We reached the motherland when we landed in Delhi airport and continued our onward journey to Ajmer. We finally reached our final destination and it was the most joyous moment was when we reached home to be welcomed by Baby Masi and Nanisab (maternal grandmother). I feel so warm each time I see them; I love them so much. Although we were exhausted from the whole day of travelling, the excitement of being home got to us. Everyone was chatting away; spilling travel tales, bringing out the gifts. The feeling of being home was finally sinking in.
My Nani's home in Ajmer for me is my home in India. For me Ajmer is my city, I know the place and the people; it is always great to be back in Ajmer. Actually Ajmer is my mother's city; she was born and brought up there. She studied there, made her career there and was married off from there. The greatest gift she gave my sister and I was when she decided that her children would be born in this lovely city of Ajmer- Sharif.
Speaking of which, like always my family made a trip to the darga. It is such a spiritual experience going there and even more meaningful as we went there a day before Eid. The crowd and the atmosphere were amazing. We were also lucky to witness the daig being functional. The daig is a massive cooking pot in the darga and is large enough for an adult person to stand in. A kind of porridge is cooked in it to be handed out to the poor. The most amazing thing is that when the cooking is done, the people serving the food jump into the boiling porridge to scoop it out. No one ever burns; power of faith.
Other than the darga, we made our usual visit to Pushkar which is a small holly valley-town 2 hours away from Ajmer. Other than its beautiful temples and ghats, it boosts a vibrant and modern tourist market. The market caters to the tourists due to which you can find spaghetti strap tops, tube tops, ultra miniskirts, Arabian pants, hot pants and the kind being sold in ethnic prints and materials. This is quite a shock as the state of Rajasthan is a conservative state.
Being in Ajmer also means watching movies with Raju Mama and going to Mango Masala. The best part is my sister, Raju Mama and me ride on his motorcycle. Add to the bike ride the winter cold, the fun factor gets upped seriously once we're zipping around town on the bike.
Following the things Ajmer means for me and my family, we celebrated our New Year there. It was a small and simple New Year with family and my mother's best friend and her husband. We played crazy games, had a crazy dance item (by Paru, Chotu Didi and me) and had a delicious pineapple cake.
Our sumptuous New Year pineapple cake
Raju Mama and Paru
With Baby Masi, NaniSab, Geeta Masi, Chotu Didi, Paru and Mummy
Geeta Masi and my NaniSab
The daig being emptied
With Paru, Chotu Didi, Mummy and Geeta Masi in Darga
Chotu Didi, Paru and me at the Phushkar ghat
One of the ghats of Pushkar
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