Day 9 - Hyderbad

(Sorry nanna, I had to make this the main picture). On this day the family was reunited. Nanna met us at the train station that morning in Hyderbad and arrived just 30 minutes after us after his trip to Tirupati. As unlce and I went to look for him I walked right past him and did not recognize him, but uncle did, after 14 years. And to your right is the reason why I could not recognize him (many people after going to Tirupati shave their heads as a sacrifice to something better to happen). Then we got to Sununda pinni's house (mom's younger sister) where Sujuna atha was also there (mom's older sister). They definatley look like triplets, I'll put that picture up for the next day. That morning, Deepak was still sick and Amma was recovering. So Deepak, along with Pranathi who was also sick, lay in bed while I got aquainted with Prathik, the 17 year old son of Suparna pinni, and Sandeep anna, Sujuna atha's younger son. After a little while we had a traditional Indian lunch and then got accustomed to the power cuts that are going on all around India. The heat was stifileing and in the second story apartment was low on ventilation because of other equally high buildings next to it. I think that night my mom and Sunanda pinni went shopping, expected, while we rented a movie -Jaane Tu- which I thought was really good even though it was cheap quality and we were routinely interrupted by the adults. One of those inturruptions was because me and my Dad had a little arguement on what to do with the lost medicine. That morning when Prathik was carrying my duffel bag out of the train station he turned around to me and said he felt something fall out, but we didn't see anytihng on the ground. What we think happened was that someone stole the bag hanging on one end and got away with all of our mediction, specifially our malaria medicine. That night ended pretty quitely and we rolled our the sheets and had I think 8 of us sleep in the Living room, just like the good 'ol days with all family that come over.
A note that I wanted to talk about is the idea of wealth and use of service. While pinni was not significantly well off she still had a servant come in every morning to sweep, mop, do the laundry, and in general clean up. While that, in America, is reserved for the upper-echelon and the very wealthy, in India it is quite common for what would be considered middle to upper-middle class families to at least have a part time servant. They seem necessary when in India but all their chores are done by the family here. So I feel that in America the family works a little harder to compensate for the lack of help for a little extra pay. I am not trying to critisize Indian's in their actions, especially because this tradition and convenience has been bred into families for generations, but I really do not beleive that it is absolutely to have a servent. I must also add that having hired a servant can be beneficial to both sides. Help for the family and an income and sure supply of food for the servant, which may be all that they are looking for anyways.

Day 8 - Kakinada

After waking up at Nagesh thatha's house we had a little breakfast. At that point I started to feel better, but amma and Deepak both went down. Amma threw up that morning and Deepak was light-headed and tired the whole day. And at a point when Nanna wasn't there - he turned out to be sick too, but luckily not to the extent as us - so we were on our own to get around town and visit everyone. After pushing ourselves through the morning we went to () thatha's house, my mom's dad's brother. There we also met MP mama, his first son, and K() Ammama. Thatha really stood out to me because of how lively he was right from when we entered until we left. I also learned that he had and still has an affliction for new technology. He has the newest camera phones, laptops, and all sorts of gadgets. After a full life of doing pretty much everthing, he now tinkers with ways to communicate with his family through better and newer technology. After getting to their home and sadly denying the peseratu that they made JUST for us because my mom told her that's what she missed most. But with all of us being sick all we had was simple bread and butter/jam. Then we were convinced to rest for some time. So after showing them our pictures we took a nap, or at least lied down to talk with Ammama. At 3 or so we finally said our goodbyes and were driven to Madivi pinni's mom's house. There we talked for about 1/2 hour and saw the house, even though under renovation. Then amma was dropped of at another one of her cousin's house while me and Deepak were taken around by thatha. He showed us everything that our family has done for and done in Kakinada. He showed us where Meena atha and Paddu Pinni were married. He showed us the building that used to be the family's house, which now stands as a monument to remember when Gandhi and Nehru visited and stayed there. Even pictures to prove it. But through this short trip Deepak started becoming dizzy again so I had to convince thatha that we needed to go and find amma. So we left a little early from the tour and we found amma and went straight to the bed to have Deepak lie down. Even though I still felt a little dizzy and I'm sure amma was not 100% we still tried for a full conversation. After a little snack we moved on to my mom's oldest cousin's house. He was much more...stiff than I expected, Babu mama (I think) was the pretty much the head of the family and everyone of the cousins look up to him in terms of advice and help. When we got there we also looked to him for help and he gave us some medication for our illnesses. Then, by this time it was pretty late, we rushed back to Nagesh thatha's house for a quick dinner and rushed off to the train station. This was our first overnight train ride, a full 10 hours.

Day 7 - Bhimvaram/Palakol/Kakinada Day

This was definately the day to prove how much we were flying around India to get to see everyone. That would mean that it would be the worst day to be sick, with long drives/train rides, its horrible to be sick. None-the-less my body decides to hate me and I go down with something, I have no idea what it was. I woke up that morning and threw up. brushed my teeth, threw up, took a quick shower, threw up. Without having anything to eat or drink, I couldn't even hold down water, we drove off to Palakol to visit more of my dad's family. On the way there I lied on my mom's shoulder, once she felt me move she told the driver to pull over, and guess what I did. Luckily that was the last time, we got to Jagan thatha's home and I finally got to lie down. And even more lucky was that Gita aama (aunt) was a doctor so I was under the care of a certified physician. That day was filled with amazing revelations about my Atyam roots though. Jagan thatha was a scholar on the Atyam linage and what we've all accomplished. The one thing I pulled away from it as the most important is that my father's grandfather was one of the first, if not the first, South Indians to go to America. After a month long trip of trains, boats, and more transportation, he arrived in New York and got a BA at NYU in 1919.
After having a surprisingly good recovery we wished my dad goodbye, he then left on train to Tirupathi (look at him in this picture and compare it to a couple of days from now). About 10 minutes after he left we went on our way to Kakinada. They were gracious enough to send a driver to take us all the way there. This part was a long drive where I was still a little nausious, so Deepak sat in front and my and ama sat in back so I could rest. After a 3-4 hour ride we got into Kakinada right after the sun went over the horizon. After getting lost in the hustle and bustle of a much more vibrant/lively/uptempo city we made a couple of calls and finally found Nagesh thata (who was about 40 with a 8 year old girl) and got to his house. After a little dinner and a decent amount of water me and Deepak went straight to sleep.

Day 6- So Much Family

We woke up nice and early this morning, got ready and headed out to Krishna Prasad mama's house - another uncle- for breakfast. Once we got there I didn't see the lavish home I expected, instead I saw a quite nicely furnished apartment, where he and his wife lived and at the time their son, Mauria, was there. We got along very well, especially because he was into the business of renewable energy in Western Europe and I am part of a Renewable Energies club on campus and have done some research. After a typical Telagu breakfast, dosa, idli, coconut chutney, and finished with a coconut dessert (diamond sweet); my brother, Mauria and I went down to the street until I finally realized where we were going. They were only staying in the apartment until their house was finished remodeling. After getting out of the heat again, we went back inside where they had lost power, which was common anything we got to anyone's house, and we said our goodbye's and went on our way. Next we visited that mama's Engineering College. He owned 9 in the state and the system was well known in the area. I went to the school with some lofty expecetations off of what they told us. I left wholly disappointed because the schools were not at all what I had come to see in American schools. They were very basic, containing no more than what was absolutley necessary. The dorms were 6-story concrete buildings with no designs, the actual school was one large concrete building. After meeting the dean of the school, and him showing us every courtesy possible because we knew the owner again, he showed us a couple of classrooms. The ones he showed us were just long rooms of long lines of computers, and thats all. It reminded me of a vertical version of Cerritos Community College, without the aesthetic qualitites of the plants outside it. Apparently, this is what was considered good in India, because the sole focus of most people there is that the education is necessary and no distractions are available. (Later I plan of going on a tirade of education in India). Also, important to note, everyone was still required to wear uniform, I haven't done that since elementary school, and even then it was more relaxed than what they had.
After that we went to Veinu thatha's house (he is actually a great grand uncle to me). When we bought the house so many years ago it was was less populated than the two neighbors he has now and the land area was pretty big. Once we got there only ammama (actually great grand aunt) was there, she offered us freshly made peanut brittle. So fresh that it was still soft and malleable. Then she put a plate of the most sour mango I have ever tasted, so sour that I couldn't eat more than one bite every 5 minutes or so, even with the salt and chili powder- which is apparently the way my mom likes it. Outside, they decided to put in many fruit plants, herbs, and even a lily pond near the entrance. The garden was immense in terms of the choice in food, from huge jackfruits to guavas to basil on the side. After leaving their house we went straight to her son's house near the coast.
Narsimha thatha (actually grand-uncle but is only 42 or so) had a very nice house, 3 stories that had a view off the balcony as shown in the picture. The house was custom built and was obviously organized by a very modern minded architect. Him and his wife put a lot of work into the planning and made very good use of the area they had (a quality present in many Indian homes). I've noticed American houses have pride in how much open area it can enclose, but Indian homes are powerful in the sense that they are small yet allow the room to feel large. Also, most of the artwork was supplied by Jaya ammama (his wife); it was beautiful, a modern take on the faces of buddha. After dinner there and meeting their kids, 14 and 12 or so, we went back to the house and got packed to move on to the next city. On the way to the train station we stopped at another of my mom's cousin's, Subha aama, apartment to say hi. What I especially remeber from there is the grand daughter they had, and how cute she was, also the bada milk (almond milk) that was addictive. After she stalled us there, our fear of missing the train scared us too much so we left. We took the train for a few hours and got to Bhimvaram where we met one of my dad's cousin. At the time our train got into the station it started to pour. After rushing back to their house we changed, ate some really good food, chana masala with onion and pickly, it was very basic yet amazing, had some water (regret that) and went to sleep...

Day 5-Exploring Vizag

This morning we were supposed to wake up early in the morning and go for a run on the beach (about 1/2 mile from the house). Obviously, that didn't happen. When I finally got up I found my parents and uncle in his garden with some tea. After some tea and pictures we took a ride along the beach to see what the city was from their PCH. The view was amazing, the beach was very much reminiscent of Huntington beach on those early mornings when no one else is there yet, small crashing waves on a clean beach. And looking at the development out the other window was also spectacular. He separated the older part of the city and showed the recent and upcoming development as well. What surprised me and made me most proud was seeing all the new development in the area. One entire hill, which was previously completely empty, is not filling up with Tech Parks (IT buildings) and new housing developments were popping up everywhere, all with beach front view. My first thought was that if there is a place to invest it is in this new-age booming area which will not stop construction and recruiting for a long time forward. After a little more sightseeing and taking this picture we went home had lunch and got prepared for the day. Next, we went to a gold shop owned by another of my mom's cousin. Now the normal gold shop on Pioneer or the common corner was more than I expected, but I was blown out of the water. Once we entered in front of us there was a 3 story waterfall and led us to a diverge, jewelery store on the left, clothing on the right (property owned by uncle). The jewelery store was beyond anything I had ever seen, 4 stories. The first floor, easily the size of my house was the gold floor, the one above was silver, and above that, platinum. And lastly, on the 4th floor they held the exotics, amazing juxtaposition of different colored diamonds and other precious stones. Because we were family of the owner, we were given a personal tour of the building and my mom was given the utmost attention, she wanted to buy a chain for the pendant she was gifted earlier. While Deepak and I waited we went into the lobby to play chess. This board, though, was built of silver and my pieces were gold and my brother's was silver. IT WAS AMAZING! Such lavish frivolity was not what I expected to see in a smaller city in South India. After all the nice buildings we drove through the city a little more and found the beach again when my mom saw a stand for a specialty South Indian food. It included puffed rice, tomatoes, lemon juice, and other fresh vegetables. We stopped in a parking lot, ran across the street, found a manned cart - they were maybe 100 feet apart- and ordered. My dad did not approve, and it showed in the pictures we have in the area, because the water they used for everything was not clean. He was right to be mad, but luckily we did not get sick from it, and the food was amazingly delicious. You find that dish here, but it definitely does not taste the same.
After all that we went to the port for a boat tour. Mama owned a company that did a lot of the navigation through the narrow straight into the port. My uncle was not able to accompany us but he had one of his employees take us. It was really interesting to see all the expansion and all the work that had been done, including what they import and export and in what quantities- it seems a majority of it is energy based, to fuel the expansion and growth of the country. What really caught me attention was toward the end of the ride when he said he would take us on a tour of one of the unloading ships. While this was not all that appealing to us, it would be nice to see it. But once he told us that no ships were available for tours, we said it was okay, not that big of a deal. But he apologized repeatedly while trying to find a boat for us to go on. He kept saying that he had promised it to his boss, our uncle, and made it seem like he would be in trouble if he didn't. I know he would not have, especially after trying so hard and knowing my uncle's personality, but his dedication to keeping his word was unique in many respects. In America if an employee finds out that something isn't possible and the client says it doesn't need that, the topic is off the table and everything is okay. From this example, in India, keeping one's word is much more important in keeping someone's respect and being relied on.

Day 4- Vizag

This picture is from the day after we landed but it works none-the-less.
The flight we came in was delayed because of heavy rains (which was a foreshadowing of what continued to happen everywhere we went). Once we got there, only my mom's cousin, Ram Prasad mama was in the baggage claim area, everyone else had to wait for their guests and family outside. This showed what kind of clout he had in the area, but as I soon learned, he did in no way abuse it and does a lot for the community. Once we got into the SUV, the driver took us to his house, which housed 3 more cars, 1 more driver, and at least 5 servants.
A look back into the history and heritage of my mom. She grew up in Vizag from age 6 to 22 (when she was married) and the family moved there while it was sparsely habited. Now as we drove through it was jam packed like every other Indian city, and I'll go more into it's growth on the next day. In this city many of her cousins grew up with her and she always had a story about every part of town, including the apartment complex which her family used to own and live in, which is still erect.
Back to that day. That night, once we got out of the car I noticed a considerable difference in the environment. It was much more humid (even at 7 at night) and that called for the mosquitoes. We bought bug repellent before we came but didn't apply it recently because we didn't need it. But as we sat at the dinner table and were offered fresh fruits (amazing) and coconut water (had more of that than regular water all weekend) both me and Deepak ended up with at least 4 bug bites each- I had less, luckily my legs have more hair. Also, the whole 3 or so days we were there we were very well taken care of, the ammama (my mom's aunt) as well as mama loved my mom, and did everything that she liked and prepared everything she used to love. Back to the story, we changed into pants and then left to the Waltair Club (pronounced Voltaire, making crack a joke about being a philosophy club and then being abruptly corrected to understand it was a social club, catered to the social elite - by my mom). Another one of my mom's cousin - there are a lot of them here- was just elected the President of the club, the largest in at least the state with over 400 members, a mansion for a house, a gym, pool, basketball court, gazebo, and access to rooms for guests of the members. When we got there, we went straight to the meeting room where I met the uncles I never knew I had and was served lots of snacks and drinks before dinner. Me and Deepak were the only ones under 40 for some time, until a younger kid, pretty wild 20 year old he was, came in. We got into conversing, broken english, and got to know each other a little better, walked around the area, and learned a little more of Indian teenagers. The food was amazing, and it was nice to see all these uncles and aunties whose relationship I learned while there but promptly forgot on the flight back. One thing there that I noticed and is worth writing about is the attitude that many of them hold. All were quite wealthy but acted in 2 distinct sets. There were the more humble ones, like Ram Prasad mama, or the ones that flaunted it excessively, at least in my eyes. Another one of my uncles displayed the latter behavior, as and example, after taking some snack, kili I think, he took the toothpick and flicked it to the corner of the room, while in front of the waiter, while standing no more than 3 feet from a trash can. He didn't even flick it in the direction of the trash can, he sent it to the opposite corner. Also, instead of asking for more of a certain dish, he distinctly ordered for it, and while they all gave it with a smile, one would imagine a little respect can't hurt. We then went home, changed in the dark - the power went out- which is also a sign of what was to come for us, and then went to sleep in a bed that was quite comfortable. We draped the blankets over our entire body to ensure no more mosquito's would bother us.