A Spring in India: Chapter 3

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Chapter 1: Planes, planes and more planes
Chapter 2: Meeting Mumbai

A Spring in India
Chapter 3: Ulhasnagar

So, welcome back. In the previous chapters, after a long, grueling series of flights, we had finally settled in and had attended a gurdwara divan in the wee hours of the morning. We hadn't done any really "activity" yet, but had used our senses to take in India. Now, we have woken up in the afternoon in Ulhasnagar, a town neighboring Bombay. We are in a spacious, pleasant house which has an endless series of stairs including two levels of terraces, a sunlit laundry room, a modern-day living room with a tv and all, and a strongly-scented kitchen. The architectural details are really splendid, probably because they custom-built their house.

Who are "they", you may ask? First off, they are all really nice! Let's meet them...

Choti Nanima: She is my grandma's little sister, 13 years younger, so my mom and her siblings call her "didi", not "masi". She is a very kindly lady who would often be doing paht, but also talked to us.

Magic Masarji: He is Choti Nanima's husband, he is my mom's masarji, not mine, but for some reason I call him masarji like my mom. He has a gruff voice and can be absolute prankster, he is very good at tricking people with things and statements. He is also an expert cook - he owns an eggless pastry shop, which I'll discuss in just a bit.

Rinku Mama: He is Choti Nanima and Magic Masarji's son, but we only saw him once during the trip, at the airport, because he had somewhere to go. My mom tells me he is quite the jokester as well and will keep you laughing for hours. He is also really spiritual, and is involved with kirtan quite a lot.

Bobby Mama: He is Choti Nanima and Magic Masarji's other son, and he is a lot like my mom's brother Happy Mama in his style of talking and dressing - both are very "cool and collected" and seem self-confident but can also be loud when they want. He is also extremely funny and we had little "debates" about whether India or America is better, and he also showed me a few riddles.

Preeti Mamiji: She is Bobby Mama's wife, and is really nice as well, it was always nice discussing this and that with her and we got along really well. She was really welcoming and made us feel really comfortable in her home.

Gurdev: Last but not least, we have Gurdev, a 2 or 3 year old little boy; he is Bobby Mama and Preeti Mamiji's son. He is absolutely charming and adorable, and has the same mischievous spirit as his dad, uncle, and grandpa, and he always wanted to spend time with my sister and I, to show us things or giggle with us. Not only does he love to babble silly things, but he is also really observant and sharp for a small child.

All these members of the family made for a great stay in Ulhasnagar - the meals kept me healthy and their showers were actually really nice - except for the fact that the windows had no sliding door, so a couple times I screamed when a bird flew in during my shower. Seriously, one time I just heard a flapping but it didn't actually come in, but one time I entered the bathroom to find a bird standing on the sink, and it flew away as soon as I came in but it scared me!

A few things that were particularly interesting at their house included the sights and sounds experienced from the two levels of terraces. The upper terrace had a beautiful view of greenery and laundry hanging from various houses, but I was scared to stay there long because there were dozens of pigeons there, and they were different than American pigeons - these ones were louder and more obnoxious, and I was afraid they would eat me alive or give me a disease, so I stuck to the lower terrace, which was still quite nice, here is a view from there:




As you can see, in Mumbai the houses seem to be piled on top of each other over various little shops, and you can see the color of the dust in the air. From this view you could see rickshaws and motorcycles and buses and pedestrians all strolling by, there was even a lady who was, for some reason, fruitlessly sweeping the streets. I felt sorry for her and a bit amused, because she was using this straw broom, and cars were whizzing by, so it's not like her dusting of the road would make any difference - in a minute it would go back to being dusty again. The dust even traveled inside. Though our relatives keep their house clean, dust is so prevalent that if I walk ten minutes indoors without shoes, my feet are black.

As you may know, I love to sightsee and explore new areas, so while we were there, I was constantly begging go somewhere - anywhere, and so my mom's masarji decided to take my sister and I to his pastry shop. We rode on his scooter, which was like a motorcycle, and this was both exciting and frightening because sometimes he narrowly missed other vehicles. But once at the pastry shop, we of course delighted in enjoying the treats for free, but were annoyed at the sweltering heat which was killing us.

During this whole time, a couple of interesting plans were simmering - my dad's friend's brother worked with Bollywood movies in editing, so he had offered to take us to the set of a movie for a shooting; and we were also thinking of going sightseeing in Bombay...and we were planning to head to Bombay in a few short days. So, how did that plan go? Find out, in chapter 4! Stay tuned!