Fourth and Fifth Visit

Fourth Visit: Massaji's daughter, old city section of Patiala:
This home somehow provided a private, quiet sanctuary among the crowded, narrow roads that make up the older section of Patiala. I took pictures of her flowery courtyard, and the open (sewer?) channels that ran between the road and the houses.

Fifth Visit: Lunch with Navjot's grandfather's brother's family in Rajpura.

We were warmly welcomed into this palace of a home forlunch. I think we gave them about 20 min notice before we arrived. Navjot's late grandfather's brother said many things to make us feel at home, most touching was: " You are my children." For dessert, we tried a dish called bauli, which is the first milk from a cow after she has her calf: when the milk is heated, it curdles naturally. It is sweetened with sugarcane. After lunch grandfather's brother and his son gave us a tour of their land: a field of wheat, which they use to make their flour. We also saw a pen with two cows and a calf, a vegetable field, and a courtyard. Some modern luxuries sat among this farmland: an exercise facility, a basketball court, a swimming pool with a fountain designed to look like a waterfall over a mountain. Everyone and the animals seemed content and pleasant....except for the dog. The dog stood in its cage, and growled menacingly at all of us. We were told it was a mix of a St. Bernand and a Siberian Husky. We were invited to return for a wedding in May. I wondered how hot it would be in May. On this day it was sunny, around 75 degrees. Nice weather for the beach.