India - Christmas 2001 in Mumbai

From the 14th to the 24th of December, 

we spent the time in Mumbai, India, with Shree's family.

Shree arranged for a family outing for all of us, by renting a car for a whole day (for 2000 rupees, or about $42 US) and had it take us to several spots. The driver was two and a half hours late, which almost ruined the mood for the day, but we made the best of it.

The first place we went was The Gateway to India, at the tip of the island that makes the main "city" of Mumbai.

The view from the right side of the gateway, part of Mumbai in the distance.

The view from the left side of the gateway, another part of Mumbai showing in the distance.

The view from looking straight at the Gateway, of the boats. The water here is too shallow for the ships, so there are only smaller boats able to come here.

From left to right: Shree's brother, Parag, Daddy, Shree's youngest brother, Deepak, Mamma and then, me.

While outside the vehicle, a "holy man" came and "blessed" me and Shree's mother. He tied a string with a red and yellow powder on my wrist, and put the bindi dot of yellow on my forehead.
It took two 'wet-ones' to get it off later.
The back of the guy in the picture (green shirt) is our driver (yeah, the one that was two hours late to pick us up).

The Hanging Gardens of India. 

I stopped for a moment under this arbor to get out of the blazing heat of the sun, and Shree's dad decided it was a 'Kodak moment."

Let's see just how many people we can fit under one little arbor. This time Shree is the photographer because Daddy didn't want to be left out.

Shree caught his Dad talking to me and recorded the moment forever for posterity.

Shree was testing the new camera we had taken as a gift for his dad, and spent some time following everyone around, snapping them when they didn't expect it.

One of the places we went on our outing with the driver was The Aquarium. They did not  permit pictures inside, so there is only this one from the outside.  I guess they didn't want us scaring the fish with the flash. :)

Then it was home and Tea Time.  Just how many people does it take in one tiny kitchen to make tea? Shree took the photo to prove it, as least for this one time, that it takes five well-intentioned people to make tea.  I didn't have the heart to tell them that I am not a big fan of tea with milk in it.  I drank it anyway and didn't say anything.  (Did I mention this was only my second trip to India and second time to see them? We were still in that "getting to know you" phase.) Eeyore and I were on good behavior. :)

Deepak seems to be really enjoying his tea.
I teased him that he was drinking something other than tea, from the look on his face.

Shree's Mom was, is and always will be, the sweetest, kindest mother-in-law I could ever imagine

The rest of the time, we just spent with Shree's family.  Of course, Shree and I took off a time or two on our own to see parts of Mumbai that he frequented when he lived there.  We visited his college, where we were thrown out because we weren't students there and where they lived when his dad worked for BARC.  Then back "home" to Singapore on Xmas day.