One year to the day after I drove Murthy and Vasanthi to the Arctic Circle, Melanie and I arrive in Bangalore; Soundarya - the bride-about-to-be with kittens
Friday, May 8, 2009 at 9:39AM ;)
This is Soundarya Ravichandran and while I have wanted to return to India ever since I first came in August of 2007, she is the reason I came now. Tomorrow, she will become the bride of her soulmate, Anil Kumar, and Melanie and I will be there.
I first met Sandy at the wedding of my niece, Khena, to her cousin, Vivek and there has been a strong bond between us ever since. I consider her a soul friend and I call her "Muse," because ever since I met her, whenever I am taking pictures, I try to imagine how the images might interpret my world to her.
In fact, there are many, many, many pictures in my portfolio now that I took specifically for her. She has actually seen only a very few of these images, as it would be too great of a task to either post or email, or even process them all, but I have them and she is the reason.
Not long after we met, I promised her that, if it were at all possible, I would come and take pictures at her wedding when it happened.
So here I am.
And here is she, with a kitten born to a feral cat at the house of Vivek's parents, who are hosting Melanie and me.
;)
And here is Melanie and me, reflected off the window of the Seattle airport train that takes passengers from one one course to another.
;)
Melanie, in the Mumbai airport.
;)
A little girl in the Mumbai airport.
;)
Forty-one hours passed from the time I drove away from my house to when we met Murthy and Vasanthi at the Bangalore airport. Murthy then summoned his favorite cab driver, Gulpi, and then brought us to the house, where Vasanthi made us coffee.
She makes it with milk and it is the best coffee that I have ever tasted.
;)
As we ate lunch, Sandy picked up my camera and turned the tables on me.
In India, it is polite to eat with your right hand, so I am exercising good manners here. Vasanthi is also a great cook. If she were to resettle in Anchorage and open her own restaurant, Wow!
Sadly for me, I love spicy food so much that I spent a few decades overdoing it and now the doctor has forbidden me to eat it, except a little bit every now and then. And when I overdo it it, I know it real soon.
But in India, the food is spicy. And so good.
;)
One year ago, on May 8, I drove Murthy and Vasanthi up the Haul Road to the Arctic Circle and then on to Cold Foot. I had planned to take them on a whale watching cruise in Prince William Sound, but Murthy had read about some folks who had crossed the Arctic Circle on the Haul Road and then received a certificate attesting to the fact that they had done so.
He was convinced that the government had a little station there where they awarded everyone who came across with such a certificate and his highest goal was to go get one.
I knew that there would be no such station, but, along the way, I managed to find a place in Fairbanks that did issue such certificates to tour groups, and so I picked up a couple and at the circle awarded them myself.
Now Murthy has the certificates hanging on the wall for all who enter to see, along with the picture that I took of him and Vasanthi at the sign that marks the Arctic Circle.
The beautiful little girl is their granddaughter, Vaidehi, who lives with her parents in Chennai, on the coast.
;)
Sandy and the two kittens. I will post more of the cat series on Grahamn Kracker's No Cats Allowed Kracker Cat Blog when I get the chance.
;)
Vasanthi, Soundarya and Natarajan, their father and grandfather.
Reader Comments (5)
What a wonderful set of circumstances have brought you half-way around the world for a wedding! Great blessings to the bride and groom, and also to you, as you will need them with all the fantastic food.
Those pictures already look like it has been very well worth the travel time and effort required to make it! I am already regretting not getting a ticket to attend as well! I am sure you both are having a great time. Watch yourself on those spicy foods, I am sure Melanie is watching out for you also. Tell her hello and meow for me and Mister Pizzles.
Charlie
Glad to see you made it! The trip to India can be quite an exercise in patience. Blessings and good wishes to the bride and groom. India has some of the best food in world - I think you should eat whatever pleases you, but in small portions.
bill -- what do the streets look like?
again, too fabulous. awesome blog.
The first time when you took my pictures, I shied away & said I'm not photogenic... But, you challenged it & made me feel so good! Your pictures said more than any words could express... From that day on & till today, I've felt really confident. Thank you my dearest Friend.