i can hardly believe that i'm actually going to be in india this sunday.
the last time i went to india was . i celebrated my seventh birthday there. the visit was basically a flurry of relatives' houses and dusty streets. my one and only first cousin, muniya, was just a baby. my dadu (grandfather) was still alive, and i spent most of my time with my mom and my sister, still very wary of unfamiliar things. i barely bought anything, except a miniature plaster figurine of lakshmi, which i begged my mom to buy for me from a street vendor. i turned up my nose at the food, particularly dal, which was served with every meal.
things are so different now. calcutta is gone, and kolkata stands in its place. muniya is seventeen and getting ready for medical school, and i know i'm just going to be so shocked when i see her. dadu passed away several years ago, and i worry that my dima (grandmother) is no longer the stalwart that she once was. i'll be traveling alone, at least until marlon arrives next tuesday. until then i don't know who i'll be spending time with. i'm guessing muniya, but i'm also guessing she has school. (i wonder if i'll get to meet the indian girls i used to play with.) i am soooo dying to hit the markets.
and i can't wait for honest-to-goodness indian food, whether it be home fare or the three-day feast laid out for shivaani's wedding -- yes, dal and all. they'll have to roll me home.
the fact that it's winter (14 degrees to 25 degrees celsius) isn't sinking in, either. how cold can it possibly be? india is still a tropical country, right?
the last time i went to india was . i celebrated my seventh birthday there. the visit was basically a flurry of relatives' houses and dusty streets. my one and only first cousin, muniya, was just a baby. my dadu (grandfather) was still alive, and i spent most of my time with my mom and my sister, still very wary of unfamiliar things. i barely bought anything, except a miniature plaster figurine of lakshmi, which i begged my mom to buy for me from a street vendor. i turned up my nose at the food, particularly dal, which was served with every meal.
things are so different now. calcutta is gone, and kolkata stands in its place. muniya is seventeen and getting ready for medical school, and i know i'm just going to be so shocked when i see her. dadu passed away several years ago, and i worry that my dima (grandmother) is no longer the stalwart that she once was. i'll be traveling alone, at least until marlon arrives next tuesday. until then i don't know who i'll be spending time with. i'm guessing muniya, but i'm also guessing she has school. (i wonder if i'll get to meet the indian girls i used to play with.) i am soooo dying to hit the markets.
and i can't wait for honest-to-goodness indian food, whether it be home fare or the three-day feast laid out for shivaani's wedding -- yes, dal and all. they'll have to roll me home.
the fact that it's winter (14 degrees to 25 degrees celsius) isn't sinking in, either. how cold can it possibly be? india is still a tropical country, right?
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