I am wearing a sari as we speak!

We had such a wonderful time at Shirish's place tonight. We are simply overwhelmed with their hospitality and kindness. As I am writing this, I am wearing a beautiful sari that Shirish's wife and mother-in-law wrapped me in and so sweetly gave to me! They also gave me some bindis (I'm wearing one now), jewelled bangles, and a lovely statue of Ganesh, their god. They prepared an amazing meal for us and told us so many things about their food and culture.

We got caught in the worst traffic on the way to Shirish's, so we were about half an hour late. Shirish and his family live at the centre of the city, very close to the main bus and train stations, so the congestion was unbelievable. The Gardiner and DVP have nothing on this road. Pradeep got us there as quickly as humanly possible.

Once there, we met his wife Prasanna, son Atharva (3 1/2 yrs old), father-in-law Shivaling, and mother-in-law Shashikala. Prasanna and her parents are from Pune while Shirish is from an area about 5 hours south of here. Atharva was a little shy at first, but he kept us company for the entire evening until we left at around 11PM. Prasanna used to work in IT before Atharva was born, but now she is taking care of the home as well as going to school part-time. Like all Indians, she speaks her mother tongue (Marathi), Hindi, and English. But, she also has been taking university classes in German and Spanish, so I think she is fluent in both of those languages as well. She told us that she is only a beginner at Spanish, but Marcelo conversed with her and he said that her comprehension and accent were excellent. She is so bright.

They have a lovely apartment that they just moved into this year with an amazing kitchen that was specifically designed by Prasanna to support all the incredible cooking she does. They make everything from scratch, so they buy huge quantities of raw ingredients (lentils, wheat, rice, etc.) and store them in huge bins that are conveniently placed under their pantry shelving. They let us taste some of the delicious preserved foods that they make when the ingredients (e.g. mango) are in season and then keep and eat throughout the year (or even longer if the monsoon season is bad and the crops fail). We tasted turmeric pickle (kills bacteria in your system), sweet preserved raw mango, sweet preserved ripe mango, and a mixture of nuts, including yellow walnuts, cashews, black raisins (good for your stomach), and almonds with their thick shell still intact. In Hindu culture, new mothers soak this nut mixture in water and eat it to regain strength. I think she said that children have it too to grow strong. They also showed us their everyday spices, which are asofotedia, chili powder (hot), cumin seed, coriander seed powder, turmeric, and black cumin. They are stored in a large round tin with smaller round tins inside. They looked so pretty. Like a multi-coloured flower.

Also in the kitchen, they have a small temple where they can sit and worship and be open to God. It was so beautiful that I asked if I could take a picture. I'm not sure if that was appropriate. I think they probably wouldn't tell me if it was because they are so hospitable. In any case, I'll keep that picture to myself.

Prasanna then showed us her saris and jewellery. Saris can be either 6 or 9 yards long. She showed us some lovely ones with intricate gold embroidery. She said that traditional wedding saris are embroidered with real gold thread and are given to girls by their parents when they get married, and in turn passed on to their own daughters or daughters-in-law. Also at the time of marriage, girls receive long gold necklaces with black beads. This is a special kind of necklace that signfies that you are a married woman. Then, Prasanna let me try on some of her jewelled bangles, which she so generously gave to me as a gift.

At dinner, Marcelo and I sat on a lovely blanket spread out on the floor with little Japanese-like tables in front of us. I had thought that we would all eat together, but it was only Marcelo and I eating while everyone else watched us and anticipated our every desire. I'm not sure -- is this tradition? Or was it that we were so late arriving? We were so spoiled. The food was out of this world. We had puris that Shashikala kept making fresh and bringing out for us, ladyfingers (okra), turmeric pickle, cucumber salad, eggplant curry, onions, rasmalai, buttermilk soup, pappadums, pumpkin puris, rice, and daal. They said that a meal is not complete until you eat the rice and daal. Shirish first put the rice on my plate, then poured ghee over it, then the daal, and then a squeeze of lemon. You are supposed to mix it all up together and eat it. It was so amazing. Marcelo was the star guest this evening because he was very skilled and comfortable with eating everything with his hands. I punked out and used a fork because I am hopeless at it. Shirish was very impressed with Marcelo. And so was I!

After dinner Prasanna and Shashikala took me into the bedroom and wrapped me up in the sari you see in the photo. I first put on a little crop top that happened to be exactly my size. Then, I put on a sort of long, cotton slip. Then the wrapping began. It's not really wound around and around. One end is tucked into the slip and the other extremity is draped over your left shoulder. The huge slack in between is pleated many many times, pinned, and then tucked into the waist. I'm sure I'm missing a lot of steps here. I know I couldn't do it myself yet. Vijay, you'll have to show me how and I'll practice. Prasanna says I should practice every day for a month and then I'll get it. Prasanna says that a sari is supposed to hide your body entirely because only your husband is supposed to be able to see your shape. I'm all for hiding my body.

At our parting, they gave us the little statues of Ganesh with a peacock, which was so sweet. With all the wonderful Indian things they gave us, I wish that we had the foresight to bring something nice from Canada. We had gone shopping earlier today and bought them a pretty crystal flower vase and some chocolates. I hope they like them. They were all so friendly, generous, and fun.

When we got down to the car, Pradeep told me that I was looking very nice in my sari. He was giggling too. Prasanna said that if I wear a sari, no one will pay attention to me because I will look like all the other Indian women. I don't know about that. When I got back to the hotel, I felt like I was making my grand entrance (like in Pretty Woman when Julia Roberts and Richard Gere are walking through the hotel on their way to the opera. Except I'm nothing like Julia Roberts. You get what I mean).

Well, it is so so late and I should go beddy bye. We took lots of pictures today and this evening, so you can see them in my Yahoo album here if you like. Goodnight everyone.