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.