The Raghavan Family in Bangalore

Friday, July 30, 2004

July 27, 2004

We just came back from a long weekend to the backwaters in the southwestern state of Kerala. We flew to the Cochin airport in 45 minutes. While at the Bangalore airport, we had the good fortune of running into a friend, Ashley, who we'd met only the week before when she came to dinner at our house with mutual friends. We asked her if she'd like to join us at Coconut Lagoon where we were going for two nights, and she said, "Sure, why not?"

From the Cochin airport we drove for about an hour and a half to a boat landing. From the boat landing we took a lovely covered boat to a place called the Coconut Lagoon in Kumarakom. It's among the top ten heritage resorts of the world, and only reachable by boat. Badri went all out and booked us one of the decadent villas that comes with its own swimming pool (3 to 4 ft. deep, and about 10 x 20 feet in size--enough to relax in and play around with the kids). Turns out, that's where Paul McCartney stayed during his visit recently.

Even though it's the height of the monsoon season in this part of India, we were blessed with good weather. The rains did come, but only when we were in bed or before heading out in the morning or afternoon. One afternoon we arranged to have a boat pick us up at the lakeshore in front of our cottage for a two hour backwater tour. We saw beautiful cormorants and kingfishers, as well as water snakes (not poisonous, we were told by our captain) and numerous cows along the water's edge. We also saw plenty of cows being bathed in the water, something I had never seen before.

The tour brought back vivid memories of a romantic backwater trip Badri and I took five years ago, when we spent three days on a kettuvallam boat (80 ft. long traditional houseboats, made without one nail--only wood, coconut fiber ropes and carpets, and bamboo poles). Both in 1999 and now, we road down canals and waterways lined by coconut palms and rustic villages. We passed schoolboats, the mode of transportation for school children, and were greeted by shouts of "one pen! one pen!" The children call out from the banks, asking for just one pen. On this trip, we only had one to spare, and Ashley tossed it to a group of kids.

The food--always of paramount importance to me--at Coconut Lagoon was quite good (although with cooks like Indira and Badri's mom, we're no longer so easily impressed by restaurant food). We ate dosas (large pancakes made with a soaked-then-ground mixture of rice and lentils, then dipped in various chutneys and spicy powders), fish, fried plantains, subzis (vegetable dishes), rice, and were also able to get western things like made-to-order omelets with ham and cheese and yummy home fries for breakfast, and spaghetti and macaroni and cheese for dinner. Maya and Molly usually try some of the Indian as well as western fare.

One night before dinner we went to see the Kathakali dance performers putting on make-up before their performance. Kathakali is one of the oldest theatre forms in the world, and originated in Kerala. It reminds me a bit of the Japanese Noh theatre, where the performers also have elaborate make up. In Kathakali, dancers take various roles in performances traditionally based on themes from Hindu mythology, especially the two epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata. Unfortunately, we didn't get to witness much of the spectacle, since it was eating time for Charlie, melting time for Molly, and a little scary for Maya (the first perfomer was demonstrating different emotions like fear, anger, and it was pretty scary).

It's high time I sent this update out, before another month passes. I just got a reminder from Amma and Appa (Badri's parents) that our 7th anniversary is coming up--I can't believe it's been that long!

I hope you all are well, and haven't fallen asleep before hitting the end of this update.

Namaste
(an Indian greeting that I've heard means "I salute the Almighty within you". It is how some people here greet one another. Rather than shaking hands, one puts one's palms together and slightly bows to the other. It's a gesture of friendship and kindness, also of thanks or special recognition. Touching the hands together puts you in touch with your center, your soul.)

Kelly

All the pictures below are taken on our Kerala weekend.

July 18, 2004

Today we took a road trip about 18 miles from Bangalore to see the Ramohalli banyan tree. It's 400 years old and covers a three acre area. It has a vertical root system--thousands of roots!--and appears to be a grove of trees rather than a single tree. Maya and Molly had fun running around while Badri stood watch with a stick to scare away the monkeys. They're very bold creatures. At one point I thought one of the kids was tugging at my pant leg until I looked down to see that it was a monkey.

We had a little picnic--oopma (made out of vermicelli, peas, and peanuts) for Badri and me, nutella and banana sandwiches for the girls, oatmeal cookies and apples for all (except Charlie, of course).

July 16, Friday

Had some people over for dinner and Celina cooked an amazing pomfret fish curry. Celina is Bengali and really knows her fish. We ate the curry over coriander rice. Badri, Emily and I had gone out to eat at Dakshin this week, a restaurant at the Windsor Sheraton, and had that rice there. I loved it so much we brought a little home in a doggy bag and I asked Celina if she could replicate it, and she did--mustard seeds, ghee (butter), peanuts, and coriander. Delicious! We had a local Indian red wine, Grover's Reserve, and it's a decent wine. About $9 a bottle.

July 14

Started taking a yoga class today. Just what I need! It's only a five minute walk from the house, on the covered rooftop of an old house, with a great group of women, ranging from 9 years old to about 50. There are about 9 women in the class, and the yoga master is Acharya, 52 years old, male. He and all the students have a great sense of humor. We laugh a lot, I get to stretch and get some exercise. Class is at 10 am, when Molly is generally having a nap and Charlie is getting his late breakfast (rice and peas these days). I leave class and pick Maya up at playschool. I plan to go at least 3 days a week.

July 13, Tuesday

Hosted playgroup here for the younger kids (Tuesdays are the little tykes--mostly infants to 3--playgroup, and Fridays are the "older" kids--3 to 8 yrs. old). About 8 moms and dads came with their kids.

July 10

Our sea shipment came in. Christmas in July! and only one month late. I'm unpacking, and it's a nightmare! As one friend said--it took so long to get here (three months!), there must not be anything we really need in the sea shipment. I've already filled three large boxes of things we're giving away--books, kid and adult clothes, toys. Some will go to our driver, Mohan, for his kids, and others will to go Celina, our nanny, who will bring it to Ashraya, an orphanage where she used to work.

July 8, 2004

Our friend and Badri's colleague, Emily Bung, arrived from the U.S. She's a manager with Fair Isaac Corp. and will be staying with us during her nine day stay in Bangalore. The kids were very excited to see her, as are we. She's interested in shopping for salwar kameez (the traditional Indian casual attire--long blousy dress/shirt over blousy pants), so we'll head out to Fab India (a beautiful store for traditional Indian fabrics, clothing, tablecloths and bedspreads) tomorrow.

July 7, 2004

We are so lucky these last couple weeks. We know two couples, both American, who share a cook, Indira, and her "sous-chef" Rita. The couples are out of country for two and three weeks, respectively, and I had the great idea that we could pay her to spend a few weeks with us. She's an incredible cook and a very cool woman. She and Rita are so sweet with the kids. Maya loves to call Indira "aca" which means "older sister". She's heard Indira calling Rita that, so decided she'd call Indira that.

Yesterday Rita and Indira did "drishti" for Charlie. It's a Hindu custom where you tie a black string around the baby's right wrist and ankle to ward off the evil eye (keep away bad luck).

Amma did a similar ceremony for us the night we first arrived at our place here. She met us outside the front door and asked us to wait while she said some words then made a few circles in the air with her hand, another way of wishing good luck.

July 5, 2004

A couple fun weekends. Last weekend we went to a Coorgi wedding. Coorg is a region that's about a 5 hour drive from here. Badri fell in love with Coorg when he drove out there back in May to rescue our friend Karen who had fallen ill on a weekend bus trip. Now he wants to buy a coffee plantation. I'm dying to see the place! In fact, after I met Badri back in 1995, I was hungry to read about his country and picked up the book On a Shoestring to Coorg by Dervla Murphy. Great reading, I recall, if any of you have room on your bedside table for another book.
Anyway, this wedding was in Bangalore, but it was a true Coorgi (also known as Kodava) wedding. The women were in beautiful traditional saris worn with a brooch between the shoulder and collar bone. The brooches are chosen carefully and range from the simple (like a 1" long gold bar) to the ornate bejewelled peacock.

We were invited by a couple, Sangeeta and Chengappa (he likes to be called Tutu) who live a couple blocks from our house. They have two adorable daughters, 6 and 12, and Maya had a great time running around the wedding hall with the younger one, Gazel. (We know these people because they're friends of Badri's older brother, Ravi. Last month we went to Tutu's birthday party in the driving rain--that was one of the only times I'd driven here--to go two blocks!)

There must have been 300 people at the wedding--great food, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. There is no priest in the Coorgi wedding, unlike Hindu weddings, where a priest performs the ceremony. The wedding is a two or three day affair, and we went for about three hours on a Saturday. We joined the line and walked up to the stage (dais) where the bride and groom were seated. People go up and offer congratulations and sprinkle rice on the bride's veil. It's at this time that the wedding gift is given, as well.

I ran into one of our neighbors last week (Yamini lives two doors over. She teaches yoga, and Maya sometimes plays with her daughter Manya). She's also a Coorgi. In fact, her husband is Sangeeta's first cousin (such a small world!). Yamini was telling me more about the Coorgi beliefs and traditions. They are a nature worshipping people. The river Cauvery is of paramount importance in their culture, and is one of India's great sacred rivers. The more I learn about this place, the more I want to go there. It's supposed to be absolutely gorgeous, and is located in the South-West region of Karnataka state on the slopes of Western Ghats (mountains).

So much to see and do!

This past weekend Badri and I had a date on Friday night. On Saturday we had a few of his colleagues over for dinner. And on Sunday we went to Badri's second cousin's, Rishi and his wife Kajoli's house for lunch. Another small world story, that you Mainers will especially appreciate. There were several of Badri's buddies from grad school who came, too. One guy goes to MIT in Cambridge 4 months of each year to do research. He occasionally brings his wife Ruma and son along, too. Ruma was telling me how much they enjoy New England and I told her I was from Maine. Well, didn't I just about fall over when she told me she knows the Weathervane! This is a restaurant in Kittery, Maine that sells the best fried clams in the world (in fact, it's where I had my first waitressing job many moons ago).