Beautiful Traditions....

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We took the most popular long distance mode of transportation in India (and the largest in the world), the Indian Railways, to visit my cousins and relatives in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh (literally meaning central state in Sanskrit). We took Taj Express, an express train originally designed exclusively for travelers going to Taj Mahal. I think it has lost its exclusivity since ( Taj Express ). One must travel via India Railway to experience the culture.

Weather has been great. between 10-25 degrees Celcius. The train trip to central India was pleasant. The fact that father forgot the ticket at home did not bother me too much but mom was a stressed 😊 It is very awkward for me carry a camera around so I took only limited sets of pictures.

Some of the pictures are from the roof of the three floored home of my maternal grandparents'. The palace in the pictures is the famous 7 layered Datia Mahal ( The Mahal ). One of the levels is underground. Easy to get lost in since everything is symmetrical and identical in all directions.

Some of the pictures are from my short walk near a pond and a little shrine outside the fortress the little town of Datia resides in.

A few of the pictures are of my cousins who agreed to let me take the pictures.

All the cousins are now grown ups. And everyone is on facebook. So one may notice that now I have a lot more Gupta friends. I guess I will need to be careful on what I post 😉 . When I see them it often reminds me that I am in fact the oldest my more than 15 boy cousins. And I am often asked for advise and I wonder if I should put the responsibility hat on and act a little older and wiser. Nah!

Going to Datia reminds me of a lot of beautiful traditions one does not find in today's generation and big cities. The respect for elders, treating guests well and conserving are relearned on every visit. This year father also made me do a small ceremony in a temple that required me to wash and decorate a Shiva-ling supposedly created 5000 years old.

Anyways back to Delhi for a few days before I head out for Spain and France. I got to visit this India Comic show before I left. I have always enjoyed those since I was little. Many memorable incidents are associated with comic books in my life. More on that topic another time. 😊

Got to visit the new and impressive New Delhi International airport. The flight to Paris was nice. Met this girl on the plane who was friendly and wanted to talk the whole way. I crashed in the middle of a conversation (It was 3AM!!). Before we split she offered to marry me if I was not that old. I am taking that as a compliment.

More on the Barcelona, Montserrat and Paris in the next blog

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Photos

Cousins
Some of my cousins living in the town of Datia

Datia - random
Check out the cart full of cow dung pegs for burning