Our X-Mas, in Pictures

Christmas Eve day - at Golden Palms pool

Christmas Tree at the Oberoi Hotel

Xmas dinner at the Oberoi - they had a traditional 6-course meal and it was awesome!

Merry Xmas to me, I get to pee in this hole

Xmas samosa lunch

Apparently my squat game is all wrong?

Two People I Dont Know Get Married

If there is such a thing as Wedding Season over here, it seems to be in full swing right now.  Over the past few weeks, we have been invited to a number of weddings (all of people I know) - but unfortunately, all in far-off places.  So when my co-worker Archana invited the entire office to her sister Ashwini's wedding here in Bangalore this weekend, we couldnt say no.  It still seems really strange to me that the family members of the wedding couple are not only encouraged but obligated to invite pretty much everyone they know to these affairs.  There are always a gazillion people there, and the bride and groom probably know only a handful of people.   And then they have to sit up on a stage all night and pose for pictures with all of these unknown, and potentially unattractive strangers! But hey, the food is usually interesting and delicious, AND I get to wear a sari.  (As long as my bits are all covered,I can definitely handle a little awkwardness in the name of fashion.)  After the wedding, Viny, Tim, and I went to Vaayu for a strawberry hooka, where the locals were audibly amazed at my ability to walk properly in my outfit.  I considered enacting a dramatic fall from a flight of stairs complete with "warddrobe malfunction" so that their world would make sense again, but wussed out as usual.  Always a next time.







Sneharaj, Srikanth, Vatsalya, Viny, the Bride and Groom, Archana

 

Prathap, Vatsalya, and Viny

Tim with Archana and Viny

Little boy whose job it is to fling water from that silver thing on to guests as they exit the stage area

Rice, two unidentified creamy things, some pickled okra, gross "manchurian" orange stuff I won't eat, and a gulab jamun-type dessert.

Archana and Vatsalya

Srikanth

Prathviraj and Vuny

Sneharaj, Prathap, Srikanth

So not into it



Little boy who kept oogling me, and was thus punished with physical contact and a photo op.  His friends were way impressed by his encounter with a "firengi"





We were instructed to strike a Bollywood movie poster-esque pose here.  I dont know why my hair looks two-toned.  My camera definitely does not handle ultra-flourescent lighting very well.



Wedding going on directly across the street.  We considered crashing, but the Tequila Bloody Mary's at Vaayu were calling me.  Did I mention that there is typically no alcohol at these events?



Viny thinks she looks "shady - like a porn star" in this picture, but i disagree and am such an awesome friend that I am putting it up anyway.



Jeremy is kind of a tool, but this video is pretty dead-on....

Tikka Banow

That means "Make it spicy." This is what I tell the the chat wallah when I go for street snacks. More specifically, I tell him (and it's always a him, I'm not being sexist) "Meeta mat dahlo. Tikka banow." That means "Don't make it sweet, make it spicy." Chats are made either way, often both spicy and sweet, and since I'm a foreigner, I am usually given the sweeter versions (which I hate). Go for the spicy! Classic Indian junk food, chats are best when made at a really dirty looking stand on the street. Something about the dirty barehands scooping the mashed beans and potatoes, the bugs perching on the deep fried pani puri shells, the street dirt and clouds of pollution adds to the taste and the experience.

I've gotten pretty sick of all of the restaurants in the city at this point, but I've kind of been on a chat binge lately. Sometimes, when I am in a particularly homesick and overall crappy mood, it's the only thing that motivates me to get dressed and go outside. Standing on my balcony, looking out at the surrounding neighborhood, the smells of deep-fried, spicy goodness lure me out into the world again.

This is a really crappy pani puri stand on MG road.  Very bland because the guy did not think I could handle the spice.

Watching the chat wallah stuff the puri shell with mashed potatoes and spicy water

My favorite snack - Pani Puri.  Crunchy outer shell, soft and spicy potato and chick pea filling, with a mint, cilantro, chili, and tamarind flavored fire water.



Getting the entire thing in your mouth without cracking the shell and pouring the water all over yourself is a challenge I have lost many times.



My favorite chat wallah, around the corner from our apartment.  This kid is like 14 years old and he makes the BEST, spiciest pani puri EVER.



Close-up of the chat wallah's pani puri ingredients.  He makes them one by one for each snacker, which can be hard when he is surrounded by customers and has to do it on rotation.



Awesome hygiene - the ingredients are prepared by a kid sitting on the ground.  However dirty, it tastes way better made like this then when you get this at a mall or a restaurant.

Tim with a plate of dry puri - same filling, but with a drop of lemon juice instead of the spicy water.

I can eat like 50 of these at a time.

Plain "cutlet" - basically, a super fried hashbrown patty covered in cilantro, onions, and crunchy sev (fried chickpea flour snacks).

Churmur chat - same ingredients as the dry puri, but all smashed up together

Little girl who lives across the street from us.  Coming back from chats, we passed her sitting outside alone on a pile of bricks.  Maybe she was on time-out?