we had a long travel day from surat to coimbatore that included a 5.5-hour layover in hyderabad, but we made it unscathed and i was very glad to say farewell to flights and airports for a few weeks.

coimbatore is where my father grew up and is where most of our extended family still lives, so there are always lots of people to see when we are in town and multiple houses to visit.

amidst the visiting and catching up we also managed a visit to fabindia where i picked up a few kurtas and this quilt that i adore; we had lovely head massages courtesy of my aunt; we did two early morning walks around race course; we had great meals out at anganan and arya bhavan and sri priya mess; we enjoyed a night out at the living room; we had a cousin [and my mother] outing to polar bear for ice cream; and we got to attend a pongal celebration at a school my aunt and her husband run.

the pongal celebration was a particular highlight, and one that was a very last-minute plan. on thursday afternoon my aunt [my father’s cousin, and one of my favorite people] asked sarah, my cousin nalini, and me if we would like to attend the pongal celebration in the school the next morning; we were excited to see it and enthusiastically agreed.

it turns out that we, along with my aunt’s great-niece and her son who live in australia, were the “special guests” for the day. we were greeted with garlands and a welcome march from the band, we were treated to a number of dance and theatrical performances as well as speeches and poems, and we got to partake in the ritual of boiling the pongal to bless the harvest and welcome the new year.

i had to leave “early” [an hour-and-a-half into the festivities], but i thoroughly enjoyed all that i was able to see and it was such fun to be inside an indian school again. and after i left, sarah gave a speech! it was such a fun experience and i’m so grateful we were included.

before we knew it our 3.5 days were up and we were off to the station to catch our train to bangalore.

xx