the nawabi grandeur that was

I finally got to see what I thought was a glimpse of Lucknow’s Nawabi culture though rumour has it that he’s not a real Nawab. Nonetheless, visiting the Sheesh Mahal was quite interesting. The layers of dust in the drawing room dated the nawabi culture and made me feel a little nostalgic. In fact, the Nawab himself seemed like an artifact amongst all of the eclectic trinkets in the room.

change.

All the AIIS centers were open late so that students could watch the presidential inauguration. All of us met up at the institute to watch Obama take office! Being together + pizza hut + jj bakers + Obama’s presidency made me very happy.

a glimpse of Muharram

Karunesh (my awesome new roommate!), Timsaal, and I went to a majlis in Chowk. I went in as an observer and not a mourner, but I couldn’t help but feel sad/moved by the event. The weeping around me gradually increased and a collective feeling of sadness overtook the crowd. The energy was quite overwhelming. I was expecting the speaker to relate the Karbala incident to the current situation in Gaza. But the event was pretty apolitical, that or perhaps I just didn’t understand all of what was said.

winter break in Amreeka/Mexico

I have to admit it felt a little weird to be going to America for vacation since it’s always been the other way around. Initially, I didn’t feel like I’d need to take a break from India but when December came around, boy was I ready for walking on carpeted flooring, drinking water from the tap, and of course – seeing friends and family! I ended up only being in Dallas for about a week since we also took a family vacay to Puerto Vallarta during my chutti. I even fit in a small nostalgic trip to Austin! Spending five days on the beach was just the kind of relaxation/rejuvenation I needed.

sign of the week

taken at the Galtaji mandir in Jaipur

My last weekend in Lucknow until next year!

teachers/students getting prepared for the Yankee Swap...fun fun
little did we know the chaos that would entail :)


Briana, Devon, Mae, and me at our mehendi/x mas party


in front of King George Medical College which Mayavati has renamed to: Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaja Patanjali Chikitsala Vishvavidyalay

On Friday, we went to see the new SRK flop, I mean blockbuster, Rab ne bana di jodi. He used to be one of my fave actors, but after his decision to endorse the product "Fair and Handsome" and role in this new film....he's lost some major cool points in my book. Before the big dissapointment, we played a gift exchange with all the teachers/students at the institute. The first 8 people played politely and chose to unwrap new gifts instead of stealing another's gift. Things got more exciting when someone took Basharat's toy auto rickshaw. This move resulted in an hour of endless gift swapping. It was hilarious for us to see the teachers get really into the game and bust out the children in them :) I ended up with a deck of UNO cards which we played with later that night.

In the evening we played a much more calm secret santa and had an evening of yummy food, mehendi, and lively discussion.

The next day I hit up the mad chaos that is Aminabad and took care of some dupatta color dying that I needed done. In the evening Briana and I went to see Heretics play at Sahara Ganj. Good music choices sans the metal pieces. The crowd was so not into the metal. When the singer asked the crowd if we wanted "mitva" or "metal," someone behind me asked what's "middle?" Obviously not a metal crowd. After that we saw the sci fi film, the day the earth stood still, having been in India so long, I can't tell if my quality standard for films has just decreased or if this movie was actually of quality. I'm usually not a fan of sci fi.

The weekend would not be complete without some time spent at my second home, Costa Coffee. Ever since Costa opened up, it's been good bye to Barista and CCD. This is the closest thing to the coffee shops back home...well minus the fact that every other track is another Akon song. On Sunday, Eesha invited me to the medfest at her school, KGMC. What fun and what insight into the professionally educated youth culture here. We got to see student groups perform and got to rock out to good music.

sign of the week

double whammy






both were taken in Nainital District