Two Besties One DAY

 I had just woke up and Satish was making coffee and I was eating some Upma….about 10 minutes later. He had mentioned yesterday that his daughter in law would be coming over and he wanted her to meet me. She had been wedding planning as the wedding was coming up next month.  

As I was sitting there in yoga pants and my sports jacket he said, “Oh here she is, it looked like she just pulled up.”  

I was so embarassed as I never wanted to meet guests or Indians before I took a shower and got dressed for the day. Yikes! I ran into my room quickly and threw myself into a traditional outfit.  

She came in with this beautiful smile and gorgeous long hair-typical Indian woman who looks like she is going to a nice event, but that is her outfit just for running errands. It was a bit awkward at first as we both were just having some small talk…She mentioned that Satish was everyone’s favorite “Uncle” and that was quite obvious as he was also the Indian extrovert of the year ( like who? My father).  

I thought she would just leave after coffee, but it ended up being a whole day we spent together. She asked if I wanted to go have tea and ice cream with her(the innocence of Indians). We went for tea, then got Almond fudge Amul ice cream and sat outside talking about her upcoming marriage and she kindly invited me to the ceremony. She said that it was an arranged marriage, but she spent a lot of time talking to him with Video call. Sometimes they were up all night on the phone getting to know one another.  

She left for a bit so I could get some things done and then said she would come back so we could have Vegetable biryani for lunch…She definitely loved to eat and try different foods. I made some suggestions for her in Bangalore as she went to work there on occasion.   

When she came back this time she brought a yellow bag and inside it had a hot pink saree brand new….I just couldn’t believe or even accept the kindness. She was so sweet with all her words and actions. To put a cherry on top of the day, she said there was a local NGO she would like to visit with me and off we went to visit on her scooter.  

We arrived to the orphanage and she took me to the office to meet the son of the Founder. The NGO had been open for nearly 32 years. He was dedicated working there everyday 365 days a year and you could tell that he took good care of these kids....well I should never say that visiting an NGO one time, but I know him and his father were very dedicated to this cause. They were well known within the Mysore community and received many local donations from schools, individual homes, and businesses. He explained to me all about the NGO mission, adoption procedures, and the daily routine for kids.  

This was an orphanage with 32 girls who were abandoned and looking for homes. Some had adoptions in process….a child going to Italy…another to USA….the foreigners only get the SPECIAL CHILDREN, which is ridiculous in my kind and humble opinion.  

Unfortunately in India, most parents want to have male children and girls are fully abandoned by parent ( not for being special, but just because they are a girl). It is very unfortunate but true, which lead to many girls needing a loving, caring home and many orphans( I do not like this word at all) were waiting to be placed for months and sometimes years...it was extremely unjust and again-judgemental on the Indian side of things.   

In this center, the kids had tutors from the Engineering college all sitting around the garden area tutoring the kids and doing a great job.. They had a fulltime German volunteer there who was on shift 24 hours a day for a whole year-did not get to meet her as she was visiting another city…it was a short visit but a nice one for sure....and again very grateful.  

Prabu and I had to part ways as she had to attend to her own things and it was Perfect timing as Satish and I got back to the house at the same time. We had planned to go to an amazing Indian classical performance, which was absolutely fantastic. We sat together and thoroughly enjoyed the performance...that is jazz where you just listen to every note and your sole focus is the instruments.  

After, we went to dinner with Sharda and her friend (she was in the film world and acted in many plays-very young just 25 years old .I was just craving some Roti curry and it was sooo good……I kindly requested “fresh roti” and the guy brought it to be straight out of the oven. He had such a smile and pride in his eyes knowing that I was so satisfied eating this food and loved the roti. I like when waiters stand with their hands folded in front of them in a very professional way near the table just waiting for any request you have and their eyes light up when they know they can help you with something (Indian hospitality). Sharda said she would love for me to meet her daughter because her daughter loves to meet people and speak English. She invited me to come to her home and then we could go watch the birds...Is anyone catching on to how innocent and beautiful these requests are? I ended up meeting her daughter, her parents, and she was my new bestie. We just adored spending time with another.  

TWO BESTIES IN ONE DAY- GO MYSORE!  

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