Wearing pancha

I am just not used to wearing the traditional pancha- most of my life I have worn pyjamas. On my recent trip to Chennai and Nellore I was given a pancha to wear many times, and after a while even the host would take mercy and let me wear pants. The funny thing is that my dad wore a pancha most of the time when he was home.

Vinayaka Chaviti

I remember the Vinayaka Chaviti celebration in our house every year- we would have a festive time during the day, capped off with father reading the story of Vinayaka. I always found the story to be fascinating, with gripping action and powerful messages. When I was returning from Tenkaya Topu to Nellore on Sunday morning, Siva took me via Eduru, and on the way I saw someone making some very large statues of Vinayaka and preparing them for sale. Reminded me of the festivities in our house for this holiday.

Remembering father

I visited my uncle on Saturday and he was remembering my father- how he used to visit us when our father was alive. It was nice to hear.

Father's sweet sambar

Dad used to cook when mom had to go away to Nellore for some purpose. He made excellent rice and veggie dishes, and his sambar was excellent and sweet.

Krishna

We had a beautiful ceramic statue of Krishna in our living room. It was a gorgeous work of art- have never seen anything quite like it.

Playing games

We used to play a number of games including cards, snakes and ladders, and a trade game. We also had a marble based game where one had to launch a number of marbles that went around various obstacles.

Mahindra and Mahindra

Jeeps were the ones that dad used on his field trips. I remember one of his drivers called Krishna, who I think took us to Chittoor.