Seasons Greetings from Bangalooru

2006 has been a year filled with ups and downs, mostly take-offs and landings! For the most part, we enjoy our life in India.

We have an active social life in Bangalore made possible by the Overseas Women’s Club (OWC). We met our closest friends, Rich and Marion Arnold, through the OWC. We have taken two trips with our Maine friends. The first was a long weekend to Coorg to tour tea and coffee plantations. The second was a five-day trip to Kerala that included a 24 hour boat trip through Kerala’s backwaters and an evening enjoying traditional Kathakali dancers. Both trips were marvelous adventures.

I also immersed myself in the world of Indian dentistry. During a trip to the US in March, three teeth required caps and the payment of a costly bill. Upon our return to Bangalore, pain with a wisdom tooth caused me to seek a local dentist. The search for local care ended with Dr. Sharon Dias who capped it and another cracked tooth and also replaced two 30 year old bridges. I am extremely happy with the beautiful work and delighted with the low price. Medical tourism is real.

For three days in April we watched from our balcony as an unrecognizable religious festival unfolded to a more recognizable public party. Despite the blaring of rhythmic Bollywood beats from stage musicians, when we mingled with our neighbors we found ourselves among people rooted in the ground like stone pillars; no swaying, clapping or smiling. When the music switched to a cha cha beat, we swayed and shuffled and soon were in full cha cha 1-2-3 movement. The crowd opened and the stage spot light swung to illuminate us. The crowd was now swaying, clapping and filled with smiles. The organizers invited us on stage to dance in front of 300 of our closest friends! We received a basket of fruit, a dance trophy and a round of applause.

Our Saturday Night Live performance was followed up by a dance contest held at an OWC 50’s party two weeks later. I was prim and proper in my red polka-dot dress and pearls; Jay was a 50’s geek equipped with taped eyeglasses, a pocket protector and an “I Like Ike” button. A combination of cha cha, rumba and east coast swing won us that evening’s dance contest!

In May, Karen arrived in India for a month long visit. Jay unfortunately had to return to the US on business for three weeks, but I enjoyed with Karen a new look at our home here in India. We traveled by the Indian train system to the ancient ruins in Hampi. At the Bannerghatta Zoo we noted the birds were caged but the monkeys ran free! Upon Jay’s return, we flew to the Golden Triangle; Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. The crown jewel of the trip, of course, was the Taj Mahal. It was a fabulous trip.

In July we were tourists in England for 10 days, taking in Windsor Castle, Big Ben, Tower of London, the British Museum as well as Shakespeare at the Globe Theater and Mel Brook’s The Producers…nothing like our lives in Bangalore. We visited an OWC alum and dear friend, Anna Oldman, who had returned to her 260 year old cottage in Stroud.

In August, I attended the Lange Family Reunion in Saginaw, Michigan, visiting with family members including my Aunt Lorna, who turned 100 that month.

Back in Bangalore, an OWC friend, Bryony Lewis, introduced me and several other OWC gals to the ukulele. We took some lessons and enjoy this unexpected musical adventure. We are self-named the Bangalore Ukulele Band, or BUB, and we call ourselves the BUBettes. And do we have fun!

In October Rich, Marion, Jay and I had planned to take another trip together to Vietnam. Events overtook us and we traveled separately. We had a marvelous eight day adventure in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

Back home in Bangalore in November, I was involved in the OWC Christmas Bazaar; the biggest fund raiser of the year. The bazaar had 140 vendors, a Santa, a horse-pulled cart ride for the kids, raffles, and food. I was the Parking and Security coordinator and recruited over 80 volunteers who helped collect entrance and parking fees and direct traffic. Overall, the bazaar raised three lakh rupees ($6500). All this money will be distributed to the 26 charities we support.

Also in November Jay and I traveled back to the US for an eight day visit. Jay worked in Philadelphia, but we had a chance to have a post-Thanksgiving / pre-Christmas gathering with our children in Atlanta the following weekend.

We continue to share our gifts here in India with an OWC-supported organization called Sukrupa Community Center. Sukrupa feeds and educates 230 slum children daily. I volunteer on a weekly basis and we support them financially. If you’d like to learn more about it, go to http://www.sukrupa.com/.

This Christmas we are headed to Malaysia for 10 days. For New Years Eve we will be at the Raffles the Plaza in Singapore.

What a wonderful, exciting life we have! If you want to read more about our adventures, please visit our blog at http://www.beinginbangalore.blogspot.com/.

We hope that you are happy, healthy and have friends or family with whom you can share the holidays.

Best wishes for a 2007 filled with contentment.

Jay & Helen