9 June 2007
Grandmas from India!
Kara’s grandmother from India visited her in June 2007. After months of planning, trips to the visa office, passport office, they finally settled down for the long flight to the opposite side of the world. Mumbai to New York - Sixteen hours non stop flight time. Two hours layover in NY, then NY to Atlanta another two hours. Four hours layover in Atlanta and finally another two hours to Dallas, TX. That makes a total of 26 hours journey. And "mummy" (Ashish’s mom) has never been on an airplane before! It was quite the adventure, and both mummy and akka maushi (Ashish’s mom’s elder sister - his aunt) took it all in with great delight.
To see their time with Kara in Dallas, click on the picture below…
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| Grandmas from India |
Cultural Notes: In Maharashtra, India (especially within the Marathi language) there are titles for certain family members (in addition to their actual names). In Ashish’s mom’s family they have 5 sisters and 2 brothers. The eldest sister is called "Akka". The second eldest is called "Tai". The third and younger do not have any special titles. Among the sisters, Akka and Tai (Ashish’s mom) are visiting. Sister #4 lives in Colorado. Sister #3 and #5 live in India. The word "Maushi" means auntie. So for all of us cousins, we get to call them Akka Maushi, Tai maushi, Shallu maushi etc. (Shallu is the nickname for auntie #4). Kara will know all three (and the others when she meets them) as "Grandma." To make life simpler (?!) we call mummy, "Mothi Ayi" (Grandma in Marathi, pronounced "motee iee"), akka maushi "Aji," and Shallu maushi "Shallu Aji." I know, I know, this is all very confusing; but India was never plain and simple to begin with! You get used to it after a while. 