A Family Affair

I spent the last two days visiting many different villages, towns, and cities in Gujarat to see family and to check out the places where my family (parents and grandparents) grew up. All Gujaratis know what "gham" they are from, the village of your paternal ancestry, often going back 10 generations or more. So I was really excited to see Tharapur, my village, where Panudada and Virendradada were born. This video is a series of short clips from Tharapur and Nadiad (my mom's mom, Ramaba, town). We hit the road early in the morning and drove through the Gujarati countryside and farmland. We stopped first at Nadiad which was crowded and much poorer then the big city, but had a big central temple where over a hundred young kids were peacefully meditating in a courtyard (there were a handful that were not paying attention at all, picking their noses, or harassing other kids). We went by the house my mom lived in, now fully renovated, and the neighbors ( my mom's aunts and uncles) promptly invited us in for Chai and nasto. In India, you don't call in advanced to visit, you just show up and mention your surname. We then went on to Tharapur, which was a sobering experience. The "old town" had all narrow dirt roads, was pretty dirty and very overcrowded. We winded through through the alleys until mom saw the gate to the area where the Amin house was (somehow it remained unchanged and she remembered it even though she had not been there since she first got married thirty years ago. As we approached the house, mom asked some women if they knew Panubai (my grandfather), and turns out one of his cousins still lived next door. She showed us around the old house, told us some stories about what had been going on in the village recently, and introduced us to a Baa that had lived there all her life and supposedly knew everyone (she especially remembered Kaushik Kaka, my uncle). As we picked up some fresh coconut water on our way out the village, I felt pretty overwhelmed. I thought about what my grandfather's generation had to go through to get out of this place and wondered how they did it. Next time I see Virendradada, I have lots of questions, which I'm sure he will be happy to sit down and discuss for hours on end.

We made our way to the college town areas of Vajnigar and Anand to stay at Prakash Masa and Jayshree Masi's bungalow (they come and stay 9-10 weeks out of the year). It was paradise- big bungalow with an exotic garden and a swimming pool. We had a relaxing evening and caught an early train to Baroda in the morning. It was my first time on an Indian train, and we rode second class, which was crowded and rich in "interesting" smells. In Baroda we visited all of my mom's family that was still there, including Mota Dada (my mom's oldest living uncle), who asked if Anish Could sit palate yet. They all asked how Anish was doing, reminisced of the fun the had when he came on his trip, and wondered if he was getting married anytime soon (I told them to keep an eye out, haha). The baby is my second cousin Aditi's new baby who is 6 months old and wears clothes for 12-18 months old kids. The visit with them was short, but I will be back to stay with them.

Sorry this entry was almost all "business" but I have to go pack for my ten day trip down south, and I'm about to watch Obama get sworn in!!! India is all about some Obama, its awesome. Today's paper had a cartoon with Obama dressed as Gandhi with the headline saying "Good luck Obama!", haha. All of you in South Carolina, enjoy the snow for the 3 hours it will last!