A Letter

Dear daughter,

Dear Nikhil's summer vacation will be over in a few days time from now. Dear Ravi has not taken him anywhere during the holidays. You know dear Nikhil pretty well. He is feeling much bored at Fremont and in order to keep him in good moods dear Ravi has planned a trip to of Los Angles which serves two purposes. At the first instance, we can visit Disney for the second time and see the newly built California Adventure Park there and secondly we can also attend to dear Arun's friend Mr.Ashok Thanthrady,'s wife namely Deepali's baby shower too. Our Dhamaraya spends lavishly. He does not want to disturb Ashok .He has booked a suite at a hotel called Stay Bridge near Disney for our stay which may cost him at least 410$. Besides, entrance tickets for parks for two days which may cost him not less than 500 $.Dear Roopa and your mom have prepared everything like thukdi, cashew, and apple fried rava, juice, mango juice, coke, mineral water etc for the trip.

It is in dear Ravi's brand new Honda Odyssey van, we embarked on our 450 miles journey at 4 p.m. on 21-08-03. Ravi's car is fitted with a navigator. If we feed our address and destination address, the route appears on the little screen and the recorded voice also guides us. The roads are very beautiful. Heavy traffic comprising mainly of cars of various makes and a few trucks carrying goods from place to place could be found at anytime of the day on these freeways. We do not come across even a single pot hole on them. From the opposite side also we do not come across any vehicle for altogether a different route is provided for the vehicles plying from the other direction. As such driving of vehicle has been made easy as well as safe here .Vehicles generally ply at a speed of 70- 80 miles per hour or even more. Everybody follows lane discipline invariably while driving their vehicle. Moreover the traffic police exercise strict control over the vehicular traffic. They have prescribed speed limits at various points .They conduct surprise checks and impose heavy penalties to violators.

On the way, we come across California Central Valley. It is a large, flat valley that dominates the central portion of the U.S. state of California. It is home to many of California's most productive agricultural efforts. The Central Valley is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. As such a number of very large agricultural fields or fruit gardens on the both sides of the road attract our attention. Definitely, each farm measures over 100 acres. Farming is fully mechanized in America. Abundant water is available everywhere. At anytime of the day, sprinklers can be switched on. Tomatoes, strawberry, grapes garlic etc are the some of the crops that we come across. We do not come across anywhere any big worker force at all. In fact human beings are rarely spotted. Pesticides; fertilizers etc are not fed to plants manually but sprinkled over them by means of helicopters. An Individual holding those farms or gardens is negligible. Those farms and gardens are maintained by limited companies. Near a beef factory on the way thousands of cows were found in a field adjacent to it. Rest places are provided at a number of places on a freeway .The distance between one rest place and another is quite reasonable. Rest places are not only cool and but also calm and quiet and are usually provided with all types of modern amenities required at such places like restrooms, lawns, trees ,telephones ,tables cum benches thrash bins . We find at regular intervals sign boards indicating availability of gas, food etc on a freeway Our Nikhil informs about his muthi or haggu only at the last moment. Dear Ravi has to accompany him hurriedly to rest rooms. Here all gas stations generally have restrooms and shopping outlets. It is a blessing in disguise. But at shopping malls in Fremont which he visits frequently dear Nikhil knows where the restrooms are and manages himself. Thus, after two or three stop over, we covered over 200 miles by 9.00p.m and reached a food court. We bought some coke there and ate our supper i.e. Palav carried from home. On our way, from time to time dear Neha entertained us with her short but sweet roars. Promptly, dear Roopa used to feed her with milk and keep her mouth shut. At about 11 .30 p.m, we reached our destination. It is, dear Ravi alone who had to drive the vehicle through out.

Next day it was Baby Shower. In India, you know that the first delivery of a woman generally takes place at her parent’s house. After the lady completes her sixth month of carrying the baby in her womb a ceremony takes place generally at their home or her husband’s ancestral home which is known to us as shimantha. In western countries in lieu of shimantha they hold a ceremony called baby shower. Those Indian women who live in U.S.A, U.K etc for various reasons cannot come to India to deliver the baby. So they follow western culture and at the same time they cannot ignore their culture. As per the baby shower here one has to ignore traditional rules. Any relative, close friend, or close co-worker should feel perfectly okay about planning a baby shower. Most baby showers are held before the baby is born. Any time after conception is fine, but a shower makes for a welcome diversion toward the end of pregnancy. Besides, it just doesn't seem real if the expectant mom isn't sporting a big belly. When setting a date for the party, consult with the parents-to-be first. They may be able to warn others about scheduling conflicts. One may have to accommodate the schedules of grandparents, for example, even if they aren't the guests of honor. Nothing is worse than planning a party and sending out invitations (see below) only to find out that the most important people can't make it. If one decides to schedule a shower for after the baby is born, that's fine, too. Then guests can bring gifts specific to the baby's sex. And with a baby as the centerpiece, one’ll have a surefire icebreaker and conversation topic. Here the baby shower is conducted by Indians with suitable alterations to the one that is explained hitherto. Both the Indian and western traditions are followed. Either mother, mother in law, or friends join together and conduct baby shower. In case of Deepali’s her parents had come from India. They had bought green sari, green bangles etc. Husband and wife were made to sit together. They were shown Arathi by elderly ladies. Then couple sought blessings from elders. Various dishes which were liked by the pregnant lady were prepared for the occasion. All the friends and well wishers were invited for the occasion. The function was followed by a sumptuous dinner. Everybody showered best wishes to the couple. Friends and relatives made presentations to the couple. Here gifts are from Toys "R" Us, Babies “R “Us, and Kids “R” Us, which cater to many of the needs of new arrival. The place was well decorated. Thus suitable modifications were made to Shimantha and Baby Shower was held. Baby shower games were also included.

I am feeling sleepy I would like to narrate rest of our trip tomorrow That is visit to Disney and other places. I was very happy to know about dear Panna's drawings. Though, you wrote after a long time, the mail contained at least some matter. Amma as usual is in her own world. My grand children are really making my life cheerful especially, our Cheerikutta. “Hangama "cassette was down loaded on the computer attached to T. V. I have watched it partially. On another day, I will watch it fully and keenly. There are no mails from dear Thulasiram. Please you at least write me about developments there from time to time.

Blessings to all of you there

Anna