Above – L-R Jill, Archana, Nirmala, Nana w/me in front.
Below – When we pulled up in front of Nana’s house in the rickshaw we were greeted by Chamely (English translation = Jasmine), Nana’s sweet little dog.
Looking out one of the windows.
Hey Bruce, check it out. Nana has reverse osmosis!
Nana likes to pour his chai from his cup into the saucer to drink.
View from one of the decks looking out at the farmland surrounding Nana’s home.
A condominium structure is being build to one side of the property. The workers, including women and children working together to mix cement. What’s rare here is the presence of a compressor and cement mixer. On most of the constructions sites workers mix the cement manually.
This small structure houses some of the workers.
Back in the house on the top floor is the family altar.
One of two family kitties.
There’s a small pond outside.
Here’s Nirmala (Nana’s wife) with the cat.
Wheat storage. Nana said they go through one of these big bags a month. That’s a lot of wheat.
Nirmala makes quilts. Here she is holding up several of the quilts she’s made.
Deck at the top (4th) floor.
More views from the deck.
While we were up on the deck, a goat herder herded these goats past the house.
Dinner time.
Selfie eating homemade bhaji. I got the recipe for this tasty veggie dumpling.
Here’re my dinner plates. I ate all of it and more. Very delicious!
Nirmala cleaning herbs.
Nana isn’t very techy …
Here are both cats.
Archana (daughter-in-law #1) joined in the cleaning.
This is what the bhaji looks like before it’s dropped into oil.
Group photo.
Nana’s entire family lives in the 4-story stand alone home. The living room (which also serves as the dining room) and kitchen are on the 1st floor. Both sons and their wives have bedrooms on the 2nd floor. Nana and Nirmala’s quarters on the 3rd floor, and the outdoor deck is on the 4th floor. The last time I had dinner with them was in 2013 with Sharon Maruca. At that time, they lived in a smaller flat. Since then, son #2 got marred and they moved here three years ago. It’s nice to have had this homemade meal in a more intimate setting.
I am home now after two days of traveling. I’m a bit jet lagged but I slept on both legs of the trip and slept fairly well in my own bed last night.
There was a bit of a scare the last couple days before we left because of heavy rainfall and severe flooding in Mumbai because of the monsoon. Much of the city was shut down because of the floods, people were stranded and public transportation was at a stand still. There was more rain this trip than my previous trips, but the temperature in Pune was moderate and with umbrella in hand everywhere I went, it was quite comfortable.
I’m looking forward to spending the next couple days getting caught up on 5 weeks worth of mail, resting, recovering and practicing.
Blogged on Amma’s iPhone and iMac from HOME with LOVE!
