A Moment In Time

Dimple sent around this email today, and aside from being a total crack-up, it made me think about how fleeting pop culture is. I wonder if I'll remember in 10 years what all of this stuff means and what the 'early' Facebook culture was like. Will "Facebook official" still be a way to define a relationship? Will I still be considering the politics of "un-friending" someone? Maybe yes, maybe no. But, either way, it's such a phenomenon of who we are today, whether you're in your thirties, like me, or in your teens, or whether you're in your sixties like my aunt and my mom, who've now joined up - it's worth remembering...

If Facebook Existed Years Ago...

Do This In Remembrance of Me

The holidays are upon us again, and with all the lovely parties, planning, and family events come swirls of memories. I have been thinking a lot about my friend Jody, who passed away last year in Nepal. I am in Tahoe again, staying with Jody's friends Bill and Teresa, and skiing the slopes of Squaw that she loved. For me, this place and these people will always bring Jody's spirit to life, and it is so nice to feel her presence here. Jody had many wonderful qualities for which she should be remembered, her love of people and animals, her generous spirit, her sense of adventure, her creativity, and one of the best places to do it is here. I decided that this is the year that I will learn to ski properly. There is a cabin to go to every weekend, new boots, new skis. As I point ski tips down the mountain, I'm sending much love Jody's way. Hopefully, before the end of the season, I'll make her proud.

This is one of my favorite songs about missing someone, sung by one of the a capella groups from Stanford.

French Idyll

In November, I had the privilege of attending my friends Ally and Alexis' wedding in France. For me, it was the opening act on a week-long business trip to the UK, and what a stroke of luck to be able to combine business with pleasure and be present for Ally's wedding.

I left San Francisco on Thursday at midday, and roughly 24 hours and 5 airports later, found myself in Lyon getting picked up by Alexis' mom and her friend Bernard, just in time to make it to the rehearsal dinner on Friday. The wedding was held in Alexis' hometown, which is about halfway between Lyon and Grenoble, France. I had been to Lyon before on a prior trip, but hadn't been out into the countryside, so it was lovely to go skimming along through the fall foliage and pastureland, with snow-capped mountains in the distance, and just soak it all in. We met up with the bride and groom at the church, which is just down the street from Alexis' family home. The church itself was lovely, made of stone with beautiful stained glass. I would call the style French gothic, but that's probably chronologically incorrect. The overall effect was beautiful and timeless. Just the perfect setting for a modern fairytale wedding. After the rehearsal, it was off to a lovely dinner at the local country club, which opened up just for Ally and Alexis' families and those of us few friends who made the trek from the US. Replete with a tasty ham dinner, good wine and conversation, we headed back to Domaine St. Chepy, the chateau that hosted the guests and would be the site for the reception, and hit the hay in preparation for a busy wedding day to come.

The day of the wedding dawned with storm clounds shot through by sun rays. I suppose it would have been more convenient to have had bright sunshine, but the combination of newly-washed greenery, fall colors in the trees, and the sun glinting off raindrops was quite beautiful in its own right. We spent the morning bustling about with preparations, hair-dos and makeup, primping and pressing collars, and taking pictures. It was fun to be a bit player in it all and I hope I earned my keep as Ally's Girl Friday for the day. Ally looked beauteous in a strapless gown with lace overlay. I know that she was stressed getting ready, but it all came together and soon enough we were off to the church for the ceremony.

The wedding itself was beautiful and went off without a hitch. We had to jump a few rain puddles on our way in and out, but the ceremony was lovely, with many friends and family in attendance to celebrate Ally and Alexis wedding. We headed back to Domaine St. Chepy for the cocktail hour and reception. Apparently, in France, not everyone goes to the reception and it's common to invite your broader circle of friends just for cocktails and hors d' oeuvres. There were tasty snacks and plenty of champagne to go around for a couple of hours before the reception started in earnest.

The reception started with a conga line. You have to hand it to the French. They bring the party with them when they come. As Ally and Alexis entered the reception hall, everyone was on their feet, clapping, dancing and yes, conga-ing their backsides off. It was so much fun, and so great to see their marriage begin with such joy. We had a truly lovely dinner, complete with a cheese course of divine fromage. (I decided, when I grow up, I'm going to run away to the French countryside and become a cheese-maker). The wedding cake was a croque en bouche, profiteroles filled with cream, stacked in a tower and spun round with caramelized sugar - delicious. Alexis band played, Ally made a toast in French, and Alexi's mom threw a hip and beat me out in the game of musical chairs for single ladies. We were up dancing and drinking until well after 3am, crowing the night with the pot de chambre, a French wedding tradition where the bride and groom, and wedding guest still standing, are made to drink champagne and party leftovers from a communal bowl. It was a little gross, but most definitely a required right of passage. I headed for bed shortly after and left the wedding party to close the night down. So much fun....

The next day, we all sleepily had coffee and croissants before packing up and heading out. Alexis' mom threw a lunch at her house, so we all gathered there before heading off to the airport. For me, it was off to London and a day of work at our office there, before heading up to Leeds for a site visit. The airport shuffle to get there was impressive, but it was all worthwhile. What a lovely, lovely wedding.

My Favorite Delhi Restaurants - Big & Small

Roomate brunch at the Oberoi

From time to time, people ask me for restaurant recommendations in Delhi and the NCR. Delhi is an amazingly cosmopolitan city and, as a result, the food is fabulous. Here is a list of my favorites. If you find your way to Delhi, be sure to check some of them out. They range from 5-star hotels to roadside stands, but all of them are road-tested by me. Yum! It makes me hungry and nostalgic just thinking about it.

Alex & Austin at Karim's with the Tandoori Raan (leg of lamb)

Re-Entry Is a Little Bumpy Sometimes

For those of you who don't know, I'm baaaack!

I've been home now for almost exactly two weeks. It has been wonderful to see family and friends, to get settled into my house again, cuddle my pets, and enjoy my sunny-but-not-scorching home town. I suppose most things have gone well. I am happy to be back, and at least work-wise, so glad that everything worked out; I was beginning to get desperate. But, on the flip side, I do miss my Indian family, a ton.

I left my old HP laptop with the boys at the house, so Aarif checks in with me daily on gTalk. Manik took his tip money and bought a cell phone, so even he calls me from time to time. Sometimes the modern world is amazingly small, and it's both wonderful and creepy to be able to keep such close contact with them. People from the office ping me occasionally, when they're online late at night, so it's easy to stay in touch that way, and every now and again, I talk on the phone with Devindar.

Everyone has a different reaction when they leave home, and visiting India always makes it's own unique impression. I think most people are eager to leave the chaos and beauty of India, because it's overwhelming to many of us who weren't brought up in that type of culture. For me, it's the opposite. More than anything, since I've been back, I have this nagging fear that I'll lose what I learned in India, my Hindi will slip, my taste for the fiery spices will wane, my ability to understand (somewhat) and integrate into Indian culture will evaporate. I feel, sometimes, as if exiled. I think India somehow helped me develop another sense, an intuition or awareness that I'm desperate to hold on to. Or, perhaps it's the relationships with friends, colleagues...Somehow, I managed to feel that I belonged there, and I miss that. I seem to get particularly nostalgic on Sundays. Yesterday, I was running errands and shopping when I should have been unpacking boxes, and I found myself missing Devindar and having him along with me for the Delhi version of this Sunday ritual. I called him, just to say 'hi' and catch up on all of the news and notes from Gurgaon. The same thing happened last Sunday - maybe it always will.

My first week back at work, I ran into a colleague in the cafe who had also spent over a year in India. She asked me if I was glad to be back to American food and commented that she didn't think she'd had Indian food in the three plus years since she'd been back. While I understand the sentiment, that is not how I feel. Afraid that I might at some point, I went searching for a good Indian grocer and bought a full range of masalas, chili and cumin powder, green cardamom, dosa mix, my favorite Indian cookies "Nice Time", and some plaintain chips. A culinary cultural transfusion, performed right here in Sunnyvale. Now, I just have to use them; wish me luck.

You often hear Indians being nostalgic about their homeland, or pining for tastes and flavors that you can only get in India. That always seemed somewhat odd to me, or over-the-top, because especially in the polyglot Bay Area, we have almost everything. Now, though, I think I understand a little. It's not a rational thing. It's not that you can't get garam masala, or chicken tikka, or even alphonsus mangos. It's not that you won't hear Hindi spoken or meet Indians. It's the fear that you'll forget. Forget the tastes, the flavors, the smells, the history, the chaos, and the embraces of your family and friends. So, my American family will have to forgive me if I'm reluctant to stamp the Indian dust from my shoes, if the most natural response to a question still comes out as "ha," and if Sunday evenings make me a little sad from time to time.