Sunday, July 26, 2009

In India and loving it!

So far I've been in New Delhi for three days, Ahmedabad for 3 days... In that time, I met up with and visited the following people/places:

Delhi People
Delhi Places
Ahmedabad People

Ahmedabad Places
  • Gujarat Vidyapith
  • Gandhi Ashram
  • Manav Sadhna
  • Crosswords Bookstore
  • Seva Cafe
more to come soon....

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

1st day in India

For the first day, I mostly (and unashamedly) relaxed... Went to a local beauty parlor with Seema... I think it was called Hair We Are... and there we were, treated to an ever so relaxing oil head massage... Quite decadent and reviving after the 14+ hour trip from Newark the previous night.

Later that evening we went out to dinner... for sushi at Ai. Quite a unique experience... for example the starters were dumplings wrapped in edible rice paper... Even though I gamely ate it, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was eating paper. But the rest of the food was delicious. Especially the soups, the noodles and the mango/avocado rolls (what's not to love about my favorite fruit and favorite vegetable rolled into one!?)

But what's with this new phenomenon of restaurants in exclusive shopping malls?
In my opinion it takes away from the charm of being in India... One could be anywhere in the world (except for the fact that I've never seen a high-end restaurant in a shopping mall in the U.S.) I guess it's one way to "keep the riff-raff out." Ah well... will have v. different experiences throughout this trip and this is but one.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Arrival in India

Monday July 20th, I arrived in the evening and was wheeled into and out of the airport due to my broken toe. As a friend pointed out over email, a broken toe is "good for something, after all."

Was whisked thereafter to friends' Seema and Ajay's place where was lavished with warm attention. Got to see their kids Pal and Pri all grown up and tall. To lean on the much worn cliche, my how time does fly!