Nellore

We finally drove back to Nellore to Madhu Baabai's house where we would be staying. I was surprised to learn that some newspaper journalists would be visiting that evening to talk to...yes...ME! It seems that they don't get very many NRI (Non-Resident-Indian) Bharata Natyam dancers so they were wondering what I was all about. They asked me questions for over an hour (I don't think any of this even got published) and I was finally let free when I said I had to go and practice (this was a lie: I never practice the day before a performance). I had my own set of worries: if I would be able to fit into my dance costumes anymore, if the stage and sound system would be okay, if anyone would actually come, etc.

The next morning, my mother forced me out of bed and got me ironing my costumes since it was a Sunday and none of the wash-people were open. I tried to get someone to take me to the Town Hall so I could see the stage, but everyone who owned a motorbike had gone elsewhere. I ate several jackfruit.

Later in the afternoon, both of my uncles: Pavan, Narasimha (my mom's younger and older brothers) came with their families. We all had this family photoshoot session up on the roof which was actually quite hilarious as our photographer got us cracking up right before every picture.

My mom, her parents, and my aunts.

The entire mom's side of my family.

I hurriedly rushed out since I had to get to the Town Hall well in advance so I could get ready. By the time we got there, I was stressed to the limit--especially since I didn't have the horde of people who got me ready before my arangetram. I changed into my red dress inside some tiny closet space but was greeted by a professional makeup artist when I came out. She proceeded to complete my makeup and hair within 10 minutes, doing a fantastic job. And we used actual Altha to color my fingers and toes (NOT red Sharpie marker!). I was looking pretty spiffy.


Before my program started, a Classical music group from some local academy performed on the stage. My mom, who was emceeing my performance, introduced me and the dances I was about to do. I stepped onto the stage. It was dusty. Gross! Oh well. The auditorium was full, all 400 seats, and the lights were very bright. I plowed right through Pushpanjali, and danced Natesha Kavuthuvam with full enthusiasm. I'm telling you, bright lights and heavy jewelry make all the difference on stage--they tire you out like crazy. I was already panting and sweating when I left the stage and let the musical group take over for a bit. I was soon ready to do my Alarippu, but we ran into a technical problem which I will blame on Indian inefficiency. For some reason, the Town Hall did not have a CD player so my Baabai had to drive home and grab his DVD player so we could connect that to the speakers and play my CD on it. But all of the skip forward/skip forward controls were on the remote...and he didn't bring the remote. Therefore, my Pushpanjali started playing again when we started my CD up and there was no way to skip forward. He had to zip back home and get the remote while I had a mental breakdown.



After an age, they finally got Alarippu playing and danced it away passionately. I insisted on not taking a break before my next piece, so I glided through Hanuman Chalisa as well. I got back into the dressing room after that so I could change into my blue costume. I had just gotten into my blue costume when people were beckoning me onstage for something. They presented me with a plaque and covered me with a dozen shawls and flower garlands. This is what they do to professional dancers, so quite frankly, I was extremely embarrassed.


Leave it up to the people of Andhra Pradesh to overdo everything :). Some girls from the local dance school gave me flowers and their teacher gave me a statue of Nataraja. She also told me that I forgot to put on my nosering. Crap! So that's why the dressing up part had been relatively painless and tearfree...I had skipped right over the Nosering of Doom. With the help of several people, I got all of the shawls and garlands off (now there were flower petals all over the stage...great) and quickly forced on the nose ring and the little annoying piece that fits between my nostrils.



I got back onstage for my last two padams. As wonderful as it is to have a live orchestra, I like dancing to a CD because I don't have to worry about improvising if the singer or musicians were to pull a fast one and change the repetitions. Everything would be just like it was during. No surprises. No mistakes. I was feeling extremely satisfied when I stepped off stage and the man hosting the event spoke on stage for a bit. I wasn't even tired anymore when I finished up with Mangalam. If my arangetram had felt even a little inadequate to me, this performance made up for it.

Several people who I didn't even know spoke a few praising words about my dance after it was over. Again, I was very surprised and flattered. It is very gratifying to learn that people in India could appreciate my dance so much, even though I, learning it in the US, think my ability is mediocre. I was greeted by many people when I came out, including the professors from my grandfather's college in Vinjamur. They had seen me growing up as a little girl between the ages of 0 and 4 when I lived with my grandparents. I saw close and distant relatives, old friends I had grown up with, and two pairs of very happy grandparents. I was elated. I was also the owner of 6 silk shawls.

Pavan Mama soon whisked me away from the crowd in his car and took me to D.R. Utthams, the restaurant where my dad was hosting a party with his chums...an "afterparty" if you will. Naturally, I was hungry but couldn't swallow even a little bit of food until my belt was loosened. I had 3 paans.

We finally got home and I had to go through the arduous process of undoing my hair all over again. I zonked out until 10 the next morning. As we were eating breakfast, I heard my dance music playing somewhere. I thought that my dad or someone must be playing my CD again. But the stereo wasn't even on. I followed the sound and saw that it was coming from the neighbors. How had they gotten a hold of my music? Later, someone came by and told us that my program had been aired on the local TV channel. And what's more, the newspapers had published color articles on it as well.

Needless to say, I was very flattered, very embarrassed, and very thrilled.
:D

Kothapalem

There is much video footage in this post since I went a little crazy with the digital camera.

On the day we left to Nellore, I finally got over my weird stomach sickness, which was very fortunate because I would be DANCING on stage the next day. The day before, my dad had gone to Kothapalem, the village near Nellore where he was born. We would first stop by there and then go to Madhu Baabai's house in Nellore. Remember, Baabai = what you call your dad's younger brother. In my next post, I shall explain how this Telugu family naming stuff works.

So that morning, my mom, aunt, uncle, Naveen, Vishnu, and I packed into the car and headed off to Nellore. My aunt got off somewhere in between since she was going to bring some of her Ongole relatives to see me dance. Ahh.

We finally got to Nellore and I gave up reading my bootlegged Brisingr and decided to take some video instead since I had been transferred to the front seat of the car. In the first video, you will first see the horrible congested traffic of Nellore (and most Indian cities). And then in the second video, as we travel in the countryside as we go to Kothapalem, you can see lush greenery.

In this second video (where we are going to Kothapalem), I have provided English subtitles for your entertainment. The ones you mainly hear talking are my mom, Naveen, and Vishnu. I uploaded this video to YouTube so you can see things better.

So when we got to Kothapalem, we finally found what all the fuss was about. It turns out that my dad had organized for a veterinary camp here, where he invited a bunch of his former classmates from the Veterinary College in Tirupati (where I was born). They were basically doing some checkups and stuff for the buffaloes brought in by the local farmers. They were also given some free medicines and stuff like that. It was actually very cool to see, especially since during the last trip, we had set up an eye surgery camp. I actually liked this better because I think buffaloes are much cooler than people, at least from a medical perspective. They also complain less. You see, before my dad got his PhD and started working at MIT with research animals, he used to be a large animal veterinarian, i.e. cattle, goats, pigs, etc. This is why he set this whole thing up.

Vinjamur

Seven humans (Poojitha stayed behind to study for midterms) + 5 suitcases packed into the tiny TATA Indica at 5:00 in the morning for our journey across the border. Well, not a real border..just the border between the two provinces of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The previous day, I bought a bootlegged copy of Brisingr (Christopher Paolini) from the street market in Chennai. How can a book be bootlegged, you ask? Well, it's basically a photocopied version of the actual book with Indian-quality paper and some upside down pages, but hey. A book's a book. And I got it for 120 rupees (about $2.50). 

So I tried to stay awake reading Brisingr, but I was sleepy + carsick so I gave up and dozed off. When I woke up, the signposts had all changed from Tamil to Telugu. We had arrived in Nellore, where my dad's younger siblings live. We stopped at my grandparents' house to eat breakfast, bathe, etc. and get some medicine for my upset stomach (I think the microorganisms finally got to me). We were also reunited with my dad's brother and sister. I shall introduce them to you:

Madhu = dad's brother

Saila = his wife

Sindhu = their daughter

Padmaja = dad's sister

Badri = her husband

Bharadwaj = their son

Mukesh = their son

And we paid a visit to some other relatives and a great-great-grandmother who live in the Nawabpet area and invited them to my dance performance, which would take place in Nellore in about a week. We finally bode a temporary farewell to the Nellore folks (leaving my dad and some luggage behind with them) and got back into the car to head to Vinjamur, about 30 miles away. 30 miles isn't a great distance, except when the road does not cooperate with you. We take smooth roads and easy traveling for granted here, so you will not appreciate them until you try going to a town/village in India. The road to Vinjamur had been utterly wrecked by heavy lorries and we basically bounced and flopped our way there. This did not improve the feeling in my stomach. 

It was afternoon when we got to Vinjamur, where we greeted my maternal grandparents, whom I call Ammamma (literally, mother's mother) and Thathayya. It is my Ammamma's goal in life to feed everyone as much as possible, so the rest of the day was spent trying to foil her attempts to feed us. This was, of course, unsuccessful and we found ourselves gorged by the end of the day. The next day, we mostly lazed around, ate fruits, chased monkeys out of the courtyard, and got visited by people (my mom grew up here, and therefore knows everyone). We didn't announce our presence in Vinjamur, and yet word got around in a matter of hours that we were there. Also, my grandparents' house is large and old--it was built in my great-great grandfather's time or something--so its hard to miss. Here's a pic of the street in front of the house.

Later that day, I forced myself to practice dance a little bit since I would be performing in Nellore in a few days. I was so tired and sleep deprived...and for the first time in like 10 years, I actually slept through the midnight before New Year's. To be honest, I only found out that evening that it was the last day of 2008. One does not pay attention to trivial things such as the date when surrounded by the awesomeness that is Andhra Pradesh. 

So the next day, I woke up to someone screaming "Happy New Year" in Telugu into my year. The first thing I ate in 2009 was a guava. I also had a glass of Horlicks milk. Vishnu, Naveen, and their Vinjamur chums were creating a ruckus around the house, so my mom and I took them to the the local Shiva temple.

So. Basically, my grandfather started a college in this town with his own life savings, so he is very well known in the area. A majority of the day consisted of New Years greetings from just about everyone in town and several boxes of sweets. Later, after my dad arrived from Nellore, we went to the college where a society called Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sang (believe it not, a Hindu Nationalist Organization) was having a gathering. They also honored my grandparents:

The microorganism in my body was wreaking havoc in my intestines and I did a lame dance practice that night. Frankly, I was worried that I was going to fall horribly ill before I could ascend the stage. My rhinitis also hadn't improved. My dad gave me a tablet for my stomach and I fell asleep. I felt much better the next morning and went out for some more sightseeing/photography. 

The neighbor's house in the back.

He tries so hard. But fails. 

Elections in India were coming up. This is a political poster with Balakrishna, a former actor.

The two partners in crime up on the roof.

 

In my next post, we will travel back to Nellore to my Baabai's (Baabai = dad's younger brother, Madhu) house and I will tell you all about my performance and other adventures. 

Chennai!

palm trees! 

(just FYI: you can click on the pics to get big, high res versions)

Ahh...South India!

So we finally took the flight out of Delhi to head over to Chennai, where my mom's younger brother and their family resides. It was cool being able to arrive in Chennai NOT jet-lagged like we always do. We touched down into Tamil Nadu at about 11:00 and were able to fall asleep as soon as we got home. Unfortunately, I managed to develop slight rhinitis (nose issues...sneezing, sniffling, the works) and had a stuffy nose by the time we got there. I should probably introduce to you my family members. In Chennai, there are four people, a dog, and a cat. 

Pavan = my uncle (mother's brother)

Sudha = my aunt (his wife)

Poojitha = my cousin (daughter)

Naveen = my cousin (son)

Jimmy = the dog, who is also female. I know this because she had puppies the last time I went to India.

Brownie = the cat who is supposed to be male but I was never able to confirm this.

Here are some of us:

While I was in Chennai, I was slightly sick for a while, but this was to be expected since I get sick every time I visit India. This is mainly due to the microbe infested water and my unprepared immune system. But apart from this, Chennai was utterly fabulous, especially because of the weather. If Delhi was a bit chilly, Chennai was absolutely perfect. It was 75 degrees, sunny, and breezy. During the summer, when we usually go, it is usually about 98 degrees + ridiculous humidity. Therefore, we took this pleasant weather to our advantage and finished most of our shopping within a few days. I remembered to take some photos during shopping:

Here, we are enjoying some raw mango. 

Jewellery stores! Where we get most of our gold.

Nalli's and Pothys, where people go to buy clothing, dress materials, and saris. There is usually a lot of rush. 

And this, my friends, is Saravana Stores. Remember that place I was telling you about in a previous post, the one where the A/C broke and we were basically trapped on the 7th floor between hundreds of sweating people, unable to locate our parents? This is the place. No, we did not step into it this time. I made it a point to buy shoes elsewhere this time :D

Anyway, after being tourists in Delhi for five days, being home was relaxing. Here (and in the very first picture), my brother and I while away our time on the roof of our Chennai house. But in just a few days, we would pack ourselves into a small car and drive all the way to Vinjamur, my mother's hometown in Andhra Pradesh. Keep checking back, because it only gets more interesting after this!

Agra (Part 2)

After the Taj Mahal, we visited Agra Fort. This is very similar to Red Fort in Delhi. It was where all of the Mughal emperors lived and ruled from. I will describe it with pictures and captions:

Here is the entrance to one part of the fort. If you look closely, you can see many different integrated art forms: There is primarily Muslim architecture, but also Hindu and European flavors such as the pillars. If you look closely, you can even see the Stars of David. All of this was meant to represent tolerance for other beliefs, as was held by Emperor Akbar.

There were many gardens inside the fort. As you can see, different parts of it were built with different stone. The exterior is made of red brick, while many of the interior buildings are of white marble. Each of the princesses and queens had their own living quarters, the sizes of which would depend on which were the favorites of the king. Princesses Raushanara and Jahanara had their own rooms and I'm looking for a picture of them.

If you've seen the movie Jodhaa-Akbar, you might recognize this place. Here is where the emperor sat for meetings with the public. Since they weren't allowed to film in here, the movie set was built to resemble this.

It was in one of these rooms that Emperor Shah Jahan (builder of the Taj) was put under house arrest for the last ten years of his life by his son Aurangzeb. He did however get to have a window which faced the Taj Mahal. Luckily for him, the smog in those days wasn't as bad and he could actually see the thing. 

We stayed in Agra for the night after visiting that handicrafts shop I was telling you about earlier. The next day, we got up bright and early to visit Fatehpur Sikri, which was about an hour drive from Agra. This place is really incredible to see. It's where Akbar lived for four years but had to abandon it since it was too difficult to get enough water. Therefore, it's relatively unused. The whole thing was built from red sandstone. The first place we visited was Sikri, where Akbar and his wives actually stayed during that time. 

I belive the Jodhaa-Akbar set also emulated this place a little bit. Here are some white tourists outside one of the bedrooms (I don't know whose) in Sikri. Speaking of which, Jodhaa (Akbar's wife), had a huge living complex all to herself since she bore him a son, Jahangir. It was built with Hindu architecture since she was Hindu herself.

Here we stand in the courtyard of Sikri. It's difficult to see, but there is a huge playing board carved into the floor beneath us where the king and others would play dice with live people. In the distance are the living quarters of Akbar.

Me.

And this, happens to be the royal bedroom of Akbar-the-Great himself. The entire room was decorated with precious jewels that reflect the light and make it look all pretty. He slept on that raised platform, with a mattress, I hope, since it's made of stone. 

This is Fatehpur, a few hundred yards from Sikri. Everything is really really big. I believe this is where stuff happened. Like ruling, courts, etc. Fatehpur is also where you will run into HUNDREDS of little boys trying to sell you things. See all those people in the distance? It's them. 

So, we left Agra and Fatehpur behind soon after and returned to Delhi that day. We also saw Brindavan on the way but left quickly because it smelled bad. We wanted to visit Jaipur after that but we would have had to take a tour bus instead of a car and the tour buses weren't running due to heavy fog =(. So instead of that, we stayed in Delhi the next day, did a bit of shopping, visited some temples and memorials, and packed up our stuff for our evening flight to Chennai. 

EDIT: I completely forgot to mention that we also visited the Akshardham Temple, which is this modern temple dedicated to SwamiNarayan. I forgot about it because I don't have any pictures of it, since cameras weren't allowed there. Every surface of the temple is carved in extremely fine detail...it was incredibly beautiful. Go there if you ever visit Delhi.

In case you were wondering, this is what Delhi smog looks like:

Please ignore my brother in the beginning. He was reciting lines from the Simpsons Movie which he has seen about 40 times. 

Agra (Part 1)