I took a quick trip to Gujarat (my native state in India) in mid Jan to visit family and friends, as well as, attend the famous kite festival known as Uttaran celebrated in Gujarat each year on Jan 14th. This was the first year (of which I remember) I was able to witness this festival in person. I had a great time on this trip. I took a ton of pictures on this trip, below are a few of the highlights. I will put a link to the full web album of pictures at the bottom of this post.
Here is a the link to the full album of pictures: Uttaran 2014
I stayed at my Dilipkaka's place in Baroda for most of this trip
Little sweetheart, Misha
She was a ton of fun to photograph, she made the best faces
Hanging out with Masi
After each picture she would say "Manne Baathao" (Guju for "Show me"). Never a dull moment with this little one!
Guess who I found in Gujarat... Ok, I guess it was her who came and found me. It was so much fun going out and about and seeing Baroda from Priyal's point of view since she grew up here.
The first place she took me to was Tomato's... It is suppose to serve Mexican Food, but this place seemed to have a culture identity crisis going on as you will see from all the pictures I post in the album.
The restaurant's idea of "Nachos"
Mini Tacos
Girl's Lunch
Cheers to meeting in our hometown!
My conclusion on the Mexican food at this place was that it was very similar to what we get in the states. Pretty much a lot of the same ingredients are used in each dish and placed in different crusts so they could call it something else. Still everything we had was super tasty and my tummy was very happy at the end of our meal!
Don't we make an adorable couple!
Priyal let me drive her around town... Sike! Seriously, she amazed me with her driving skills both on the scooter and in the car. Even after being in the States for so long and driving an automatic, she hasn't lost her touch or nerve (you need alot of this to deal with India traffic) driving over here. **Funny videos of Priyal's driving skills will be posted in the album for those that are interested**
She got me some Cassata ice cream although she had no interest in having some herself. :P
Shetuldidi (Dilipkaka's daughter), Jayjiju & Misha
Family picture with Dilipkaka, Bhavnakaki, Jayjiju, Shetuldidi, Disha, Misha and I
If you need some workout motivation, come join Misha's workout class... cutest teacher ever!
Bhavnakaki made one of my favorite Guju dishes... Khamani
Didi made some amazing masala papad
Disha made her masterpiece, a veggie sizzler
It was as good as it looks!
The night before Uttaran, I met up with my cousins from the States, Rasnaben and Hemanjiju and we went to meet up with our other cousin Kalpeshbhai and his family. He took us out to his farm house and made us a yummy dinner.
Rasnaben and Hemanjiju looking around Kalpeshbhai's summer home
Hemanjiju and Kalpeshbhai
Mami
Sisters
Its not a party till the desi daru/booz comes out :)
Kalpeshbhai making us a typical village dinner of Rotla & Shaak. He is a really good cook!
I learned something new - this is how rice is cooked in the village, they put coal on the top and bottom of the pot
Jayshreebhabhi & Kush
On the ride home, we got to see the crazy crowd of last min kite shoppers. This reminded me of the last min crowds at the mall right before Christmas.
***Uttaran 2014***
We made a pit stop to our old home in the city
This one is for you Tejal - Siva statue in the middle of Sur Sagar lake near our old home
Something new I learned about Uttaran - on the morning of the holiday people buy "grass" to feed the cows as per tradition
Taking a quick roadtrip through the city before getting our kites up in the air
Another view of the statue
Main gates into the city
Mahatma Gandhi statue
We started our day by indulging in tradition Uttaran food- Corn chevado & Peanut and Sesame Seed Chiki/Bark
Jiju got the kite flying fun started
Rasnaben prepared kites to fly later in the day
This was as high as I could get my kite on my own :-/
Another new fact I learned: The tread used for kite flying has little pieces of glass in it so it can easily "cut" other kites down from the sky. You have to be very careful with your fingers while holding this tread.
For this holiday, everyone in the city goes up to their roofs and flies kites from there.
We had a beautiful view of the hotel next door from the roof
Lunch time
Beautiful artwork that people get done on their walls before a family wedding. The artists are truly skilled.
I spent the evening with Priyal and her family on their roof. I flew a few kites throughout the day but all mine were getting "cut" by others. I need some practice :(
Having a custard snack with Priyal's family. Priyal's Mom is in the red and white and her Dad is to the right of her Mom.
The night sky was magical! It was really hard to capture this moment, there were fireworks in every directions and the sky was lit up with tons and tons of chinese lanterns. It felt like you were in a twilight zone.
Simply Beautiful. All those little specs are the lanterns in the sky.
If you have never experienced this holiday in Gujarat, I strongly recommend you do it once. Trust me it will be worth your time and effort to make the trip even just to see the evening sky.
On my last day in Gujarat, Bhikamama and Mami came to pick me up in Baroda and took me to Ahmedabad with them to spend time with some of Deepak's family.
I got to meet this little cutie-Navyay for the first time.
Vikasbhai, Dimplebhabhi & Navyay
We went out to lunch at Honest (a Gujarat staple restaurant)
Good times at lunch! Best chat food ever!
Sev puri with Amul cheese!!
Masala papad!
Pav Bhaji!!
I was so content at the end of this trip. It was really nice re-connecting with family and friends after so long.Here is a the link to the full album of pictures: Uttaran 2014
