51. THE SIKH ROUTE

Where all the action is on this trip - Lucknow - capital city of Uttar Pradesh state...

The highlight of my latest trip was befriending this wonderful Sikh family and their gentle giant of a dog. I was a guest in their lovely home during the Christmas holidays. Although they don't celebrate the occasion, they thought I might want some company being away from home and family...in the true spirit of Christmas. I got to meet their huge extended family and got an intimate peek at how terribly close knit they are and how they support one another's decisions, to the extent of putting pressure on their young people to marry by a certain age.

At every visit, they plied me with food and chai, I guess perhaps to make up for the lack of conversation between the adults and myself, while the younger ones acted as interpreters. But really, it's their wonderful hospitality. I was quite sure I was in danger of leaving the country with excess baggage around my middle, looking like an aloo - a potato - or worse, a panii puri - round and greasy.

I extended an invitation to the young people to be my house guests in Singapore. We had some wonderful chit chats, the youngsters and I, the nicest compliment was, one told her parents she could talk to me in a way she could'nt talk to them. That sounds a lot like my daughters - the generation gap is everywhere!























Hi Love, if you're reading this, more pictures will follow once I get that last roll organised!