Family visit!

My family came to visit me for a couple days. I love it when people visit because then it inclines me to check out the city sights. We had a lot of fun together and got to see a wide spectrum of things from getting drenched in a monsoon shower at the beautiful Maratha fort – Singhada to seeing the effects of the IT boom at the planned Magarpatta township.




Shanirwada, a Peshwa fort

at the top of Singhad Fort

parents meet teachers (my campus in the background)

corn +totapuri aam makes our stomachs very happy

Morning walk on the Vittal Tekri

we climbed to top of this lookout tower to get a good view

Pune is full of tekris (small hills). We took a walk through one on a fine Sunday morning. The walk was followed by some delicious sabu daana khichdi at the Kamla Nehru Park. After years of not touching sabu dana khichdi because it reminded me of the time I had really bad food poisoning in Bombay and my chachi had me eat sabu dana khichdi to get better. Glad I finally got over the hangup.
There are several snack food stalls set up right by the KNP park. We also got a yummy mixed fruit plate. I love love love fruit and fruit juice in India! It's not everyday you can buy fresh pomegranate juice for 30 rupees.



the view

Vaari

one woman in each group of pilgrims carries a tulsi plant to be offered to Lord Vittal at the end of the pilgrimage

Vaari:
Vaari is an annual 15 day pilgrimage taken by several lakhs of Gyaneshwar devotees. It passed through Pune this week and little did we know the roads completely close down. How did we find out? Got caught in it! Four friends and I walked for three kilometers with the pilgrims. Not a willing auto in sight. It was definitely an interesting and fun way to learn about the pilgrimage. Besides, walking three kilometers in search of auto is much more exciting when you are surrounded by hundreds of people singing and dancing.
Many families in Maharashtra open up their homes to pilgrims for a couple hours and provide chai/lunch/dinner. On Thursday, I went to a friend’s house to assist with/observe with the service. Here I got to pilgrims more intimately and even got invited to join along! I don’t think I have it in me though. 15 days of walking! These pilgrims were impressive. Most of the women were middle aged in the least as their children were old enough to be left alone or with other family members.

Helllllooo Pune!

because safety always comes first no matter which Indian city I am in

Hello from the Deccan!
I write from my lovely flat in Karvenagar, Pune. Outside the bedroom window and to my left are the Sahayadri hills. Currently they and the city of Pune are desperate for some heavy monsoon rains. The rains will cool down the city and bring out all the greens waiting to chamak. Though I’m not sure the weather can get much better than it all ready is. I’ve spent several summers in India and none have been as pleasant as the one thus far in Pune. Not to mention the summers in the scorching Texas heat. There’s almost always a cool breeze and it’s actually a tad chilly in the mornings/evenings. I have this amazing balcony that I sit out on every morning. Whenever I sit out there, I just watch the world go by and I get this intense happiness high. I feel so grateful for all of the opportunities I have been given and am able to pursue.
I also have a crush on Marathi culture and am trying to soak it all in. I’ve picked up some phrases here and there. It has similarities with both Sindhi and Gujarati.
What am I doing here? Studying Sindhi with the American Institute of Indian Studies. I hope to also collect Sindhi partition narratives while I am here. I am the only student and I have two part time teachers. The other languages taught at the AIIS Pune center are Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Marathi -Sanskrit attracting the largest number of students. My classes are at the beautiful Deccan College Campus. It’s spread out and full of my fave, banyan trees! Apparently Lokmanya Tilak was a student of the university. I’m very happy to be here and experience a new Indian city. Pune is much different than Lucknow so I’m getting re-oriented in India. There’s a lot going in Pune. A lot of old, a lot of new. A lot of nature, a lot of city. I went to go hear a Pink Floyd cover band last night and am taking a walk in the hills tomorrow morning! And hopefully fit in a visit to the Shanirwada fort sometime in between.

A dam south of Pune

the hibiscus plant I bought to make my flat seem more homey - it averages 2 blossoms a day!!

reflects the Pune vibe

my Sindhi classoom is in this building