Category: Travels for Fun
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SANTA COMES TO GUDUR
Padma and I were at cousin Joshua’s house when Xander ran up and told us to come along to see Santa Claus. We all piled into a minibus and drove through the streets of Gudur till we reach a dark and poor neighbourhood. We got out of the car not knowing what to expect. A vehicle approached with blaring speakers and passed us. I watched it pass and saw Santa sitting in the back. It turned into a street and I went running after Santa. I caught up to Santa and…
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THE GIRL ON THE BIKE
It was dusk and Christmas Eve so I went out of the house for a stroll in the street. I was standing at a wall watching some boys play cricket in the fading light. A man and his granddaughter were also watching and I greeted him. After a while it was too dark for cricket so he put his granddaughter on the front of his bicycle and both he and I were thinking of how cute she looked. I asked to take a picture and he happily agreed. After I shot…
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THE SEAMSTRESS OF GUDUR
Our Indian relatives have a strong tradition of giving gifts of clothes to visitors. As a result we have all received wonderful gifts we can wear. They didn’t quite get the size right for Padma however. No problem as just down the road lived a seamstress. We entered a dark alley lined with tiny closet-sized homes and found the home of the seamstress. She and her two children, and I assume a husband, lived in a room no bigger than some of the wardrobes we’ve seen in American homes. She took…
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KAVALI TO GUDUR
Joseph got some first hand experience with the dangers of travel in India when we travelled from Kavali to Gudur. We were running late and Joseph needed to be back to Gudur by 4.30 for his sitar lesson. Cousin Joshua was riding in a separate car and was about to leave so Joe grabbed a ride with him to get back earlier. The rest of us took the mini bus. An hour into the journey we saw Joshua’s car on the side of the highway surrounded by a bunch of people.…
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CHEBROLU
On this trip, we never know what the family has in store for us. We just move when we’re told to move and eat when we’re told to eat. After we visited the cemetery I assumed we would head home but we started heading out of the city. I asked Sampath what’s going on and he said we’re going to his house. I said I didn’t recognise the road and he said his ‘other home’ – the new home that he was building. So we drove on for thirty minutes or…
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A WEDDING IN KAKINADA
Padma and I jumped out of bed at 7.30 as we were told a car would drop by at 9.30 to pick us up and take us to the wedding. Lots to do to get organised. But we must have been so exhausted that we had forgotten we were in India. It was more like 11 before we finally left the hotel. No one seemed concerned that the wedding was set to start at 10, so I just sat back and enjoyed watching the street scenes of Kakinada as we drove…
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A CHANGE OF PLANS
You always need a contingency plan when you travel in India. Our plan was to arrive in mid-morning and check into a comfortable airport hotel and just recover from the flights. The next morning we were to catch an early morning flight to Kakinada via Hyderabad and have a relaxing afternoon to rest prior to the wedding. That all changed once we arrived. We were told that our early morning flight on SpiceJet to Hyderabad had been cancelled and there were really no other flight options the next day. A train…
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CANCELLED!
Today was supposed to be a fairly relaxing day with minimal travel. A day of rest prior to the wedding. All started out fine but the tide quickly changed when we arrived at the airport. We checked into our flight and the attendant acted as if all was fine and on time. When we arrived at our departure gate I immediately realised that this would not be a slow and relaxing day. A large group had congregated at our departure gate and was shouting at a pair of SpiceJet employees and…
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Chennai.
Nothing beats the joyous atmosphere of an airport reunion and all of the elements were in place as we made our first steps into the hustle and bustle of Chennai. Padma’s cousins, Ravi and Minny from Gudur and Usha and Santosh from Chennai were waiting for us as we finally left the airport and took our first steps on Indian soil. Before we knew it we had beautiful garlands made of fresh flowers placed around our necks by Usha and Minny. We felt quite honoured to be welcomed in such a…
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