The Reception, and lunch with Bhavani

I'm now back home and pretty much back into the normal routine. It seems strange to think that just one week ago I was on the other side of the earth and that my life temporarily so different. I guess this is one reason that I love occasional travel so much…to keep me actively remembering that there is a whole big world outside of my petty (and even not-so-petty) concerns, to keep my mind active and avoid getting TOO entrenched in my normal ways of thinking, and above all to keep reminding myself that there are many ways to live and to accomplish things and that these other ways work too.

But back to the narrative: In the end, I did not go swimming in the pool. The water seemed pretty cold, and that times I may have wanted to, there was no one there. That seemed like a bad idea. I did go out on the deck where the pool was (2nd floor I think) and sit and read in the sun. That was really pleasant, although it probably helped me get even more acclimated to the time zone just as I was about to leave. Oh well. I'm not sure I have mentioned this, but the weather was absolutely beautiful. In the evening, just a little cool. In the heat of the day, maybe 80 or 85, but not very humid. Fabulous!

For the wedding reception, I decided to get dress up with a jacket and tie, so I spent a while fussing with this. My jacket had gotten kind of messed up on the suitcase (my wife had folded it very nicely at home and it made the trip to Bangalore very well…but then I re-packed the suitcase coming back from Mangalore…oops). I had hung it up in the bathroom while taking showers a few times and that really helped a lot. It ended up ok.

I went with Narayan and his wife and daughter; they came to pick me up at the hotel.  I'm now a little sorry that I chose this hotel; it is close to work but reasonably far from most of my friends and acquaintances (but not all).  So Narayan had to drive out of his way.  I was going to take the hotel taxi, but he texted me around 3 to say he was coming...certainly it is more enjoyable to be with a friend on the long trip.  And believe me, it was long.  Over an hour.  The place is near Lal Bagh, the botanical garden where I have been several times, and it would have been close to my old downtown apartments, but oh well.
 
The hall where the function took place is really neat...absolutely sparking up and down and all around; bright lights outside, a flowered sign proclaiming Sandeep and Sahana on the outside.  Parking was a problem, so Narayan left the rest of us in front of the place and drove off to park.  At the entrance we were greeted by Sandeep's uncle.  The reception was on the second floor.  There was a crowd around the elevator, so we took the stairs.  We came out into a beautifully-decorated hall with a stage up front.  Once again Sandeep and Sahana were there and there was a queue to go up and greet them.  I got in line, but Clarete suggested that I wait and all the VMS people go up en masse.
 
Indeed, more and more people that I knew were showing up, including Hemashree and Vijay.  One strange moment:  A number of people have come to VMS since V&H left.  Narayan happened along as I was talking to them, so I ended up introducing them.  Seemed kind of funny.  But it was nice to see a number of people who have left VMS or HP either recently or some time ago.
 
We finally "queued up" and Clarete insisted that I go to the front of the line to "lead the VMS delegation".  All the time since entering, I was holding the gift-wrapped present, and this was the time to give it.  Some others had flowers and packages too.  We got up to the front, and half of the "delegation" filed past greeting them and handing presents.  Then we stood on either side and had the obligatory picture.  (All professional photographers this time, I think.  I hope I get to see it).  Then we filed off (with the other half of the delegation greeting as they went past).  As we got down, we saw more VMS people going up and Clarete whispered to me "I wanted you up front with us engineers, not with the managers" :-)  Whispered is not really right.  It was pretty loud there...
 
Then off to dinner in a different room.  A glass of juice on entry to the room, and then on two sides of the room there were "buffet" tables.  Buffet in the sense that you walked by them with your plate.  But there was a server behind each one.  Naturally it was vegetarian food, but considerably different from the wedding.  We had china plates and a spoon for one thing, but it was also more multi-ethnic (as in north/south India).  For example, there were some dishes that went with chapatis (more North India) and some that went with rice (more South).  Dal, various curries...yum!  Also lots of nice morsels like onion bhajis, fried vegetables etc.    The other side of the room had dessert; the prominent feature was butterscotch ice cream (a slab), but there was also a couple other things including gulab jamon.  (This is the sort of fried ball in rosewater-flavored sweet sauce that I may have mentioned before.) As I think about it, I wonder if it was gulab jamon or rasgula. They fall into the same category in my brain and I find it hard to remember which is which (one is cheese and one is dough I think…)
 
There were some chairs in the room, and I sat down to eat, but mostly it was a standard party...people walking around taking, laughing, enjoying each other's company.  I went around taking pictures of a lot of people, particularly people that I thought some of my US friends would like to see.  Sandeep and Sahana never appeared in the dinner room.  In fact I never saw them again during the evening.
 
After a while, Narayan approached me to ask if I would mind going back with Vaishali.  Vaishali is a relatively new colleague that I probably have not mentioned much, but it turns out that she lives almost within batting distance of my hotel.  I wish I had known!  When she was ready to go, we went off.  But she had had an even harder time parking than Narayan.  She thought she had walked a kilometer or so to get to the hall!  She had some landmarks, but was not all that familiar with the area (and it was late-ish) so Rafiq gave us a ride to her car (good thing...it took a bit of searching, although I suspect she could have found it a lot more easily on foot; landmarks look a lot different in a moving car).
 
I have never had much of a chance to talk with Vaishali other than professionally, so the ride home was nice...we talked about what we like to read (she is also a big Harry Potter fan), travelling (she lived for 6 months in Shenzhen China, and has travelled around Europe with her brother), etc.
 
Then back to the hotel...it was surprisingly un-late.  Maybe 11:30.  That was kind of nice to go to bed at a reasonable time.

The next day, I had a lunch date with Bhavani (who had arranged Tom's and my audience with the Maharajah of Jaipur a few years ago…look back to previous blog entries) and dinner with Rishi (who had taken me to a cricket game the same year). Bhavani came to pick me up with his brother. He called me to say he was nearly there and asked for directions to the hotel. (I'm an old hand at giving directions to my hotel…see the blog from last year :-) But then I went down to wait and wait and wait. About 30 or 40 minutes later, B. called to say they were outside and would I please come. I've learned not to worry too much about details like time…the traffic is so bad that it is very difficult to predict when you will arrive anywhere. But this time, B. told me that they were so late because they had had a traffic accident! I'm always amazed that I see so few accidents given the incredibly dense conditions and the (to me) risky things that are done, but sure enough…B., his brother, and the driver were rear ended in an apparent chain-reaction collsion when someone up ahead stopped too quickly. No major damage or injury, but they had to sort it out with the police etc.

It turns out that it was B's birthday, so I was a bit surprised that he would take me to lunch. I asked him about birthday celebration customs; he does commonly celebrate, but this time, some of his relatives were not able to come for a week or two, so it was delayed. We went to "Jalsa" on Outer Ring Road. This is a pretty neat-looking restaurant with concrete onion-domes to start the experience. As you go in, you see the wait-staff all in mugul-style turbans. There is a central eating area, but also private areas around the outside with bead curtains and mugal-arch entrances. I have been here before, and we have gone by it several times; Clarete happened to mention that she had heard that the quality had gone down a bit. It seemed fine to me! Bhavani and his brother ordered (with some consultation to see if I liked various things…answer generally yes) so I don't recall exactly what we had; it is not a veg place; I certainly had some meat dishes. Lots of wonderful bread (flatbread cooked in a tandoor [clay oven] I think), lots of wonderful sauces and soup. And (not exactly in keeping with the Mugul theme) Kingfisher beer :-)

As I probably said in the blog several years ago, Bhavani is from Jaipur and is a member (not direct line) of the royal family. He explained a bit more (and I hope I get this right…Bhavani, if you read this please correct me!) Currently Jaipur is a city (the capital in fact) within the Indian state of Rajahastan. However, in the past, Jaipur was a state. The Maharajah rules the entire area. Within the state there are other levels "sub-ruler" who are related to the Maharajah. Bhavani's father was one of these. In any case, the royal family owned a lot of land, but in the time since independence from Britain, the central government has been trying to take some of this land back from all the Maharajahs. (I don't really understand the politics here…just reporting). This happened relatively recently to the Jaipur Maharajah's family which forced a lot of family members "out into the world" to make a living. Bhavani and his brother are among these. Bhavani went into software. His brother went into manufacturing of henna (the same as used here…that kind of non-permanent dye). Henna in India is very popular for skin decorations in women; application of wonderful henna art to the women is part of the wedding tradition for one thing. Apparently Bhavani's brother found a real niche and has done well.

We returned to the hotel, and again I tried to decide whether to go swimming or not, and again I decided not to. Oh well. Dinner tonight is with Rishi and his wife who have also invited Clarete and Alol. More later...