Sunday, June 12, 2011

12 June 2011 12:50 PM

Today is Sunday and most people are off of work.  Most businesses are also closed.  It has been one week since I have arrived in India and I have already seen and done so many things.

Yesterday I went with Auntie to go visit her brothers and their families.  They all live quite far from Tyagarajnagar—about 40 minutes and Rs 150 by auto.  Their colony is what I would call suburban.  The traffic is light and there is a lot of greenery and parks.

We first went to her brother’s who serves as a priest in the local Hanumantha temple.  This is the same temple that Auntie’s father served in.  There, I had jackfruit for the first time.  Later, I was told by cousin Balu that bears invented the recipe of earing honey and jackfruit together.  We were also served lunch of rice prasad and cucumber sabhar.  For dessert, I had noodles in reduced sweetened milk.  Auntie’s brother, Prasad, was very happy to hear that I knew a couple of mantras.  He gave me a couple of cds to listen to when I return.  During lunch, Prasadji showed me a video of a festival held at Tirupati.  In addition, I was shown many albums of his murthi decorations and creations.

Afterward, we walked a short distance to Auntie’s eldest brother’s home.  He is very well off and has a very large and beautiful home.  There are granite floors, a sunroom, a beautiful puja room, and a bathroom for each bedroom.  Uncleji also has two floors to his home.  There, I spoke with Uncleji for quite some time.  We discussed many things about India, the US, and the unique opportunity and experience that I am having here.  I was able to look through wedding albums and quite a few photos of the grandson.
           
About dusk we went to visit the Hanumantha Devasthana.  It was a very unique experience.
           
Remember:
Tirupati Prasad – Ladoo
Betel Leaves
Cousin Marriage
Turmeric + Lime = Kumkum
Corruption and Colonialism
Urbanization of India
McDonalds

Prasad Uncle's House

Jackfruit Tree

Prasad Uncle cutting jackfruit

Prasad Uncle's Family

Auntie's eldest brother and family


House in suburbs


Narsimha

The deva's feet

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