Saanvi papa! :D

A picturesque village.

Mehendi happening at home.

She came along with her mother.

It was her mother's friend's wedding. :)

She was a mamma's kid for a while.

No talking. No smiling.

"Who are these strangers?

Amma, where have you got me?

What is it that these strangers are applying on their hands?

It gives out a strange smell. :o

Why are we here?

Umm, I can see some familiar faces.

But still, Why are we here?? ", her mind preoccupied with thoughts like these. :p

And then, eager to know what's happening around, she left her mamma's hand to check what the other ladies were upto.

Everyone calling out - Sanvi.. Sanvi.. Sanvi..

"Dude, do you even know me? I have never seen you before.  Is that (s-a-n-v-i) your favourite five letter word for the moment? Okay, introduce yourself. I need to know who you are first.", lost in contemplation wearing a bemused smile. :)

After a while, feeling a little comfortable with all the attention, she steps down and then her first word is 'baunni' with a totally adorable smile. 'Baunni' and 'Bala' are the most frequently used words in saanvi's speech. :)

( Banunni -> Bagundi -  It's a telugu word which means  - It's nice!

Bala -> Baledu - means  - It's not nice! )

And then, in the next few minutes we became friends. :D

I have no idea how! But we became friends. Yaay! :)

She calls me 'harry akka'. She actually meant 'Hari akka'. :)

Ya, I love my name. It's my favourite six letter word. :D
But that's okay :p  We are friends now, so harry akka is accepted. :D  

Fun begins now!

We go out, we come in, we play, we talk, we wash off our mehendi, we talk again, we irritate people, we get irritated, we share chocolates, we get ready, we go out again, we click some photus, we eat ice-creams :D, we stand before the AC, we get some air, some boredom, we go out again and then this goes on.. ;)

A fortunate stroke of serendipity. :)

Oka city lo,

Pakkinti aunty peru aunty
Edurinti aunty peru aunty
Mummy friend peru aunty
Friend mummy peru aunty
Andaru auntyle!

Ade oka oorlo,
Pakintlo atta, tana pakkane mammaya valla pakana pedda thatha.
Itu tirigithe Chinna thatha, rajima.
Intlo babailu, pinnilu, athalu, mamayyalu, nanamma, thatha, boledu mandi.
Valla pillalu - valla pillala pillalu - banthi bhojanalu - portico kinda kaburlu - current povadalu - pandirlu - 3 pakodilu 4 bajjilu - *chalaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa mandi janalu*. :)) 

Ooru motham manade. Andaru chuttale. :D

I love Giant-Joint-Families. I wish they were everyday stories! :D

In every conversation, there's a sense of true freedom - to talk about anything and everything.
I was searching for an alternative in english for this, I gave up. I couldn't find a word that could replace this one. 
'Chanuvu' - It conveys volumes of how mad and carefree you can be with someone.

In spite of facing each other everyday, I never spoke to my next door aunty for so long, as much as I spoke to next door neighbours back at my granddads place. I met people who knew me for ages, people whom I knew for ages. We hardly meet, yet the distance is so negligible. :)  

It was 4 in the evening. Power was off. Our ups drained. We all came out and sat under the portico, just then came one-thammudu and two-chellelu :p. I haven't met them for the past so-many years. They've all grown up. I was trying to recollect their names, surprisingly, all of them called me by my name, I'm like whaaat-you guys-remember-my-name??! I then heard an inner voice screaming at me, 'Shame one you harika!'.
We were friends in no time :D

After a while we were bored and then we went to meet mamayya and atta.
There was a much larger gathering awaiting us.
Pedda thatha, two-two athas, mamaya, annaya, three-tamudulu, three-chelellu. :D

The sun set. It was pitch dark - the day after no-moon. Still no one complained, no one asked if the ups supported fans, no one searched for cell phones ( I actually 'didn't have time' to check messages on whatsapp :p I was occupied to that extent! :D - I didn't even carry my phone along) - we talked, listened to stories, walked through history, most importantly we laughed - we laughed till our cheeks hurt.

Peda thata started narrating a story he knew about Bandar fort (Machilipatnam Fort).
Apart from introspecting historical significance and correctness of the story - isn't it awesome to hear stories from an elderly person whose wrinkles date back to the age of  britishers in India?

That night, the only sound I could hear was the song of the wind and happy cheerful laughter.

How often do you get to spend such hilarious nights under a starry night sky?

'Travel is about discovery. But more than seeing new places, travel is about discovering something about yourself, about epiphanies, finding "aha" moments, when you feel connected with your surroundings, when life makes perfect sense.'

That night, that moment, life made perfect sense to me. :))

Just being there seemed to be enough. I felt connected with the place, people, the deep black soil, the song of the wind, the scorching heat, powerless nights, starry skies.

Sometimes this magic lasts a few minutes, sometimes I feel it for days. But every single time it makes the trip more meaningful. If I were in charge of my family, a weekend at this place every month would be made mandatory. :)

Dear May, I love you till the moon and all the way back. :*
I miss you very much.