Dad Visits Dallas

My dad came to Dallas to visit for 2 weeks in March. Finally! The timing was perfect; the weather in Dallas was just becoming consistently warm and sunny. We did, however, have one very rainy day. Overall, I think dad fell in love with Texas weather--and maybe even Texas itself. We did the usual tourist stuff: the Stockyards, the Fort Worth Zoo, and attempted to take a trip to the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Instead, we treated ourselves to one very long day in the car, driving to Houston and back again the same day. That's a long story. Here are some pictures of the better days of his visit:

An orangutan at the Fort Worth Zoo



Old-fashioned candy store at the Stockyards



The marching herd, again at the Stockyards

Nerds' Night Out

In case you haven't guessed, Mihir and I can be downright nerdy at times. We just can't hide it. We're bookish grammar czars who spend weekends in museums and bookstores. It was during our trip to the Dallas Museum of Art in January that I noticed--with great surprise and delight--that one of my favorite authors, Tracy Chevalier, was coming to Dallas for a reading at that very museum. Not being a fiction fan, Mihir has never read her books, but I certainly have. Her best known novel is Girl with a Pearl Earring, which was adapted into a film starring Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. Her lasted effort, Burning Bright, is about the 18th century British weirdo William Blake, and it's just recently out in paperback. The timing of her appearance was a little inconvenient--just 3 days after our return from India, and only an hour after Mihir's flight from Atlanta landed at DFW. The poor man hadn't been home at all since we left for India, and I whisked him off to this reading. He was a good sport. What a great husband I have. The reading didn't disappoint. As someone who would love to write, I'm always enthused to hear about authors' inspirations and work habits. Ms Chevalier is very inspired by art and the process of creating art. While I don't necessarily share that affinity, but she did validate my suspicion that inspiration comes from a variety of places, and few authors are the same. It was a great evening for me. I've long wanted to meet her, and she made it an experience to remember.

Tracy Chevalier

Subir and Roohi's Wedding

We're back from India! This was the shortest trip ever - barely 5 days.
We were there for Subir's wedding. The festivities were on Saturday and Sunday and left Wednesday. We had American all the way to London and then Jet Airways to Mumbai. Jet was a pleasant surprise - Great food, good service, new planes, complete AVOD (audio video on demand) and it took away from the pain of the long journey. We landed without issues and quickly went to my grandmother's place. My aunt had it nicely set up for us and we were insulated from the hubbub of Mumbai.

The next day we had dosas for breakfast and decided to go to Churchgate where Mummy was staying. We had to go by train (it would have been 1.5 hrs otherwise) so Steph got her taste of Mumbai trains. The fast local to Churchgate from Andheri was jampacked. Steph had to ride with me in the general compartment inside of the ladies compartment, and I'm guessing the phrase "packed like sardines" was totally experience. But it was short - 30 minutes (the drive back that evening took 2 hrs) - we parked down at Churchgate with Mummy, Subir, Poonam Aunty, Angie, Emily, Kirk and Molly - the tourists had just returned from Elephanta island and were exhausted and just willing to chill out for the afternoon.

The evening was at Roohi's place - the haldi (turmeric) ceremony and Steph got to wear her new salwar and participate. The first two pictures are from that event.


The next two are from the wedding the next day. It was a great event. We met all my Mumbai relatives and the food was great. Subir looked very happy and so did Roohi. Both looked great. The nice thing about Maharashtrian weddings is - they aren't long! We were all dressed in our finery. The final event in this ceremony was the "pangat" - the traditional lunch where all the groom's and bride's side sit and break bread together - in this case, more like chapatis and cauliflower and rice and varan.



We had to ride a bus back to Pune. A bus ride together is always fun. We had several stops - including one for masala popcorn. We finally reached at 9:30 and got ready for bed. The Nadgars were Steph and my hosts, and we quickly hit the sack.

The next day was more casual. Angie and Molly needed some blouses, I needed to buy some food and we hit Laxmi Road and ended it with lunch at Vaishali. The reception was in the evening and Stephanie got to wear her first sari. The reception was a smaller affair - 150 people or so, and the hall was beautiful. The crowd here was mostly our neighbors, Mummy's colleagues (also my teachers) and Pune friends. It was fun. Mummy was much more relaxed - weddings are always stressful on the parents, and I had a good time mingling and introducing Steph to our friends. The last two pictures are from the reception.

Monday was more casual - we hung out with Aditi and chatted with the gang at home. Subir and Roohi had to leave for Goa in the afternoon and the place already looked empty. We also prepared for our evening ride back. It was just too short! Next time, we'll make more time....

If you're interested, the rest of our photos from this trip to India can be viewed here.