Main > Photo Gallery > Trips > India

Ah, my sweet India. Haven't been to "tha muthaland" in 9 years, but who's counting? Normally my family has gone for 3-4 weeks, but this time, I was going by myself, and only for 2 weeks. Turns out, it wasn't hard at all. On the Air India flight from Newark -> Paris -> Mumbai, the flight wasn't crowded, and I had a nice time reading and chatting with this woman flying from Missouri -> Coimbatore to visit her Dad. So sweet.

Anyway, from Mumbai, I had a connection to Trivandrum, which is in the southern state of Kerala. The plan was:

1. Fly to Trivandrum to my cousin Alicekutty's place, whose family would pick me up from the airport
2. Meet up with Num that night at their place. Sleep overnight
3. She and I would take the train to Kottayam to meet-and-greet all my relatives in 4 days
4. Stay at the Coconut Lagoon resort in Kumarakom for 3 days of rest & relaxation
5. Take the sleeper train overnight to Bangalore
6. Visit all her relatives, meet up with her parents
7. Help out, and attend, her 1st cousin Rashmi's wedding
8. See some of the famous Bangalore
9. Fly home!

Note: There are a lot of cousins to be mentioned. From here on out, when I mention "cousin", I mean 1st cousin. Here's a simple family chart for my side. I'll work on Num's later.

The 1st Leg of My Trip: Starting Out & Trivandrum

After a hectic last day at the office, I left at noon to get home and pack. No, I didn't do any packing yet. Typical me. Shut up. Anyway, I did make the Air India flight, and it was pretty okay. I read, slept, and chatted with aforementioned woman on the way to Coimbatore. Her name was Snecha, or something. She did promise to visit this site, so maybe she'll drop me a line. At least the flight wasn't crowded.

Arriving in Trivandrum, my uncle and his son Jubie picked me up at like 6am and took me to their home. His wife Alicekutty is my cousin, who I haven't seen since I was 4 years old. They have two kids - Jubie & Julie. I rested up, freshened up, read, watched tv, chatted, etc. That night, Num & her parents arrived and dropped her off. Slept over, then her cousin Reggie picked us up, and took us to his home. My in-laws were waiting for us, we had lunch, then Reggie took us to the train station.

I'm still packing, time is running, and guess who isn't helping?	Thankachen, their daugher Julie, Alicekutty (my 1st cousin)	Num, Alicekutty, Julie	The sights (and smells) of Trivandrum)
	Wow, Trivandrum is changing!	Enjoying that Indian traffic	Nice house, I thought	Num's 1st cousin Reggie & family

The 2nd Leg of My Trip: Kottayam, Manarcad, etc.

The train ride was pretty uneventful. My Mom was very concerned that we would miss our station stop in Kottayam, but cousin Reggie asked about everyone around us to tell us when our station was coming up. Luckily, everyone spoke English. Matter of fact, there were Americans and Europeans on the train too. My cousin Raju picked us up, and we took the taxi to his place.

For the next 4 days, we'd be meeting all my relatives on my Dad's & Mom's side. This includes my parents' remaining brothers & sisters, their kids, grandchildren, etc. Did I mention the 4 days part?

Raju's house. We were on the 2nd floor	Talk about rural	Suja and her sons Bitu & Bony (spelling? No idea whatsoever)	With her are Gracey and her husband Monsey.	Monsey & Gracey's kids came our last day in Manarcad, and are further down this page
Sheeba and her kids. Hmm, not the best picture of her	Visiting Sheeba, here are her husband's sister's kids? This gets too confusing sometimes	Anniemol and family	Aniyan & wife. I'm not close, he's very quiet, and we all had very little to talk about	Their kids, and my aunt (Aniyan's Mom) She's my Dad's oldest sister
His kids & my aunt	Num, hanging out, bored out of her mind	Num, getting woozy from all the travelling	Next stop, visiting Sherry's family	We're close in age, and pretty goofy
Ah, coconuts	Dad's youngest sister, Num, me, cousin Sherry	Visit to my Mom's sister Molly. Here's Joy uncle, Tinil, Molly auntie, us. Tinju hid behind	Suja's family. Those folks are her in-laws	Sunday, we went to the church my Dad grew up with
Linda & Num, waiting out the long service	Another view of church, plus the biggest tree I've ever seen	Priest who married my parents. Awfully nice fellow	At the church cemetary, to see my paternal grandparents' grave for the 1st time
Check out the 1st shoe style. How weird is that?	Cousin Elcy & husband Sabu	Young & old. This is my Dad's oldest brother's wife. With us, Raju's daughter Nimmie	Let's try that picture again	Shiney auntie, husband Sunny uncle, and kids
Cousin Gracey's kids (can't remember their names though)	Last day with my relatives, group shot

The 3rd Leg of My Trip: Coconut Lagoon in Kumarakom

It's nice to see your relatives and all, but damn, at that point, what we wouldn't give for a hot shower. Two months ahead of time (a 1st for us), we reserved a cottage at the Coconut Lagoon resort in Kumarakom. Not to worry, it was only a 30 minute taxi ride from Manarcad. I didn't take too many pictures, but I've added some from their website. What was cool about our cottage, besides the blessed air conditioning, was the attached bathroom had no roof, and there was a large tree in the middle of it.

Food was okay, and no TV. We read, relaxed, and played chess. Nice 3 days (two really, because Monday and Wednesday were half-days, but who's counting?)

On the way to the resort	Some of the scenic country			One of the cottages, but ours was much smaller (1 bdrm)
Nice, right?	The bathrooms!	The main area, where you also arrive by boat	Another large cottage	What the place basically looks like
Canals flowing throughout the resort	Ah, rest for the weary!	The housekeeping is so sweet	On our backwaters sunset cruise	Our "cruiseship" plus Indian musicians

The 4th Leg of My Trip: Visiting Bangalore

From Kumarakom, the resort arranged a taxi back to Kottayam. After a quick stop to visit someone else, we caught the 1pm train to Bangalore. It was an overnight train ride, so we slept as best as we could. It's too long a story, so ask me about it sometime, if you're interested.

Arriving in Bangalore at 5am, Preethi picked us up, and took us to Deepu & Meena's flat (apartment). In the next few days, I had to meet my new relatives, plus attend Rashmi's wedding. I have plenty more to come later this week.

The 1st Few Days in Bangalore
	Preethi, Deepu uncle, Shem (the fiancee), Rashmi	Sisters: My mother-in-law, Nimmie auntie, Meena auntie	St. Mary's secret mountain hideaway. Num didn't think it was that funny, but it cracked me up	Cemetary to visit my in-laws' parents	Num's paternal grandfather
	Num's paternal grandmother, and her uncle	Maternal grandmother	Maternal grandfather
At the David Family Reunion
	Num playing with the kids	Grrr!	Achen & Num	Jimmy uncle (Achen's brother) & Sujit	Bobby's uncle's wife (name? No idea.)
	Bobby uncle (Achen's brother) and Amma	Maya trying to herd the children	Sisters Rupali & Neha	The brothers	...with their wives
Wedding Preparations (T minus 1 day)
	All the girls showing off their mendhi tatoos	Mendhi close-up	Traditionally, the women of each side take over food as gifts	Getting the food gifts ready	Looks tasty!
	Papu uncle looking sultry	Deepu uncle (father of the bride) is weary		Reena helping Rashmi with her nails
	About to take the gifts over	Preethi, Deepu uncle, Rashmi, Meena auntie	Groom's womenfolk have arrived	I'm sitting with the always-cool Ibu

The Home Stretch: Rashmi's Wedding in Bangalore

Pictures from the wedding. Vinod has more from the ceremony. I'll try to bribe Vinod for them.

The Wedding
	St. Mark's Cathedral in Bangalore	Achen, working the ceremony			Family seats
	More of the family	St. Mark's youth group singing a song	Amma with Ibu's parents	Shem & Rashmi, just married
The Reception & Afterwards
	That would be us	The reception hall (outdoors!)	Num's cousin Kenny, with Judy and son Allan
	The happy couple	Siblings: Papu uncle, Nimmie auntie, Amma, Meena auntie	Num's cousin Sudhir, with wife Yvonne, daughter Tamara	Cousins: Sudhir, Rashmi, Num, Vinod	Look at all those gifts!