Day 28: Patan...

Day 28: Today I headed off to my mom's brothers house who we refer to in Gujurati as my 'mama' and his wife is my 'mami'. They have a nice five bedroom house the floor is all tiled to keep from getting too hot. My uncle son and his wife came with their two kids from the neighboring state of Maharstra, the kids were off and my cousin had his own business so he was taking the month off and spending it at my aunt and uncles house. Being the entreprenuers the 'Patels' about 80% of my cousines have their own business. We had a nice meal which consisted of a vegetable dish, roti (Indian bread), rice, dal (a type of soupey substain), and a tastey sweet for after dinner. This type of meal is very common in the state of Gujurat is to have both roti and rice for the meal. After lunch, my aunt asked if I wanted to take a nap surprised as it was the middle of the afternoon, she said they usually take naps during the afternoon in the air conditioned room, especially during the summer months. Agreeing to it, I then headed off to the air conditioned room with my aunt and my cousin's wife. Everyone found a spot on the bed or slept on a mat on the floor. The men take a nap in a seperate room.

After lunch, I then headed off to my uncles house across the street. My uncle is my father's cousin. Interesting my uncles father and my fathers father are brothers and my uncles mother and my father mother are sister. The resemblance is striking that he has to my father. My aunt is my mothers second cousin. Relations are very important in India. The villages that my parents are from are part of a group of villages called 'Village 42'. Marriages are arranged or encouraged between the villages that are part of the group of 'Villages 42'. It is major taboo to marry someone from the same village as you may be directly related to them!

We then headed off to the Ashram (holy Hindu Temple), where my father's family was part of. It is similar to having a family church. I met the Guru, that my father had gone to, he was 115 years old, but still remembered my father, I was amazed at his memory at that age. After that we headed to where they make Patola silk sari's. Patan is famous for making these sari's and the threads are tie-dyed to create the pattern before the weaving process begins. These saris literally take several months to make. The owner even showed me a picture of him with Colin Powell in Washington D.C. they were so famous they were asked to come for a special visit to the Smithsonian. When we walked outside I noticed all the woman in their colorful sari's. India is very colorful with all the colorful textiles. I also noticed that I did not see as much poverty as I had seen the last time I was in India. India is such a dyanmic country, hailing as the 2nd populous country in the world. I thought to myself 'What is the Face of India? ', I hope to answer this by the time I leave.