Penne and Pie in Pune

On Friday we left Tirunelveli on the Chennai Express train which left late. There was a heavy police presence at the train station due to a huge DMK political rally in town. I have discovered that I am allergic to Indian trains. At least, the wool blankets they pass out to everyone for making up a bed for sleeping. I coughed all night but at least thought to wrap my upper self in my own shawl so my respiratory passages wouldn't object so much. Some Benedryl helped slightly. The trains we traveled on had separate Western and Indian style toilets. I found out pretty fast that the little cubbyhole space for the Indian facility is a lot roomier but not any cleaner, unfortunately. The toilet basically empties directly onto the tracks below.

We visited briefly with Nagaraj's father and with Meena-amma's (Anant's mother's) sister and family. Also, a quick visit was made to see Mahesh and Uma. Our driver was not very good. The chap left some white paint on a pink (yes pink!) car in the middle of a clogged intersection. His lurching style of driving was not too pleasant either. At least he did not kill us, lol!

Anant was asked by his work to meet with Tata Motors in Pune. Since he has relatives there, he could not refuse the opportunity! Of course, I went with him. So off we went to the Chennai airport for a Spice Jet flight to Poona, now called Pune. Pune is near Bombay (now Mumbai). Its fairly Westernized with more orderly traffic, wider streets and more space. Quite a contrast from the closeness and chaos that is Chennai. Kannan-Uncle and little Yuga met us at the airport. We came to Uncle and Auntie's house and feasted on Maharashtrian food, a treat for us since it is a type of cuisine not found much outside this part of India. I am pleased to report that I have gleaned the directions for 3 of her recipes. Vidya-Auntie wanted to get us some nice clothes so we did a bit of shopping. I, being a fabric geek, ooohed and ahhhhed over the fabulous golden Paithani sarees the region is known for but they are quite expensive and I was happy just to look. Anant's emplyer put us up in Hotel Nandavan which is a 2-star deal. We gave up fancier digs to be located only two blocks from our relative's house. We were only there for showers and sleeping anyway. Interestingly, there was a phone in the bathroom!

Auntie and Uncle have a 3-story building of which they have one floor. Uncle's brother, his wife and Auntie's mother have one floor and Auntie/Uncle's daughter and her family have the other floor. There is a fair-sized contingent of household helpers who take care of everything: dishes, cooking, laundry, cleaning, errands, whatever. That was something one can get used to very fast!

We did not get to do a whole lot in Pune as we were only there for 3 days. But we did tour the Raja Kelkar Museum. Only abour 12 percent of the collection is on display but even that was a lot to see. The Kelkar family had collected thousands of items of all kinds from northern India. All sorts of things. Things that I had only seen in books, until now.

Turns out, Pune has a fantastic Italian restaurant called Little Italy. Definitely worth a visit! The pasta we ordered was a nice break from the Indian diet we have been steadily eatting since we arrived on the Subcontinent. Another good place to eat for veg food is Mayur. They serve an unlimted all-you-can-eat thali plate for only Rs. 130 which is around $3 USD. Their method is to serve you a little bit of a variety of foods and then you get more of the ones you want. Saves on wastage and everyone eats what they like. A good deal, I say!

Anant had a neighbor family while growing up in Rourkela who are Sikhs. His friend unfortunately was out of the country but we went over to meet his parents, his wife and daughter. Normally, as guests in Indian homes, we are served some sort of Indian sweet or snack. But here we were proudly presented with American apple pie and brownies with some top quality vanilla ice cream.

We are just now back in Chennai tonight. We arrived to find heavy rain and some flooding. What's next? Not sure. Maybe a little trip to Pondicherry or Tirupathi...... Stay tuned!

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