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!