Women's Day- Women in the Family

 I have so many women in the family that I may have lost count. Cousins, sister, daughters, wife and spouses of cousins, nieces.. you get the picture. Here are some of them, remembered again for Women's Day..

New Year Party 2025

 Ok, remember to sign cheques with 2025 as the year- if you sign any. Our party heralding the year was with cousins and their kids, or some grandkids. Held at Pune, we had participation from Mumbai and Australia, and the US. 

Meeting Long-lost Relatives

 Ok, not really lost, but meeting some after long! My paternal cousins who grew up in Belgaum area (Nandgad, to be precise) along with my Dad and his brothers, and I have kept in touch. One branch of the family is global, with Hyderabad as a base. And the second, is also global, with Bangalore as a base. So we met the Bangalore branch with a couple of cousins, and their offspring and also the next gen. It was great catching up - some pics.

On the right is Veena, my nephew Pushkar's wife, now settled on the US West Coast. 

Tiyasi, my nephew Rohit's wife, left in pic above, runs an online business at oagh.in, selling sarees from different parts of India, some custom-made for them by weavers. Samples below. You can visit the website for more, if interested. Or their insta page https://www.instagram.com/oaghindia/

My cousin Prabha, on the right above, with her grandson Raghav, who is Veena's son.

My favourite grandkid is Tiya, who is Rohit and Tiyasi's daughter, above.

We last met at her 1st birthday 2 years ago, but that is not a problem in reconnecting. She tries out her painting skills on my hand!

Rakshabandhan

 It's around the corner, so here are some thoughts.

India has unique thoughts and traditions rooted in those. The brother-sister bond is celebrated at least in two festivals- Rakshabandhan and Diwali-the tail-end of it. 

I had a long line of cousins- maternal and paternal- so it was like a large family growing up. Growing up in Hyderabad, visits to Pune, the stronghold where multiple cousins lived, were regular, but so were Mumbai, Nagpur, Indore, and sometimes, while living in the U.S., New York and Ohio to meet them. 

More recently, back in India, one regular meeting place was at Shrivardhan on the Konkan coast, usually around New Year. We met with families when possible, and it continued for many years. COVID caused a disruption.

We had a celebration with one elder cousin turning 75 a few years ago- we are certainly not young any more. Will continue meetups as long as possible. Pune continues to be the Head Office, with many cousins settled there now.

This year's rakhi has arrived, so let me pose..

Partying With Family

 Some of us cousins met up in a place called Barometer. Some have been in Pune, and some more have just moved. My brother and sister were visiting, from USA and Hyderabad, respectively. Enough excuses to party..

Some of our party..

This above is at another outing, and below, a karaoke session with my niece at it.

A Gathering of Cousins

 I have several, since only my Mom alone had six sisters and a brother. And we have had many gatherings of cousins, almost each year except during the pandemic. So it was one more, that happened recently. A pretty good turnout, in which I tried a shot of Chinese Whisky ( a pic of the bottle follows), and we had a lot of food, banter and antakshari. A couple of nieces were in attendance too.

Most of the attending party. Two aunts were also there.

Grand nephew Khayal.. who I met for the first time.

Taking pics is a challenge. My brother at it- above.

Another niece.. Aparna, with Milind and me.

The Chinese whisky tastes a bit like Feni, but comes in a cute bottle