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