McChicken

*Posted by Kayd

Yep, I went to a McDonalds in India. (Shameful I know - and Lys, I thought of you the entire time)

You can spot the gigantic yellow arches for miles on the streets that are lined with vendors doing business out of their small wagons.

Tiya and Emma took me to McDonalds when we went to the mall food court because they were both craving a McChicken. (other places in the food court included Subway, Dominos, Mad about Doughnuts some chinese places and other Indian food places). Right before we left Abhrajeet, Arny and I watched Food Inc so I was less than thrilled to be eating some fast food knowing how it is grown and prepared in the States but I had my McChicken (tasty, but too much mayo) and Fries (who doesn't love fries) enjoying what would be a good and embarrassing story to tell. I opted out of the ketchup - it's much thinner and has some spice in it that I really don't enjoy.

Interesting to know: India is the only place where McDonalds has changed their menu. When they first started setting up in India no one would purchase their food because it had beef and in Hindu culture cows are sacred. McDonalds now offers a lot of chicken sandwiches and even some pizza hot-pocket things.

I also had to use the bathroom when were were roaming the streets and after so many road trips with the family I knew that a McDonalds bathroom should be fairly safe - I was wrong. The only bathroom offered was for senior citizens, I snuck into it not knowing if this was a very strict rule, held my breath, made sure I didn't touch anything and got out my hand sanitizer right away. I think the thing I miss most about America is the bathrooms.

Plip

*posted by Abhrajeet
 
I found a baby stork today.
I named him Plip

Street Food in Noida

Toby took us around the block for some delicious Noida street food - kabobs and jillibee. Yum.

Anyone who tells you not to eat the street food in India is missing out on some good grub!

aka: I didn't get sick

We've landed in Delhi

We took a 2 hour plane ride from Kolkata to Delhi to begin our next stretch of this trip. Everyone was so helpful at the Kolkata airport, actually they were too helpful. They would tell us to move to a shorter line, and then move back again because the line we were originally in was now the shorter line. The plane ride was so quick after our two 8 hour train rides. It was hilarious to see how many people were in line for the bathroom on the plane. I've NEVER seen anyone go to the bathroom on the plane in the states but during the whole two hour flight the line was at least 6 people long. (Don't worry mom, I went to the bathroom before I left the house.)

We arrived at the Delhi airport (which is the 3rd largest in the world) and could instantly tell that this was no Kolkata. The air was SO clean and the airport was organized and efficient. We stepped outside and couldn't believe we'd been transported again to another world.

Cousin Toby picked us up and we began our 40+ minute car ride back to his home in Noida, one of the burrows of Delhi and the place where Abhrajeet spent most of his early life in India.

Arny and I had both imagined the rest of India to be just like Kolkata- crowded, dirty, congested and a few decades behind what we're accustomed to.  I'm so glad we were proven wrong. This was a modern city - felt like home, just halfway across the world.

First- There is SO much open land. You would think that with all the people and for as long as people have been in this area that all the space would be taken up. Not so. There are vast amounts of space that the city is intricately and efficiently planning to build on.

Second- India is going green. They already have auto rickshaws and buses being fueled by natural gas and are planting more and more trees each day.

Third - the Metro is AMAZING. I've never seen anything like it. It was so efficient and Toby told us that in a few months all of Delhi and its burrows will be connected by the Metro. To give you an idea of how big just Noida is: it's like the size of the entire Twin Cities area. A HUGE SPACE.  The Metro was still extremely ridiculous getting in and out of it because of the amount of travelers but it's a faster, more efficient and greener form of transportation so why not? Also Delhi utilizes fly overs (overpasses) so there are no intersections and stoplights. Smooth sailing all the way. *you are not allowed to take photos inside the metro so I can't show you how clean everyone was and how normal it smelt. You are also not allowed to hawk or spit or else you will be fined.

Fourth - Malls are popping up all over the place. Malls the size of Burnsville Center. Each metro station will have a mall integrated into it in the future to make life even more efficient.

Fifth - I can smile at people!  I was told by multiple people and websites that while I was in Kolkata a smile by a female meant I was flirting and essentially making the first move to show I was available. Not so in Delhi. It's a normal modern place where I smile and people smile back.

I have to go to the bathroom in what?

This photo should accompany our last train ride post explaining what the toiled on the train looked like. (actually what Indian style toilets look like)

Mind you: This was a first class toilet, the one I used earlier was not as glamorous, to say the least.

Week 1 Recap

Week One has been insane – it feels like we’ve been here for a whole month already. Each day is a new adventure and each of us feel more and more comfortable as the days go by.  Today we’re taking some time to rest, relax and reflect before we fly out to Delhi in the morning.  We’re sorry about the tardiness in posts – we have had no internet access except for briefly in the hotel for 30 minutes costing 50 rupees (a little more than a dollar).

States we've visited during week 1:
West Bengal (Kolkata), Orissa (Puri, Konark, Bhubuneswar)

Here are some quick links to Week 1 Posts

Hello India
The Patriarch - Abhrajeet and Arny's Grandfather
Kurthas - Buying some Indian clothes
Fish Market
Transitions - First few days in India
Family and Friends in Kolkata
Ganges River Bath
Kakima - Abhrajeet and Arny's Aunt
The Shave - The boys get a shave
Train Ride - From Kolkata to Puri
Jugganath Temple
The Ocean - Indian Ocean in Puri

The Engagement - We're engaged!

The Boss Abides -Abhrajeet and Arny's Uncle

Mayfair  - Hotel in Puri

Thampu - Abhrajeet and Arny's Grandmother

Orissa
One Time for Our Minds

One Time For Our Minds

*Posted by Jeet

The capital city of Orissa, Bhubuneswar, was somewhat of a reality check after the constant chaos and excitement of Kolkata and Puri. No towering monuments, mobs of overeager devotees, or sprawling commercial hubs were to be found here. This is your standard Indian city, where the people work hard in order to maintain their seemingly humble lifestyles. We checked into a hotel, the Arya Palace, so that we could get some rest before our overnight train back to Kolkata. Initially the guy wanted 2000Rs for the room, but I managed to get the price down to 1600Rs with some simple Bengali tactics in not bad for my first legit haggling experience in India. The "palace" was adequate, and had all the essentials, but the transition from the absurdly luxurious hotel in Puri to our mundane temporary dwelling in Bhubuneswar really gave us a perspective on things.

There wasn't really anything to do in or around the hotel, so we just chilled for a while on some quality Oriya produce and shot the shit. We had an especially good conversation with Thampu about life and the various things our family will have to do in the future to maintain its strength. As I always say, shit got real, real-real fast. Eventually, Arny and I decided to get out and explore the surrounding area. We would walk down a main street, take some random turns, and repeat. After a while we realized there wasn't much going on at all, although we did manage to cross the street a few times in an extremely nerve-racking but exciting endeavor in India.

After some more random exploring of the city we were just about ready to call it a day when we finally found something of interest. Even the most humble of cities can have its hidden gems, and for us it was the New Race Bookstore of Bhubuneswar, a tiny place we found in a completely isolated alleyway within the city. It felt good to be surrounded by stacks of books once we were inside, even though half of them were in languages unknown to us. One of the employees was particularly infatuated with us, and followed us around the store making occasional small talk and picking up books we would pick up first, looking at the descriptions despite being unable to speak in English. Who knows, maybe our friend couldn't read at all in a sad reality for many parts of underdeveloped India.

After at least an hour in the store we finally checked out with our selections. We bid farewell to the intensely quiet but friendly bookstore staff of four and rolled back to Arya Palace. Following some sub-mediocre to mediocre room service food, we were once again off to the train station, Kolkata bound, only this time in a three-tier train car in even more ghetto than before. Chyooooooo. 

It's just an everyday thang in da hood,
Jeet

Orissa

THE SUN GOD TEMPLE IN KONARK

 

Buddhist Temple

Thampu

A single day's life of one who puts out great effort
Is better than a life of a hundred years
Lived in idleness and sluggishness

-The Dhammapada

The Mayfair

Here are some photos from our beautiful hotel in Puri. Amazing statues everywhere, wonderful artwork and all the staff members were extremely helpful and friendly.  If you ever go to India be sure to visit Puri and stay in the Mayfair - it's the best around. 

The Boss Abides

*Posted by Jeet and Arny

It’s not every day that you get to find out how baller your family is, and today we got schooled. Hard. 

Introducing our one and only Boss “The Boss” Mamu. A cousin of our mom’s, “The Boss” rescheduled some work affairs he had in Kolkata so that he could come to Puri with us. Let’s just say, he taught us how India rolls.

After the engagement announcement, Boss Mamu took us out for dinner and drinks on the beach. It was a sick night, and many ridiculous stories about my family were shared. Throughout the evening the wisdom of India flowed through our cups and minds. Here are just a few tasty tidbits from our Mamu…

On the topic of Indian toilets: “India has the oldest crapping systems in the world. That’s why we’re full of bullshit!” – The Man

On the topic of why everything in India is so absurd: “Because this is India!” – The Guru

On the topic of ganj: “Fuck that Western bullshit! Here we do everything all natural! We were the first!” – The Boss

Class. Is. Dismissed.

Ram &; Lakshman

The Engagement

That’s right… Abhrajeet proposed in India in the most beautiful place we’ve seen so far. (I realize we are only 6 days in, but transitioning from Kolkata, where they city is crowded and dirty to Puri where it’s peaceful and lush a drastic contrast.)

Each day has been an adventure filled with many challenges but when we arrived in Puri all our troubles washed away as we began to enjoy the beautiful hotel, Indian ocean and time together. The day began by getting off the train around 9 in the morning and taking a nap. Abhrajeet’s uncle, Boss Mamu, unexpectedly accompanied us on the trip and it was wonderful to have him there to handle all the business. They don’t call him Boss for nothing.  One of our hotel rooms wasn’t ready so Boss pulled a few strings and Abhrajeet and I got the best room in the entire hotel. It had two terraces that overlooked the crashing ocean and was so extravagant.  At this point I kept joking that we got the honeymoon suite.

Around four o’clock the boys put on their kurthas and pajama pants while Thampu taught me how to put my sari on and we went into town. We all had an amazing day – I went around the city with Boss while the Boys and Thampu went to Jugganath (I wasn’t allowed in because I’m not of Indian decent)

We arrived back at the hotel around 7 to freshen up before going out for dinner. Abhrajeet said we should go out to the terrace and just sit for awhile however I was trying to re-tie my sari, change out of my contacts, put some clothes away, grabbing my camera and just about any task you can image that delayed the process of me going outside.

When I first went out on the terrace I had my camera and took this quick shot of Abhrajeet looking out. I realize this photo is the worst photo ever but you can get the idea of what the night looked like when Abhrajeet proposed. 

 

He told me to put the camera away and I joined him outside. I was looking out over at some people setting up for some event and Abhrajeet said he needed to go get something inside. I didn’t think anything of it and only hoped he would bring out the Kit-Kat bar in our fridge.

When he came back out he put his arms around me and said ‘Seven years ago it all started.’ Then stopped for awhile because he was choking up. This is when I started thinking ‘No way! Is this really happening?’

Then he talked about how I’ve stayed with him through it all of it, and all his family stuff.

Then I for sure knew what was coming. We looked out into the ocean and I said ‘this is perfect.’

He replied with: ‘Well, if it’s perfect then this is the right time to do this.’ He got down on one knee and said, So Katie, will you marry me. ‘

My reply was instant, ‘Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes’

Followed by a lot of giggling, crying, hugging, kissing.

I finally put on the ring (which is an absolutely perfect fit) and giggled some more.

We then joined Arny and Boss for a celebratory dinner. 

The morning after in the proposal spot

Stay tuned for the engagement prequel post.

The Ocean

The seaside in Puri was sublime – an endless, clean stretch of sand as far as the eye could see in both directions. We had been told earlier to be careful when ocean swimming – the water was deceptively rough in this part of India. Of course, every little part of the country has its own local guru – and sure enough we were guided into the ocean by the friendly hotel nunya Ramu. It was clear that he had spent many years quiet and in thought on the beaches of Puri, helping people experience the healing qualities of the ocean. After we spent some time walking in the shallows, Ramu brought over three tubes for us and we took the plunge. We all locked arms and the nunya took us out into the sea.

The salt water splashed our faces and stung our eyes, and we laughed as the currents threw us off balance. After some time we came back to shore and just chilled. Kayd and I sat on the beach for a while and Arny rediscovered his role as Lord of the Sea, swimming far offshore amongst the powerful currents. Tiny sand crabs were everywhere, and hilarious crows hopped around the shoreline looking for bits to eat. I told Ramu we’d be back in the morning and that we’d tip him then. Unlike most people in India, he didn’t seem concerned with money, and politely told us that’s fine – whatever works.

The next morning we were all up by 6:00 and ready to make another trip into the ocean. At first Thampu was hesitant, but I insisted that she come along. “I guess I should, it would be a great shame to come all this way and not feel the ocean,” she said in Bengali, getting up out of bed, excited and eager. For a while we just sat on the beach and watched the sunrise, brushing off some local hustlers who were trying to sell us cheap goods for a quick profit, undoubtedly expecting us to ignorantly pay. Finally we once again were guided by Ramu into the water, and Thampu looked renewed as the warm water and sand flowed over her feet. After some more swimming and some unexpected encounters with camels, it was time to go in. The ocean had indeed been an enlightening experience for all of us.

Jay Jagganath,

Abhrajeet

nunya – Bengali for lifeguard

Jagganath Temple

*posted by Abhrajeet

Puri: the land of Jagganath, the all encompassing, all knowing, and all powerful. According to my Dadu, hundreds of years ago the king of Orissa had a dream that Vishnu would come to his lands from the sea in a piece of holy bark. The king immediately ordered his court to go search for this piece of bark along the oceans. At last, the holy bark was found and brought back to Puri, and around it was built one of the most awesome sites of religious worship in India: the Jagganath Temple.

The temple of Jagganath is so ancient and orthodox that non-Hindus and those not of Indian descent are forbidden to enter the complex. For this reason, Katie was taken around some other parts of Puri by my uncle, while Arny, Thampu and I traversed the temple’s awesome complex. For years my Thampu had been wanting to make this pilgrimage – the Jagganath Temple is said to be one of the four holiest sites in India, and it’s essential that the devout Hindu makes a pilgrimage there at least once in life.

There was no doubt an incredible spiritual presence in this place, despite all the idiotic hustler pandas who try to take everyone’s money by claiming spiritual wisdom. I was initially extremely worried about my grandmother walking up and down the massive steps of the temple – she had only recently had a stent put in and could barely walk five straight minutes without resting prior to our departure from the U.S. Incredibly, Thampu continuously walked up and down the massive temple steps and through the various temple rooms for over an hour and a half, not once complaining about anything. The old, strong Thampu who had raised my brother and I was back and in perfect form.

At last, we arrived in the main part of the temple, the room which contained the murtis of Jagganath, his brother Balarama, and his sister Subhadra. As the barrier blocking the room entrance was lifted, a swarm of Hindu devotees surged past where my brother, grandmother and I were standing, pushing, shoving, and generally being assholes. I stood behind my grandmother like a rock, shielding her from the chaotic rush of devotees, while she hilariously yelled and pushed random people in front of her. Finally, we entered the room and were able to have our Darshan of Jagganath. It was clear that my Thampu had been given a new energy following the Darshan. Arny and I were just relieved that we were all ok, and sat with my grandmother watching the temple monkeys frolic for a few more minutes before heading back to find Katie and my uncle outside the temple walls. We will never forget the strange but healing experience we all shared in this ancient house of Vishnu.

Hare, hare!

Abhrajeet

P.S. We couldn't take pictures inside the temple itself, so here 's a snapshot from the surrounding area - notice the cows. Oh yeah.

panda – self proclaimed priest

Darshan – holy view

murti – statue or idol