Return to India, Part 9: A prayer and a blessing for Suji; we head for the train; three calls to Manu

Just before we left to catch the train there was a very short blessing ceremony for Sujitha, in light of her upcoming wedding ceremony. The rest of us held flower petals and as she knelt before each of us in turn, we sprinkled the petals upon her.

In mainstream American culture, one does not kneel before another, but I was in India now, in the midst of Hindu culture and so I joined in and made a prayer for her in her own way. Even though I am not Hindu, or anything else but a questioner and wandering wonderer, for that matter, it was a real prayer and blessing - a prayer I felt in my heart and a blessing I gave with my soul.

I want her to have a good life and a good marriage with Manoj. This was my prayer for her and my blessing to her. I offered it and gave it by sprinkling flower petals upon as she kneeled, not in servitude but in respect, before me. It felt good to me. I know it felt good to her as well - we were both blessed.

My photo and the words I write here are a reiteration of this prayer/blessing. Each time a set of eyes looks upon this image and reads these words, the prayer is offered anew.

After the blessings, she received a hug from her aunt, Dr. Bhuvaneshwari.

Sujitha waves goodbye to neighbors from across the street, who stepped out of their doors to say goodbye just as she was leaving.

Now, the feeling inside the cab is all happiness, excitement and joy.

And then came that moment when she thought about her sister and best friend, Soundu, and how they had talked about and planned for this day and all the things that Sound was going to do make certain the day was special. This is maybe one second after the photo in the last post. The tear has traveled down her cheek. It can hardly be seen now, but it is there.

We traveled in two cabs. After we reach the station, as we stand in the shade of an awning beyond the reach of the hot, hard, sun that beats down beyond, Ravi withdraws the rupees he will need to pay the cab drivers. Ravi also paid my train fare, as well as the fares of his family members.

Porters take our bags to where we will board the Indian Railways train. Standing in the shade of still another awning, Suji reaches Manu on the phone.

Our train is running a bit behind schedule. Suji rests upon her father's knees as we wait.

Pretty soon, she is again talking to Manu on the phone.

She grooms the hair of her aunt "Bhuvana," a medical doctor, who will not be traveling with us on the train, but will come later by plane.

Our train pulls into the station.

We board - here, Ganesh, Vasanthi, Murthy, Natarajan and Suji.

Soon, Suji is back on the phone with Manu.

She and her grandfather exchange fond glances.

Suji glances at me through the mirror in the larger compartment across the aisle. An 18-hour train ride awaits us. Those who have followed this blog for awhile and know how I feel about trains will not be surprised to learn that I am... EXCITED... happy to be on this train, happy to be traveling with my Indian family. Just under five years ago, I did not even know they existed and now I am bonded with them.

It will take at least two more posts, maybe three, for me to cover this train ride and I think I had better also throw in at least one spacer at some point, maybe two. I am running way behind. I need to get this blog to Suji's wedding, pronto. So it is my intent to put up all of the train ride posts before I go to bed. Maybe I won't make it. Maybe I will have to wait and finish in the morning. I want to get it done, but I don't want to rush it, either.

Yet, I am rushing it. I could work on the larger story here for months yet, maybe a year. I suppose I will, too, but not in this blog. I must wrap this blog series up, very soon.

Series index:

India series, part 1: With a little help from the Indian Air Force, I begin my India series without actually beginning it
Return to India, Part 2: Pain beneath the fan, a sprawling tree, monkey on a string; those I would soon join on a train ride; the garland
Return to India, Part 3: My Facebook friend, Ramz, her mischievous brother, her nationally recognized achiever mom, her dad at the wheel
India series, Part 4: When you overtake an elephant on the highway, be sure to pass on the right; birthday remembrance; In Wasilla, pass "oversize" on the left
Return to India, Part 5: I wander the cold, empty, streets of Bangalore
Return to India, Part 6: A cow, blessed and safe; Suji takes me to lunch, then goes out with Bhanu to do some wedding shopping
Return to India, Part 7-A: A three-snack outing as mother and daughter shop for Suji's wedding
Return to India, Part 7-B: On the painted holiday of the final full moon of winter, Sujitha and Kruthika go back to get a necklace
A spacer only - the Buddha and the glamour poster ad
Return to India, Part 8: henna, to highlight her beauty and deepen the love between bride and groom; a moment on the way to the train
Return to India, Part 9: A prayer and a blessing for Suji; we head for the train; three calls to Manu
Time for another spacer - the green man who showed up at the railroad station
Return to India, Part 10: The train to Pune, part 2: Sujitha by the window as a thin thread of her India flows by
Return to India, Part 11: On the train, part 3: Ganesh Ravi - Photographer: how we discovered his hidden talent
Return to India, Part 12: On the train, part 4: After dark
Return to India, Part 13: train ride, part 5: we click and clatter into Pune, take a perilous walk and step into a world beyond imagination
Return to India, Part 14: The groom his wedding suit; me in mine
Return to India, Part 15: A function to mark the final night Sujitha would spend with her family before the wedding
Return to India, Part 16: Inside the Biradar house: portrait of an elder woman - portrait of a young girl
Return to India, Part 17: We dine in the home of the groom's parents, then join in the Puja of Kalasha
Return to India, Part 18: Slideshow: Sujitha and Manoj at the wedding hall - Engagement and Haldi Night
Return to India, Part 19: The wedding band, in the visual style of Sgt. Pepper's (10 image slide show)
Return to India, Part 20: The groom rides a white horse to the temple, there is dancing in the street; Sujitha and Manoj are wed
Return to India, Part 21 - Benediction: Sujitha takes me to the sacred waters; fish dine - a crow flies

Return to India, Part 8: henna, to highlight her beauty and deepen the love between bride and groom; a moment on the way to the train

Come next morning, I got up just a little bit after six to discover the henna painting (mehandi) had already begun. According to my limited understanding, the application of the henna painting serves two purposes - to beautify the bride and to signify depth of love in the marriage. As the tattoo darkens, so too does the strength of love between the couple deepen.

The mehandi artist had started her work just below Suji's permanent tattoo, which also symbolizes depth of love - that of Sujitha for her late sister and her husband, and that between the couple whose portrait waits to be added into the frame of love tattooed into her skin for it.

Kruthika had shared Sujitha's bed through the night that has just come to an end - a bed that in the past was often shared by Suji and Soundu.

The design on the paper lying on the bed was drawn by Soundarya. Suji brought it to the session so that the artist could include its patterns in her work.

The session was expected to last for three hours. I knew that if I stayed in the room for the entire three hours, I would wind up with an overwhelming editing task, so I would shoot a few pictues and then leave the room and wander about for a spell.

The bride, of course, had no choice but to be present for every moment of the session. To help her through it, Ravi, her father, brought her a cup of very excellent coffee. I have been home now for close to four weeks and have not had a cup of good, South Indian coffee for longer than that, as we were about to leave South India.

I still miss it. Everyday I think about it. Everyday I want a cup of South Indian coffee. I can make it, too, and I have, but it doesn't turn out quite the same as when Bhanu or Vasanthi makes it.

On Suji's right hand: a portrait of the bride.

As the work progresses, Suji sips her coffee. As I have noted before, coffee cups in India are much smaller than here in the US. Coffee is often served in stainless steel cups with no handles. Still, if you hold the cup along the edge of the flange that flares out from the top of the cup, your fingers will be fine. You will not burn them.

Suji takes a break to check out the progress.

She returns to her place. Before starting in again, the artist surveys the work she has already done.

Dad could have used a little more sleep, but for his daughter he is happy to sacrifice.

Kru had briefly risen, but the hour was early and the need for sleep had not gone out of her. So back she came to get a little more.

The application of henna mixed with oil continues.

In time, Kru arose for the day. Soon she was up and outside, making the flour drawing that women place as a blessing in front of each Hindu house each morning.

Back inside, the artist has just outlines a portrait of the groom on Suji's left hand.

She returns to Suji's right arm to do some touch up work.

Then back to Sujitha's left arm.

On one of my trips outside the henna studio, Bhanu showed me an elephant puppet brought home by Soundarya. Bhanu animated the puppet and had it speak a sentence or two. To the far right is the portrait of Sandy draped with the garland. By now, I had spent four days in the house and still something in me resisted the message of the garland.

The artist works on Sujitha's ankles and feet.

Bhanu brought out this portrait of Anil and Soundarya to show me. A narrow beam of light from the open door fell upon it. I did not pose Bhanu or ask her to stand in this, the one spot where the light would fall just right upon the portrait of the couple in such a way as to symbolize the light they brought into this world and the dark they left behind when they departed it.

She just happened to step into the one spot that would create such a true effect. Nor did I darken the background. In fact, I lightened it just a touch. Although I did not want to change the message in the picture at all, I felt a need to lighten the backdrop just a bit.

The henna is activated with squeezings from a fresh lemon.

The bride and groom, left and right - which is right and left. The henna cannot come off for a few hours. After it does, the pattern will be light, but will soon darken - just as the love between the couple is expected to deepen. 

Sujitha steps out the door to let the fresh air waft over over her newly painted arms, hands, ankles and feet. Oscar is there. If he is like most dogs I have known, he probably doesn't care much for the smell of lemon and has no appreciation of the art work or the significance of it, but is happy and delighted to see Suji.

Ganesh slept through most of it, but now he is up, ready to get his shower and go to work - but first to admire the new art that now adorns his sister. Some viewers will undoubtedly notice that the time on this clock reads earlier than it does on the clock atop the bookcase in two earlier pictures, but the order is correct.

The other clock had stopped.

Now Suji must sit very still for awhile as the henna dries - but not for that long. Soon, she will board the train for Pune, to meet up with her groom and join him in the Hindu ceremony that will put the seal of their native faith upon the love that has long bound them together.

Sitting with her is her uncle, Krishna Kumar, who owns an internet cafe. Sandy would sometimes end a chat session with the announcement that her uncle was waiting for her to finish so he could close the cafe.

On the way to the train station, I noticed two of the gentlemen in the rickshaw traveling alongside of us gaze intently at Sujitha. I wondered what caught their eye? Was it her beauty? Was it something in her interaction with her aunt, Dr. Bhuvaneshwari, who recognized a moment of deep pain in her niece and so sought to comfort her?

Or was it the lone tear that slid from Sujitha's eye onto her cheek as she thought of the second of the two people with whom she had most wanted to share the joy of her upcoming wedding?

Series index:

India series, part 1: With a little help from the Indian Air Force, I begin my India series without actually beginning it
Return to India, Part 2: Pain beneath the fan, a sprawling tree, monkey on a string; those I would soon join on a train ride; the garland
Return to India, Part 3: My Facebook friend, Ramz, her mischievous brother, her nationally recognized achiever mom, her dad at the wheel
India series, Part 4: When you overtake an elephant on the highway, be sure to pass on the right; birthday remembrance; In Wasilla, pass "oversize" on the left
Return to India, Part 5: I wander the cold, empty, streets of Bangalore
Return to India, Part 6: A cow, blessed and safe; Suji takes me to lunch, then goes out with Bhanu to do some wedding shopping
Return to India, Part 7-A: A three-snack outing as mother and daughter shop for Suji's wedding
Return to India, Part 7-B: On the painted holiday of the final full moon of winter, Sujitha and Kruthika go back to get a necklace
A spacer only - the Buddha and the glamour poster ad
Return to India, Part 8: henna, to highlight her beauty and deepen the love between bride and groom; a moment on the way to the train
Return to India, Part 9: A prayer and a blessing for Suji; we head for the train; three calls to Manu
Time for another spacer - the green man who showed up at the railroad station
Return to India, Part 10: The train to Pune, part 2: Sujitha by the window as a thin thread of her India flows by
Return to India, Part 11: On the train, part 3: Ganesh Ravi - Photographer: how we discovered his hidden talent
Return to India, Part 12: On the train, part 4: After dark
Return to India, Part 13: train ride, part 5: we click and clatter into Pune, take a perilous walk and step into a world beyond imagination
Return to India, Part 14: The groom his wedding suit; me in mine
Return to India, Part 15: A function to mark the final night Sujitha would spend with her family before the wedding
Return to India, Part 16: Inside the Biradar house: portrait of an elder woman - portrait of a young girl
Return to India, Part 17: We dine in the home of the groom's parents, then join in the Puja of Kalasha
Return to India, Part 18: Slideshow: Sujitha and Manoj at the wedding hall - Engagement and Haldi Night
Return to India, Part 19: The wedding band, in the visual style of Sgt. Pepper's (10 image slide show)
Return to India, Part 20: The groom rides a white horse to the temple, there is dancing in the street; Sujitha and Manoj are wed
Return to India, Part 21 - Benediction: Sujitha takes me to the sacred waters; fish dine - a crow flies

Return to India, Part 7-A: A three-snack outing as mother and daughter shop for Suji's wedding

Sujitha, the bride-to-be and her mother, Bhanu, out on the streets of Bangalore as they shop for the upcoming wedding.

First, they stop at a tailor shop where one of the outfits Suji will wear during her wedding is being custom measured and fit just for her.

As she waits for the tailors, Suji and her mother look at more clothing being sold on the outside of the shop.

Snack break, #1:

After the she picks up the outfit, Suji knows her mother and Uncle Bill need a sweet snack. So she takes us to a nearby shop and orders one.

She feeds a bit of the snack to her mom. It was sweet to max - fruity, and juicy.

Then they shop for the bride and groom dolls that will stand on the wedding platform with Sujitha and Manoj as they get married.

They stop at a shop filled with the religious implements of Hindu faith. In addition to things like dolls, there will be many items on the wedding platform with them - many types of fruit, oil lamps, rice - many things. They will need small platforms upon which to perch many of these items.

Bhanu, inside the store so well stocked with representations of the Gods of her faith.

They will need a portrait of Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity for both spiritual and material matters. In my upcoming coverage of the wedding, the use of the Lakshmi portrait will become clear.

Snack Break, #2: Suji buys a banana for each of us. 

After our snack, we pass by a stairway enclave where where a young artist applies henna to a young woman. Two mornings from now, Suji will get her henna. Yes, it will be in this blog.

A fabric seller beckons Bhanu and Suji into his shop.

They went in, selected fabric they liked, and bought it.

A portrait of Manoj looks up from Suji's pocket book as she pays for some of the items she will take to her wedding. Manoj waits for his bride in his hometown of Pune.

In one shop we visited, Suji picked out an outfit for the small daughter of some close friends who now live in California. 

Then she began to look at these suits, sized for baby boys. "There must be a little boy, too," I speculated. "Yes," Suji said. "There is a little boy. His name is Lynxton." And so I wound up bringing an India Indian suit home for my youngest Navajo-Apache Indian grandson.

She spent quite a bit of time examining bangles before she picked out the ones she wanted.

When I was a boy, Mom would take me shopping with her whenever she bought clothing or fabric. It was total misery. As I grew, clothing shopping with women remained total misery - even with Margie. The sales people were mostly all women - a man here and there, perhaps, but mostly women - women selling women's clothes to women.

In my three trips to India, each of which took me into clothing stores, I do not recall seeing a single clothing saleswoman - not for women's clothing or men's, either. All the clerks have been men. This seems unfair to me - both to the women who could be doing the sales but even more unfair to the poor men who are.

That said, I truly enjoyed myself on this shopping trip - because I had a camera in hand. When a person such as me holds a camera, nothing is boring. Everything is interesting. Suji and Bhanu made it all the more so.

I had a blast shooting Suji's wedding shopping spree.

I could have filled this entire post with pictures of Suji and Bhanu looking for just the right necklace for suji to wear at her wedding. She looked at many, but none were right. "I had always thought Soundu would be here to help me," she lamented. Soundarya had a highly-honed sense of style. Picking out just the right necklace would have been easy with Soundu along, Suji mused.

In the end, none suited her, so we left with no necklace. We would wait until the next evening, then Suji would try again - this time with her cousin, Kruthika, who will star with her in part 7-B. I will finish 7-B before I go to bed, then time it to post some time in the early morning hours.*

Snack #3:

Before we left for home, Suji treated us all to juice freshly squeezed at this juice bar.

We hailed an auto-ric and climbed inside. We put our heads together so that I could get a portrait of the three of us. Then we went home.

* It is now 12:50 AM Wednesday and I have finished 7-B, but I feel like I need to leave 7A up a little longer, so I will wait until late morning or early afternoon to post it.

Series index:

India series, part 1: With a little help from the Indian Air Force, I begin my India series without actually beginning it
Return to India, Part 2: Pain beneath the fan, a sprawling tree, monkey on a string; those I would soon join on a train ride; the garland
Return to India, Part 3: My Facebook friend, Ramz, her mischievous brother, her nationally recognized achiever mom, her dad at the wheel
India series, Part 4: When you overtake an elephant on the highway, be sure to pass on the right; birthday remembrance; In Wasilla, pass "oversize" on the left
Return to India, Part 5: I wander the cold, empty, streets of Bangalore
Return to India, Part 6: A cow, blessed and safe; Suji takes me to lunch, then goes out with Bhanu to do some wedding shopping
Return to India, Part 7-A: A three-snack outing as mother and daughter shop for Suji's wedding
Return to India, Part 7-B: On the painted holiday of the final full moon of winter, Sujitha and Kruthika go back to get a necklace
A spacer only - the Buddha and the glamour poster ad
Return to India, Part 8: henna, to highlight her beauty and deepen the love between bride and groom; a moment on the way to the train
Return to India, Part 9: A prayer and a blessing for Suji; we head for the train; three calls to Manu
Time for another spacer - the green man who showed up at the railroad station
Return to India, Part 10: The train to Pune, part 2: Sujitha by the window as a thin thread of her India flows by
Return to India, Part 11: On the train, part 3: Ganesh Ravi - Photographer: how we discovered his hidden talent
Return to India, Part 12: On the train, part 4: After dark
Return to India, Part 13: train ride, part 5: we click and clatter into Pune, take a perilous walk and step into a world beyond imagination
Return to India, Part 14: The groom his wedding suit; me in mine
Return to India, Part 15: A function to mark the final night Sujitha would spend with her family before the wedding
Return to India, Part 16: Inside the Biradar house: portrait of an elder woman - portrait of a young girl
Return to India, Part 17: We dine in the home of the groom's parents, then join in the Puja of Kalasha
Return to India, Part 18: Slideshow: Sujitha and Manoj at the wedding hall - Engagement and Haldi Night
Return to India, Part 19: The wedding band, in the visual style of Sgt. Pepper's (10 image slide show)
Return to India, Part 20: The groom rides a white horse to the temple, there is dancing in the street; Sujitha and Manoj are wed
Return to India, Part 21 - Benediction: Sujitha takes me to the sacred waters; fish dine - a crow flies

Return to India, Part 6: A cow, blessed and safe; Suji takes me to lunch, then goes out with Bhanu to do some wedding shopping

The big plan for this day was for Suji and Bhanu to go out and do some wedding shopping. First, before they did, Suji wanted to take me out for lunch. Even before that, I needed to take a walk, so I did and I met this cow. Such cows wander freely and wherever they go, they bring blessings with them. Many Americans like to use the slang phrase, "Holy cow!" to describe something that seems unbelievable. This is where the phrase comes from. Here, cows are considered sacred. This is a holy cow.

Not all Hindus are vegetarian, and there are many Muslims, a fair number of Christians and people of other faiths or lack of faiths, so many restaurants do serve meat - but not one time did I see beef on the menu. As I mentioned before, I did not go into McDonald's, but I was told that even in McDonald's there is no beef. They have what they call hamburgers on the menu, but they are made from chicken.

I did not see pork on any menu, either, as Muslims are not supposed to eat pork. The restaurateurs do not want to offend either Hindus or Muslims. I saw chicken, mutton and fish. This cow, and all other cows, bulls and calves that I saw, were all as safe as safe can be.

If Sandy had been with me, she might well have hugged this cow. She always did that kind of thing - even to animals not considered to be particularly sacred - although in Hindu, all animal life is considered sacred - but cows more so.

Come lunch time - which came not at noon but a bit after, Suji got onto her motorbike, I climbed on behind and off we went. She covered her face with a scarf because of the dust and smoke in the air and to keep the sun off her skin.

Suji told me it would be fine if I ordered a meat dish, but when I am with my Hindu relatives, it feels better to eat vegetarian, to eat what they do. Most of the item names on the menu mean nothing to me, so I asked Suji to order for me. I cannot remember the names of the dishes... one was a puree made of spinach and spice...but... oh, all were so superb!

No American jokes about the waiter's finger! He didn't know.

Just as we reached the house coming back, this fruit seller came by.

Before we went inside, Suji exchanged greetings and plesantries with neighbors who had not seen her since June, when she had left to go to London. They all seemed excited about her pending wedding.

I don't want anybody to see this gold and get the wrong idea. Having gold does not mean you are rich. In India, just about everybody has gold. Gold is very important to the culture. When traffic forces the vehicle you are riding in to stop, it is not unusual to have a thin, frail, woman from the street come up to you, begging, and to see gold on her.

Murthy claims that there is more processed gold in India than in all the other countries of the world combined, that there is gold in every single home. In terms of gold, he says, India is the richest country in the world. I don't know if this is a statistical fact or not, but it does seem that everyone owns gold - and they go for the purest gold they can get: as close to 24 karats as possible.

Here, the family examines some of the gold they will carry with them on the train to the wedding. The parents of the groom had also requested that they bring them a certain amount of gold as gifts, and in India, such a request from the family of the groom cannot be denied. Traditionally, it would be part of the dowry the wife is expected to bring into the family of the husband. Suji and her family had borrowed money in order to honor all the requests of the groom's family. 

A bit afterward, a good friend, Prema, stopped by. It was the first time they had seen each other since June. Prima is studying medicine and dentistry, at the top of the honor roll and is a lecturer at a medical college. I am told that she has written some brilliant papers.

Suji showed one of the sarees she would wear at her wedding. Remember the photo of Soundarya with the garland draped around it that I posted in part 2? Remember how I stated that it sat on a mantle, along with other items Sandy had brought into the house? The book case in the background is part of that mantle and the little elephant statue is one of the items Sandy had brought into the house.

When it came time to go shopping, we stepped outside to get into Prema's car, so we could go pay a visit at the home of her parents. As we walked to the car, this cat came skitting by...

...and then these crows rose above us. Cats and crows. How could I not think of Sandy? These were the two animals most special between us - although the crows would be ravens on the Alaska side. Of course, how could I not think of Sandy, anyway? All the time? I was in India - her country. I had moved over from Murthy and Vasanthi's to the home of Ravi and Bhanu, her parents, the home where she had once lived, the home where I had photographed her being blessed multiple times by her parents, grandfather and many relatives and friends in a function that took place in the early morning of her wedding day - and then in another with Anil about midnight afterwards.

Soon, we passed by a Van Heusan store. This is a men's store, and would be of no use to us on this night. We needed stores that catered to women - to brides to be. Suji did plan to buy me a suit to wear to the wedding - an Indian suit, not a western suit like those associated with Van Heusen.

At the home of Prema's parents Bhanu and Suji greeted her baby daughter, Aditi.

Prema, her husband Hemeth, Aditi and parents.

We left Prema's house for the shopping area in an auto ric. Evening was drawing nigh.

Then, instead of a Van Heusen's catering to men, we drew near to Fashion Point, catering to women. A man who looked like he might be the storekeeper signaled directions to two others on the floor above as they lowered a new glamour-banner into place.

We would not go into this store, but, just this evening's wedding shopping was about to begin. Originally, I had planned to skip this little vignette and go right into the shopping spree, but I didn't have time to figure it out this evening, so I did this instead.

I will post it next - maybe before I got to bed. Probably not. I had to get very early this morning to take Margie into town so she could babysit for two days. Then, tomorrow night, Lavina has to go to Phoenix for a conference. She did not want to leave Lynxton behind, so she is bringing him and taking Margie, too, so Margie can babysit Lynxton while Lavina attends her conference.

I don't think it will be that much fun. This is the time of year when the nice weather leaves Phoenix and it starts to get hot and Margie has no spending money. They return to Anchorage one week from tonight, but I probably will not see Margie again until Thursday night of next week, or maybe Friday, because she will need to stay in Anchorage and babysit.

"These days, it seems like I'm always home alone," I told her last night.

"Now you know what it's like," she answered.

Series index:

India series, part 1: With a little help from the Indian Air Force, I begin my India series without actually beginning it
Return to India, Part 2: Pain beneath the fan, a sprawling tree, monkey on a string; those I would soon join on a train ride; the garland
Return to India, Part 3: My Facebook friend, Ramz, her mischievous brother, her nationally recognized achiever mom, her dad at the wheel
India series, Part 4: When you overtake an elephant on the highway, be sure to pass on the right; birthday remembrance; In Wasilla, pass "oversize" on the left
Return to India, Part 5: I wander the cold, empty, streets of Bangalore
Return to India, Part 6: A cow, blessed and safe; Suji takes me to lunch, then goes out with Bhanu to do some wedding shopping
Return to India, Part 7-A: A three-snack outing as mother and daughter shop for Suji's wedding
Return to India, Part 7-B: On the painted holiday of the final full moon of winter, Sujitha and Kruthika go back to get a necklace
A spacer only - the Buddha and the glamour poster ad
Return to India, Part 8: henna, to highlight her beauty and deepen the love between bride and groom; a moment on the way to the train
Return to India, Part 9: A prayer and a blessing for Suji; we head for the train; three calls to Manu
Time for another spacer - the green man who showed up at the railroad station
Return to India, Part 10: The train to Pune, part 2: Sujitha by the window as a thin thread of her India flows by
Return to India, Part 11: On the train, part 3: Ganesh Ravi - Photographer: how we discovered his hidden talent
Return to India, Part 12: On the train, part 4: After dark
Return to India, Part 13: train ride, part 5: we click and clatter into Pune, take a perilous walk and step into a world beyond imagination
Return to India, Part 14: The groom his wedding suit; me in mine
Return to India, Part 15: A function to mark the final night Sujitha would spend with her family before the wedding
Return to India, Part 16: Inside the Biradar house: portrait of an elder woman - portrait of a young girl
Return to India, Part 17: We dine in the home of the groom's parents, then join in the Puja of Kalasha
Return to India, Part 18: Slideshow: Sujitha and Manoj at the wedding hall - Engagement and Haldi Night
Return to India, Part 19: The wedding band, in the visual style of Sgt. Pepper's (10 image slide show)
Return to India, Part 20: The groom rides a white horse to the temple, there is dancing in the street; Sujitha and Manoj are wed
Return to India, Part 21 - Benediction: Sujitha takes me to the sacred waters; fish dine - a crow flies

Return to India, Part 3: My Facebook friend, Ramz, her mischievous brother, her nationally recognized achiever mom, her dad at the wheel

You have heard the old adage, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease." Be certain, Niece Ramya Srivinas, "Ramz," is not a squeaky wheel. She is not complaining about anything and she is not a nuisance. She keeps a pleasant demeanor. The smile on her face is for real. She is fun to be with and to communicate with. Yet, as I always do, I took all kinds of pictures in India and shot many little vignettes. I will get to some of them, and some of them I will never get to - most of them, in fact - there are just too many and time is too short.

I am pretty certain I would have gotten to this vignette of Ramz and family, because we are Facebook friends and Ramz sends me a few pokes, every day. I would have remembered and I would have gone back and found these images at some point before I finished the series - but probably not for awhile yet. I took these pictures shortly before those of us who rode the train departed Bangalore to Pune. When we arrived in Pune, I found a Facebook message from Ramz asking to see the pictures.

This kind of thing is simple with most people, because by comparison they don't have that many pictures to sort through, prepare and post as I do, and they don't spend the time with the individual images that I do, either. It is not simple with me. I have a continual river of photogaphs to deal with and it can be very hard to reach in and snatch particular images out of it.

I promised Ramz I would get them sooner or later. A bit later, I got another request from her, and another after and still one more. And every time I see a poke from her on Facebook, I think about these photos and how she wants to see them. So here they are, Ramz.

This is Ramz' little brother, Rajeev. He is famous across southern India and even worldwide for being very mischievous. This is so, because of the appearances he makes on Ramz's Facebook page. Indeed, Ramz does have readers across Southern India and worldwide - I, for example, am one of her world-wide readers.

So, truly, he is famous worldwide.

And now his fame grows a little more.

I was a little boy once and I still remember how it felt to be taken onto the lap of a beautiful woman relative or family friend who would hug and smooch me and tousle my hair.

It was damned embarrassing... and yet... something about it... quite nice!

I think Rajeev is embarassed - I think Rajeev finds it quite nice. Even as he struggles to get away, he enjoys the attention and affection.

This is Lalitha Srivinas, mother to Ramya and Vinu. Right after the wedding, at a function in Mumbai to honor Indian women of achievement in conjunction with the International Women's Day, Lalitha received the number 1 Women Achievers of India award from the State Bank of India.

Lalitha has developed innovative ways to help the visually impaired read and cope with daily life - and with banking. She is visually impaired herself.

I do not know if there is a photographer gene, but, just as Ganesh is, it appears to me that Ramz may well be a natural-born photographer. She is continually changing her Facebook profile picture - mostly with self-portraits - and many of them are amazing - glamourous, even.

And I see promise in the fun and creative pictures that show up in her Facebook albums.

So here she is, Ramz - the Amazing Self Portraitist - standing in the night street light.

But where is her mischievous brother, Rajeev?

There he is!

And there he goes! Rajeev - the Mischievous One.

Rajeev waves goodbye.

Dad is at the wheel.

Off they go. They were not able to come to Pune for the wedding. I have seen none of them since - but I bet if I go to Facebook right now, I will find a poke waiting for me from Ramz.

Series index:

India series, part 1: With a little help from the Indian Air Force, I begin my India series without actually beginning it
Return to India, Part 2: Pain beneath the fan, a sprawling tree, monkey on a string; those I would soon join on a train ride; the garland
Return to India, Part 3: My Facebook friend, Ramz, her mischievous brother, her nationally recognized achiever mom, her dad at the wheel
India series, Part 4: When you overtake an elephant on the highway, be sure to pass on the right; birthday remembrance; In Wasilla, pass "oversize" on the left
Return to India, Part 5: I wander the cold, empty, streets of Bangalore
Return to India, Part 6: A cow, blessed and safe; Suji takes me to lunch, then goes out with Bhanu to do some wedding shopping
Return to India, Part 7-A: A three-snack outing as mother and daughter shop for Suji's wedding
Return to India, Part 7-B: On the painted holiday of the final full moon of winter, Sujitha and Kruthika go back to get a necklace
A spacer only - the Buddha and the glamour poster ad
Return to India, Part 8: henna, to highlight her beauty and deepen the love between bride and groom; a moment on the way to the train
Return to India, Part 9: A prayer and a blessing for Suji; we head for the train; three calls to Manu
Time for another spacer - the green man who showed up at the railroad station
Return to India, Part 10: The train to Pune, part 2: Sujitha by the window as a thin thread of her India flows by
Return to India, Part 11: On the train, part 3: Ganesh Ravi - Photographer: how we discovered his hidden talent
Return to India, Part 12: On the train, part 4: After dark
Return to India, Part 13: train ride, part 5: we click and clatter into Pune, take a perilous walk and step into a world beyond imagination
Return to India, Part 14: The groom his wedding suit; me in mine
Return to India, Part 15: A function to mark the final night Sujitha would spend with her family before the wedding
Return to India, Part 16: Inside the Biradar house: portrait of an elder woman - portrait of a young girl
Return to India, Part 17: We dine in the home of the groom's parents, then join in the Puja of Kalasha
Return to India, Part 18: Slideshow: Sujitha and Manoj at the wedding hall - Engagement and Haldi Night
Return to India, Part 19: The wedding band, in the visual style of Sgt. Pepper's (10 image slide show)
Return to India, Part 20: The groom rides a white horse to the temple, there is dancing in the street; Sujitha and Manoj are wed
Return to India, Part 21 - Benediction: Sujitha takes me to the sacred waters; fish dine - a crow flies