It's been a while hasn't it? I haven't handed out a Hall of Shame Award in a long long time. Well I haven't had anyone piss me off badly to do so till this week!

So this week my first Hall of Shame inductee of the year 2008 and the 8th Award so far goes to the Mount Pleasant Town Court in Valhalla NY! Those bastards had me so angry this week I wanted to scream.

4 years ago I got a speeding ticket on the Sprain Brook Parkway and one that I absolutely did not deserve. For one I enjoy driving and just don't speed and the speed at which the bastard clocked me was nearly impossible for me. I have never sped at that speed EVER. He also pulled over 5 people at once, got their conversations along with their speeds confused. Frankly he screwed up and I wasn't having any of it so I contested it. So my court date just came up. ***Yeah from 4 years ago***

It took me 2+ hours to get to Valhalla. When I got to court we were all told to sit down. Apparently people had different times on their appointments so there was a group for 9:00 am and one for 10:00 am and so forth. I get there at 8:30 am, I had a 9:00 am appointment. There were 100s of people waiting. Sitting around 10:00 am rolls around. The guard comes in to tell us we need to line up in the hallway to meet with the Prosecutor for a plea bargain. The Prosecutor is now ready at 10:00 am because he's under the weather!

OK. Except people just bumrush to the hallway and there is no accountability of who came in first and who just walked in. People who had just walked in were first in line. Then they tell people, too many of you in the hallway go sit down and we'll call you. No one is monitoring so while we are all sitting down waiting to be called, people are walking in from the side door and getting on line and the line doesn't go down and no one knows what's going on. Finally somehow I get to meet with the Prosecutor at 10:50 am. I took two trains and a cab to get there I was having my say and I stated my point.  My points are dropped, the ticket is dropped, I have to pay a court fine, the Prosecutor signs off. Now I have to go into court and the Judge will call my name and I go up and meet with the judge, tell him what happened and I'm on my merry way.

I get in court, the Judge Nicholas C Maselli, has taken a "recess". He'd been in court since 9:30 am or so and since there was only one Prosecutor and 100s of people and he wasn't moving fast enough not too many cases came to him so he was sitting around, chatting and saw maybe 6 or 7 cases. So the Judge takes lunch at 11:00 am! Now we all have to wait till the Judge is back to hear us so we can be on our way.

The Judge comes back sits down and starts at 1:10 pm! People are fuming at this point. There is a bathroom but no water, no vending machine and you can't leave court. There was a pregnant lady and a Diabetic and several old people. What the fuck. It this some way to treat people? Disgusting. They aren't animals.

Then I find out that the fine is decided by the Judge based on how you look!! I can't even make this shit up. If you showed up in a city uniform like a Firefighter or a Nurse your fine was bullshit. If you showed up presentable your fine could be easily $300. Mine was $225. I seriously saw 20 people go ahead of me for the exact same offense, speeding, some with freaking points on their licenses and there was no rhyme or reason to the fine and the Judge literally looked at people and fined them. What pissed me off was this Nurse that went up that got charged $50 was standing in line in front of me chewing her gum snapping it bragging about how this was the 3rd time she was here and how she needs to get a radar detector in her car. She was actually fucking speeding while I wasn't and because she showed up in a uniform she got $50. Bullshit.

I intend to write to the Town of Mount Pleasant and Valhalla, the governer, the Senator and anyone that will listen to me but it's a total scam. I think more than anything what bothered me was how they treated the people and how there was absolutely no respect for anyones time or any value given to how far people had traveled or the fact that they were made to wait around in a cold open courtroom with not even water to drink. There were people from Brooklyn and upstate New York who'd traveled a long time to get there.

So my 8th Hall of Shame award goes to the Mount Pleasant Town Court for running a complete scam and showing complete disregard to the very citizens that fund all those beautiful buildings they had pictures of up on the walls while people waited!!

I've been perpetually ill off and on for what feels like a year. I'm so sick and tired of being sick. I'm sick of being on meds and I'm sick of not feeling 100%. This weekend almost got cancelled because I wasn't feeling up to it. But I had to go see the kids so I sucked it up took some drugs and off we went to Lewisburg, PA. It's really in the middle of nowhere but just lovely and it's a nice break to have from New York City. On the other side of the Poconos in Central PA it's home for Bucknell. The kids were super excited to see us and it had been a year since I had been to PA but glad I got to go and take H with me.

OK so check out the cake we made....I'm so proud of myself. I've never made a cake before, well Betty Crocker doesn't count. This was so simple and easy that I'd make it again in a heartbeat. I improvised a little from the recipe and it turned out fantastic. Basic chocolate cake baked in 3 layers, seperate. I didn't think I'd do a good job of cutting flatly thru one big sheet so I cheated and made 3 seperate layers. 2 parts Vanilla Creamy frosting mixed with 1 part sour cream to make it soft and spreadable. One layer of chocolate cake, smooth over one layer of frosting. Sprinkle with crushed (have to freeze first) Reeces Peanut butter cups. Repeat with another layer of cake and frosting and sprinkled PB Cups and cake and frosting and more crushed PB Cups and then decorate with Hershey bars. Voila! DONE!! The kids loved it.  

We went to eat at this fantastic Italian place in the neighborhood. It was really nice. And I was a really bad aunt. I triple dog dared Rutvik to stick his face in the cake! And he did it...hahahaha.

The 7th Birthday party was at a Bowling alley!! Last year it was a Gymnastics party!

And just like my mom used to the two sick girls, Dhruvi and me, gave ourselves a good Vicks steam before bed!

Ever have a memory crop up long forgotten and you wonder why you remembered it? Today I remembered...

Nearly 4 years ago I gave my mother a book to fill out. It was questions for a mother.  It was a project. There were questions about her childhood, and about her family, choices she made and dreams she gave up and her life as a woman. They were words of wisdom for her daughter.

I'd enquire about it often. She'd tell me she was working on it and enjoying it. She'd had to bring up a lot of questions about her own past with her own mother. Occassionally I caught glimpses of the book but she hid it from me. She wanted to give it to me when it was complete. I'd dream about it often, about the delicious words that filled it. It would be like a rainbow.

Then she started being more sick than well and eventually I stopped asking. I figured one day she'd give it to me and I secretly wished it would happen when I had a baby. Then I forgot.

It didn't happen.

I turned her room upside down in India to look for it. It's lost. Gone. Along with my mother. I will never know so many things she may have wished for me to know. I supressed it out of my mind somehow and I just remembered and I can't seem to concentrate on anything else.

I will give all the material things I inherited from her for that book. Someone find it for me.

I've seen some pretty peculiar things in a New York minute on a regular New York day...

A red lace thong on the corner of 46th and Madison avenue just laying there on the street at lunchtime! A lady wearing a gorgeous red Cashmere sweater with a matching Birkin Bag who had forgotten to wear her pants! Another lady wearing a mask over her face on the subway to keep from breathing in germs. Understandable. The mask was made of sheer leopard print fabric with pink lace!

Most of the time it doesn't move me. You get immune to these strange things on the train or on the street on a daily basis in New York. And you have to make an effort to be normal and not be fazed by a lot of strange happenings in this city on a daily basis.

Today I saw a young girl, well dressed wearing one of those big signs like the kind that people advertising restaurants do. A human billboard. It read:

My brother jumped in front of the F train at this station on (I forget the day/date). I'm looking for any witnesses or anyone that may have talked to him. Please help.

And reading the sign led me to embarrass myself sufficienty and cry enough to bring attention to myself.

I haven't seen or talked to my brother since my mother's death in August. I miss him very much.

My friend Indigo Bubbles has been in India the past few weeks and has been posting some wonderful observations. So now that things have calmed down after my whirlwind of a few months I think I'd like to indulge a little bit in ruminating over India as well.

This was my first trip for leisure in a long time. Several previous trips were about my mom's health, the last one being when she passed so emotionally and mentally I was apprehensive about how I'd feel when I got there. This was also the first time I was going to India with a husband. OK I need to take a detour for a minute...

Can I tell you how weird with a big W it is having a husband? I've woken up a few times in the middle of the night a little freaked because there is someone in my bed. I have times when someone asks me for a drink after work and I don't think twice until I get ready to leave and realize "Shit I have a husband now I might want to check with him." It doesn't help that he lets me still live like I'm single. I never have to ask for permission about anything. He looks at me like I have two heads if I ask him to go somewhere or do something or buy something. He's dealing with his own "this is weird" moments. It's really nice, I have to admit but it's definitely a strange out of body experience to go from being swinging single to being married in less than a year.

OK back to India...arriving in Mumbai you get the feeling that it's a lot like New York. Fast pace, noise, hustle bustle and dynamic but dirty, polluted and there aren't very many rules. New York's chaos is coordinated, deliberate and makes some sense. Mumbai's chaos is a bit overwhelming. Yet almost immediately the moment we walked into my uncle's door, we felt completely surrounded with warmth and love. People are genuinely nice and genuinely interested in talking to you, meeting you and spending time with you. They want to feed you, take care of you, make sure every one of your comforts is met and they do it with genuine hospitality.

Also people are more than willing to take you somewhere, get something done or help you out in any way they can. It could be a cousin or a neighbor or the shop keeper's son that you just met. Of course a lot of people also overpromise and underdeliver but culturally it's very different from the US where if you really can't do something you say no and there is no shame in it. In India people often don't say no and sometimes that can lead to unrealistic expectations.

It's strange arriving with a husband because people immediately treat you differently. They treat you with respect because marriage is held in such high regard. I mean lets get real; I could have married a monkey and it would have still been considered a big deal! I was lucky I married a man most people find adoreworthy and several wondered, some rather obviously; how the hell I landed a American born Maharashtrian Surgeon a la Madhuri Dixit style! To those that don't get the drift apparently my husband is such a big catch I almost don't deserve him and as one aunt suggested 'I should put up with anything he may dole out to me because I'm so lucky he picked me.' You know what's strange? That I could only garner a laugh at that and nothing more. If I was younger and more angst ridden I'd have chewed her a new one.

Being married in India and being older than the average bride in India also brings with it a strange set of expectations. Are you trying for kids? You should try because you never know how long your old ovaries might take to produce one! That's the other thing about India. There are no filters called etiquette when it comes to personal matters. People will openly discuss their bodily functions in detail and ask you personal questions about yours. After a particular woman I had just met in my in laws home kept pushing and prodding me to let her in on the "Are you trying for a baby" secret I got quite flustered and said "We are trying, everday, sometimes several times a day, thank you for asking" and promptly felt embarrassed and turned red after realizing I had just made that statement in mixed company with my inlaws in the room. There was dead silence. The women got up and went into another room to speak to someone else and my mother in law (god bless her) busted out laughing and then everyone laughed about it, until the end of my trip!!

My uncle in law had a mini bus for the week to take the entire visiting entourage on day trips anywhere we wished. The actual trip itself left much to be desired, being on a bus on bad roads and having your bones rattled for half a day is painful. But the experience that goes with being surrounded by family and friends on a road trip, eating a picnic lunch you brought along with you and singing songs is blissful. It's hard to count how many times I went back to my childhood in that week. Being fussed over and pampered and treated with so much consideration and love. My husband's family was absolutely adorable.

When we finally got to Rajasthan I was so desperate for some downtime and alone time with him that it ended up being a real honeymoon. Given all the places we could have visited and all the options we had on earth we both without any argument choose India. Why? I'm not sure. It's more complicated than a simple explanation. I have never traveled thru India and I wanted us to meet each other's families. I also had practical things to take care of like my mom's property issues. He wanted to always go to India with a wife. Apparently guys have dreams of doing things with spouses as well. Who knew?

I suppose for me taking a ABMS (American Born Maharashtrian Surgeon) with me back to the place that chewed me out and kicked me out after my mother died was the best and biggest fuck you there could be. I never did talk about what happened when I was in India. It was really hard. Cremating a mother I expected to be around a long time and loved dearly was something I couldn't describe in words. I was so heartbroken. Then there was the unfortunate discovery that my mother did not leave a will behind. A lot of people including my own family and my mother's family banded together and showed up to claim most of it or at least find a way to screw me. I was followed, watched, spied on and eventually thrown out of her house at 2:00 am in pouring rain. Yes this sort of shit doesn't just happen in the movies. This trip was cathartic in a lot of ways. I received closure of sorts. The bad guys didn't win.

Men are treated like gods in most families. Women tend to them like they would wither away and die if they were left alone or to fend for themselves. It's even worse if you are an eligible bachelor "seeking" a wife. You are untouchable. The men do nothing really. Yes they work but even in households where the women work the men do nothing. Women work like mules literally. They run households, cook, take care of all the kids needs and the needs of inlaws and everyone else in the family, keep everything in order and get pretty much no help from the men. The other side of the men that get treated like gods...a lot of them are total chauvanistic pigs. It's painful to watch them put down their significant others or simply disregard them and give them no importance.

The only hope is that this behavior/attitude is changing with the current generation. Men from my generation don't seem to think it's beneath them to help out their wives and take charge of things in the home.

People eat all day and they eat till late. Everything revolves around food. Breakfast early in the day, tea and snacks around 11:00ish, lunch around 2:00, tea and more snacks around 6:00 and then dinner sometime between 9:00 and 11:00. And even after that they find time to "go for a drive to get ice cream." I was exhausted with all the calls for food and the amounts of food or how rich it was. The food in India is wonderful. Everywhere we went it was amazing and people offered you food regardless of who you were, what time it was and how long you went. But towards the end I couldn't get myself to eat much of it. I longed for simple meals and I felt so sick with all the richness. We are fairly indulgent folks here at home but meals are 3 times a day and on weekends just twice a day so the multiple meals left me confused, filled with the wrong meal and not hungry at the right one and it just spun so many conversations about food and our eating habits it exhausted me.

More later...

Zen Denizen's post today about Recycling is good fodder for me to post about something that isn't related to family, travel, my man or wedding...oye.

I admit I never thought much about recycling till a few years ago and as a direct result of being older and getting cheaper and not because it suddenly became sexy to do so. It's funny how I often catch myself ever so slightly turning into my mother. This is the one thing I never seemed to emulate. She was fantastic at being practical, recycling and mostly being stylish but frugal all at once. I never could figure out how to do it as sexily as she did and enjoy it at the same time.

But she had a headstart. She lived most of her life in a country that recycles everything under the sun. So it came naturally to her. When I was in India recently I was amazed at how much stuff that gets thrown out never makes it all the way to trash. There are scavengers along the way in the forms of cows and pigs and small children looking for resalable stuff. But if you closely look at the garbage in India it almost exclusively is made up of organic stuff. You don't see toasters or chairs or mattresses in the trash. And food almost never gets thrown out in India. At least I've never seen it happen.

One early morning in Mumbai my aunt opened the door for a vendor with a basket on his head. He had come to pick up paper trash. He took away newspapers and magazines and in exchanged left a shiny little stainless steel pot for my aunt. I thought that was a pretty sweet deal. When you eat at an outdoor vendor you don't get plastic or paper plates, cups or spoons. You get tea in a small glass which requires you to drink it up quickly so it can be given back. Soda comes in glass bottles that have to be drank from immediately and given back. You don't take it with you. Often you get street food in newspapers or banana leaves. People take their own basket to the market to bring back groceries and vegetables. I was so impressed with the ability people have to turn garbage into their own personal wealth and how efficient it all was. In a poor country it pays to recycle and reuse.

In 2006 for my birthday my good friend Jessica made me a gorgeous shopping bag. It was stitched with a sturdy reversable material, pale green raw silk on one side and a fun blue waterproof print on the other side. I loved it and I must admit I use it religiously. Most days it transports boots back and forth from work but I've hauled wine bottles, soup cans, groceries and even expensive clothes in this fabulous bag and voila apparently I had jumped on the green bandwagon.

I started using real plates, forks and spoons at home a few years ago. I have to admit it wasn't because I was suddenly aware of the environment. I'd just grown up. It's not very sexy to own your own home but eat out of plastic or paper. I seperate my garbage now and recycle everything. And it's because my garbage closet/chute is right next to my front door. It makes it easier for the lazy girl in me. I randomly came across a posting on Craigslist of someone looking for boxes because they were moving and I happily gave mine to them after I had done moving. It really was just luck.

L'Oreal who I work for, went green last year. They really have made a massive effort to get people to be more aware and comply. 40% of everything used at L'Oreal are made of plants and renewable. Our lunch containers are made of sugarcane husks! We received a very sleek looking recyclable and measurable water bottle at work that would allow us to not just measure our water intake but also drink water from the same container rather than a new Poland Springs bottle everyday (which was my addiction). I liked it. I use it. But if it hadn't been given to me I probably wouldn't have thought much about it.

I suppose as I get older I am more aware of the environment and mindlessly do things that seem to come naturally now to help it. But I won't put worms in my garbage and while I walk instead of driving most places it's more out of convenience and for my health and not because I don't want to burn gas. I love my clothes, shoes, bags and I have wet dreams about a certain German luxury car I'm dying to get. I won't really stop eating out or traveling on planes. I've been very good about donating to the Salvation Army in recent years and perhaps I'll wait for the hybrid for the dream car. But the whole concept of recycling and reusing is something that comes naturally and out of necessity for me now rather than any consious effort on my part.

I had quite a busy holiday season. And strangely it was filled with lots of kids! This is what happens when you get older...everyone around me has a kid between 2 - 5 and pregnant with a second one or has just had a 2nd one.

I had a friend recently exclaim "It sucks you didn't get a headstart with us, it would have been nice to have kids the same age together." And all I could think was "It would have sucked even more to have married someone for the sake of marrying like you did and ending up with a jerky husband like yours." She could have done better. Not saying she settled; she did what was best for her from her point of view but if I never saw her husband again it would be too soon.

I don't care that I'm getting a late start and god knows the "baby bug" hasn't kicked into me (I thought it was supposed to automatically happen when you get married) but I'm most grateful and glad for having waited for the "right man" rather than marrying one of the many jerks I came across in the past when it was the "right time".

Of all the people I've known my mother was the only one that always supported my belief and when all the other aunties were telling me I was getting fat and old and closer to not ever finding someone my mother always told me that I'd find a man who wasn't just perfect for me but for whom I'd be perfect as well.

I never did a year in review for a change this year. Honestly so much has happened that it seemed silly to have a year in review. I freaking met a guy, got engaged and got married. My mother passed away. I went to India 3 times this year and I made so many other trips I lost count...Cape May, Orlando, Greenport, San Francisco to name a few. What was the point of reviewing this year when it's been one big ass explosive year!!

So I spent Christmas week with friends at a holiday party and with family for my neice Akanksha and nephew Rohan's birthdays. And right before the year ended we flew out to California to spend a few days and New Years Eve with Himanshu's brother and sister in law and their new 2 week old baby and their 2 year old son in Sunnyvale. And I got to catch up with Iqbal and Anu and their beautiful boys in San Francisco. That was such a treat of a weekend. We didn't do a whole lot, mostly hung out at home, drank a lot, got take out but it was nice to spend time with Toral and Shantanu because I hadn't had a chance to do that since the summer.

At Vik & Sudha's party...

With Dylan & Ryan...

With my nephew Rohan...

Celebrating my niece Akanksha's birthday...

Anu and Rohan in San Francisco...

Iqbal and Armaan in San Francisco...

My very naughty and very cute nephew Sohan in Sunnyvale...

My sweet new niece Sayali...2 weeks old...

And now onto more adult news

I just booked a surprise vacation to London and Paris for Valentine's day for Himanshu and I and a Champagne flight on the London Eye. So so so excited. This is lame but I've never been with a boy on Valentines day. Last Valentine's day was spent in India when my mom was very very ill. The past few years I stopped noticing and I always went out with girlfriends. But suddenly I have a husband and it's nice. I'm looking forward to it. I really want to do some walking tours and Ghost tours in London. That would be way cool.

The India trip was absolutely fantastic. I can't believe I'm just getting to write about this but prepping the blog with 100 pictures isn't easy I'll have you know and I've been a little under the weather and traveling as well.

This was my 3rd trip in 2007 to India, the previous two being happening on not the best circumstances but this one felt sort of cathartic in a way to undo and redo my recent history in India and it was just doubly wonderful to be there with my new husband and be surrounded by family, his and mine that just showered me with so much love and attention.

We had family from both his side and my side come to visit us from far away, some came for just a day or two. Himanshu's mom's brother and his wife came literally for just a few hours and they rode on a bus all night to come see us. There is a lot of similar warmth in India, the best part of being there. A lot of things grated at me in India on this trip, filth being the biggest but really the amazing family and friends that we met more than made up for that.

We visited 11 cities and 4 states in 3 weeks...Mumbai, Indore, Omkareshwar, Maheshwari, Jaipur, Agra, Udaipur, Pushkar, Jodhpur, Ranakpur & Jaisalmer and it was amazing. We started out visiting my family, then his for a bit and then he and I went on our Honeymoon and it was amazing beyond words. I had anxiety I must admit. We have never been alone 24 hours a day straight for more than a few days so to spend 10 days together alone was a little daunting and may I say, there is a reason why they call it a honeymoon. It was fantastic. We got along great, and did everything we wanted to do our way and didn't fight once. I was a bit sick part of the trip, thanx to the pollution in Indore and taking antibiotics but other then that it was just an absolute dream. To top it all off we had just fantastic weather the entire time, not to mention we aparently were "off season" because we encountered no crowds at monuments and we were able to leisurely walk around everywhere and take our time taking pictures.

I think the best way to tell the story is with pictures. I actually took nearly 1000 pictures but you don't want to see all of them so here is the gist of the trip...

I met most of Himanshu's family for the first time. The most adorable of them was his cousin Namita who spent a lot of time with us in Mumbai. Namita is Himanshu's mom's sister's daughter and they all came from Pune for a few days to visit us. We went out shopping and ate out and partying and it was just a fantastic time.

My family (mama and mami - mom's brother and his wife) threw us a really nice outdoor reception in Mumbai where Himanshu got to meet my family and I got to meet some of his Mumbai family.

I think one of the most adorable group I met on this trip was these ladies below. They are aunts of Himanshu's cousin and all sisters and all I can remember is their sweet smiling faces. They were so happy to see him.

Marine Drive in Mumbai sometime around midnight.

We went out with my cousin, her husband and Himanshu's cousins into town in Mumbai. We went to a club called Shiro and all I can say is New York's got nothing on Mumbai. It was a cross between Buddha bar & Buddakan and oh the Cosmo cost nearly $15 yes US dollars!! But man we had a blast. The crowd was great, the music was fantastic and the drinks weren't bad at all but the best part of the night was being out with my family and his and everyone bonding.

My cousin Anoushka with Ankit and my neice Mihika.

Mmmmm yummmy Biryani in my honor! I love this stuff from a special place in Mumbai and my aunt always gets it for me whenever I go to Mumbai.

OK I took lots of pictures of food. I had foods this time around that I never had before. Below is Garadu a vegetable from the Potato family that is double fried and then go on the spices and salt and god knows what else. This was in Indore. The street foods were the best in India though I must say I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. We didn't get sick once (OK once but that's a story for later) and we ate street food all thru the trip.

I met Himanshu's grandma Maiajji for the first time. She's 90 and fiesty and absolutely the cutest most adorable thing ever.

Temples at Omkareshwar, Madhya Pradesh...

Sailing the river Narmada...

The handlooms at Maheshwari, Madhya Pradesh. Maheshwari was the capital for Rani Ahilyabai Holkar, ruler of the region for a long time. It is also known these days for fantastic saris and handloom fabrics.

So back in Indore Himanshu's uncles hosted a really huge reception for us (yeah we've been celebrating our wedding non stop since we got married and the celebrations couldn't be over soon enough!!)

Himanshu's family home in Indore, Madhya Pradesh

Visiting the family farm with my family and his...aunts uncles the works. It was one of the highlights of the trip.

OK some of them looked like lemons and others looked like limes and I didn't get clarification which tree it was but there were lots of these trees.

And like any real Indian road trip we had a flat in the middle of nowhere. It was kind of fun.

Ready for another party in Indore.

A dinner hosted for us by the Majumdars in Indore was quite spectacular. We were served drinks outside on the terrace of their beautiful home, then went inside for a grand welcome where Himanshu and I were the guests of honor.

Rangoli adorned the front step to welcome us.

Our dinner was served on silver utensils and a lot of special touches were added just for the two of us.

Dinner was followed by a bonfire outdoors and dessert and a spectacular 1/2 hour fireworks show in our honor. Wow what an evening that was.

Indore airport. Yeah it's little and you walk to the plane!

How cute are these two? Niece and niece's cousin

Live crab in Mumbai...yeah we ate him after!

With my cousins Manjiri & Mithali. Mithali was one of my bridesmaids.

Surmai...a fish native to Mumbai.

We finally embarked on our honeymoon trip. As soon as we arrived in Jaipur we were whisked away to Amber fort where we were taken up to the fort by Elephant. I have to admit after the ride was over I felt guilty about riding the elephant. I had never ridden one before so I was excited but the elephant looked really tired.

A view from Amber fort in Jaipur, Rajasthan

Glass and stone work inside the palace.

Doesn't it look like a Holllywood set. It was so prestine and beautiful.

A palace inside Lake Maota, Jaipur, Rajasthan.

Our first night in Jaipur we visited a traditional Rajasthani village called Chokidani. It's sort of like the Disneyland of Rajasthan. You pay one price to enter the park and then you can ride bullock carts, play games or take in dances and puppet shows, shop around, eat the different fares around the park and eventually have a grand sit down dinner where you are treated like royalty. It was the first night of our honeymoon, the weather was chilly and we strolled around drinking a hot wheat drink that was to die for and it was just nice.

Finally our second stop was in Agra. I have always dreamed of going to the Taj Mahal. I had heard so many stories about it and of course it's supposed to be beautiful but when I got there I really wasn't prepared for how overwhelmed I felt. Not because the Taj Mahal is really incredibly beautiful, which it is but because Himanshu finally made that dream come true for me. It was 70, sunny, clear and with no crowds I really felt like I was the luckiest girl in the world.

The river Yamuna behind the Taj Mahal, mostly dried up. I don't know if it's because it's winter but we saw dry river beds our entire trip and it was really quite an experience.

These guys below are real!

Sustenance for the weary...Indian style

We arrived in Udaipur where our accommodations were made at Shikarbadi (Hunting Grounds) a old ancestral royal property with huge grounds. This view is the back of our rooms and is supposed to be a lake but yeah you guessed it. Dry...except for the puddle.

Every morning in Rajasthan we were greated by singing Peacocks who weren't afraid of humans. They were everywhere and absolutely beautiful.

Breakfast outdoors in Shikarbadi, Udaipur, Rajasthan.

Udaipur is called Lake City. Below is the world famous Lake Palace. The only way to get to it is by boat. It's apparently $800/night to stay there. It's across the street from City Palace.

The inner courtyard of City Place, Udaipur, Rajasthan

A view of the city of Udaipur from City Palace.

Monument to Maharana Pratap Singh...one of Himanshu's favorite character from Indian history.

Sailing Lake Pichola in Udaipur.

This morning we were greeted by deer outside our window.

On our way fromUdaipur to Jodhpur we visited Ranakpur, famous for it's absolutely breathtaking Jain temples with amazing carved art in Marble and sandstone all over.

A view of Meharangarh fort from our window in Jodhpur, Rajasthan

Pal Haveli, the palace we stayed in Jodhpur, Rajasthan

Below is Jaswant Thada, dedicated to Maharaja Jashwant Singh, a ruler of Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

Inside Meharangarh fort palace.

Why they call Jodhpur, Blue City. If you looked at the city from the other side you wouldn't see the blue. The blue signifies (or did once upon a time) the home of a Brahmin and the all facing the palace/fort was painted Blue so the Kings could see.

These photographs do not do justice to the subject. The below carvings in the fort were so incredible you could just stand there in awe and look on. Every single intricate detail is meticulous. There are no mistakes, everything is symmetrical and it's such clean work.

Umaid Bhavan Palace, home of the current Maharaja as well as a luxury hotel now.

The current Maharaja and his wife.

Sandstone Quaries between Jodhpur and Jaisalmer.

Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. Sam Sand Dunes in the Thar Desert. We rode out into the desert to watch the sunset.

Our hotel/palace we stayed in Jaisalmer, Rang Mahal.

Gadsisar Sagar Lake/Tank, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan

Jaisalmer Fort. Jaisalmer Fort is actually a living city. People live and work within the fort. They have hotels, restaurants and temples up there as well.

Jain temple inside Jaisalmer Fort

Jaisalmer is called, Golden City, because it's sand colored and looks like it's golden in the sun.

On our way back to Mumbai from Rajasthan we got stranded at the airport with delays for nearly 7 hours. It was miserable. To cheer my up my husband brought me a treat with a heart in it, to remind me just why I married him.