Cousins Abroad

A Memorable Trip for Greenhorns!
Actually, one of our very first trips was to Indianapolis where Chandru, my cousin, and Bhama lived for a while. We had all the detailed directions from them and reached the outskirts of the city in good time. Then we had to get on the famous Indianapolis highway, a huge circular multi-lane one that encircles the city, with innumerable entries and exits leading to different areas. It was an overwhelming and frightening experience. We passed our exit before we realised we had come anywhere near it, so we continued on the full round till we neared it again! So, carefully, we slowed down, but only to discover that the exit was on the left, while we were in the righmost lane [ we had never experienced such an exit before] and so we had to pass it again. After all, the Indianpolis 500 had at least a half dozen lanes and we could not just veer left [like Bangalore's irresponsible, daredevil bike riders]! So, off we went on our third and luckily our final attempt to get off from the highway, and this time succeeded, to our immense relief.
When we narrated this story to Chandru and Bhama, they had a hearty laugh and he asked us, 'But why did you not get off at the next exit, and turn back in the other direction and exit at the right one?' Our jaws dropped – we had not thought of that possibility at all!
We were more worldly-wise in our next several trips – one to Salem, Il, the home town of Abraham Lincoln was a real eye-opener. It was a whole town museum and looked like one of our rural or small town places, even those that one sees in old photographs of the early 20th century. No cars of course, but horse-drawn buggies; victorian-style long dresses for the genteel ladies and top hats and canes for the men in three piece suits. The house interiors were mind boggling – how quickly had America transformed itself from this pre-industrial look to the modern sleek flats and suburban houses! The utensils in the kitchen and the farm implements were huge, of iron or other metal generally and looked so unwieldy! Time truly stood still in that period scene.
St. Louis, on the other hand, was very modern in its newer architecture, the towering glory of which was the graceful arch near the river Missouri formed by two steel curved pillars. We went there for one of our training sessions and so did not see much, including the low-income areas or downtown.

Officiating at a Hindu Wedding, Us!
Lakshman, my cousin, announced around this time that he was planning to get married to Mary Beth. His parents, Surimama and Rajalskhmimanni, were first dead-set against this, but when he remained adamant, relented enough to suggest they have a Hindu wedding over and above the church ceremony that MB's parents had planned. We went to the church wedding in Louisville, Ky, and had a good time. What we learnt there was that we both had been nominated to conduct the Hindu wedding. A more inappropriate pair could not have been chosen, but then S.mama had no other choice! Those days, the US was not overflowing with our clan as it is now.
So one weekend, L and MB came over to Urbana. We got hold of some suggestions on how to conduct a simple ceremony, just a little more elaborate than our own, and invited a few friends to witness it, as the Shastras dictate. The priest – none other than my other cousin, Balu from Rochester, NY! I somehow managed to drape MB in the nine-yard sari that my aunt and uncle had sent over, and she looked quite resplendent in it. Of course, Lakshman knew how to wear his dhothi without any help from the others. After the brief ceremony, the priest doubled as chef and cooked chicken while I made some veggie dishes!