We got up at 5am in Sevni and left to go back to my home village Rajpura. Then we got ready and went to Ninat for Jignesh's satak. This is a pre wedding ceremony for the groom.


After the event, I spent the evening with my grandparents. I can see how Americans become so frustrated when visiting or talking to my grandparents. They live like they may have all their life. The home was rebuilt about five years ago, and it is modern. However, they still live they did. What I mean is, each morning my grandmother wakes up and goes to light the geyser to start the hot water. Then she puts on a pot of chai, which my dad took over while he was visiting. It drove my gran crazy. (Men are not supposed to do housework) They take baths. Then they do their prayer. They are too old to leave the house and walk to the village temple. We go for them, which is a common practice in Hinduism. Praying for others and conducting fasts and prayers for others is common. So each morning as we walked around the temple bowing down to each God and Goddess, I knew I was doing it for my grandparents. We would take Prasad(food blessed by God) back to my grandparents. My gran cooks on the floor. We have a perfectly fine counter, as well as utensils. She prefers to sit on the floor and do all of her chores. Both my grandparents have an old mentality. They do not get any news. I was going crazy not knowing what was happening in the world, but they did not have a tv, and nobody delivered the paper, because my grandfather is blind, and my grandmother is illiterate. They heard stories by word of mouth if someone came to visit that day. They buy their food for vendors who roll their wooden carts through the village full of different types of vegetables and fruits, none of which ever looked fresh. Yet, my gran would stock up. While we were in town, my dad replaced their refrigerator. My gran is used to leaving food outside. Any type of food. We all know bacteria can grow, and it could be bad for you, but they have done this for years, so she did not know the difference. They wash clothes in the back of the house squatting over a large outdoor stone that has a faucet running over it. We have workers that come to wash clothes and wash dishes. Our workers are from a lower caste. My gran cannot use her pots and pans, and nice dishware because the workers may take it with them. Throughout the day my grandparents eagerly wait for phone calls. They pace around the house. They look forward to hearing about local weddings, and hearing stories from passerby travelers. The greed lies, and cheating flood the village daily. The air is thick and weighed down by negativity and folklore. The stories range from a recent mother and wife from Austin Tx who had a drinking problem, and died from alcohol poisoning, to stories of misfortune, others about the riches of America. The gossip is so intense, there are days it gives you headaches, momentary tears, and even stomach pain. The worst part is when false information is spread through out the village and onto the next. It hurt me to see the reputations of others being degraded and laughed at. What a shame it was. That evening, I had the chance to interview my grandparents for the story corps project. They gave me some interesting answers about their lives. I was able to record it all. They did not understand some of the questions so it was tough, but they got through it. I was proud of them. The one question I really wanted them to answer was what advice would they give to their grandchildren and their children, but they could not understand it. Regardless, I think their life story gives me so much inspiration and values that I will take with me and spread to others. This includes, hope for the darkest days, because in the end my toughest day could not have been anything like my grandparents worst day. Faith for knowing that truth prevails from all of the stories where lies were told and they were cheated, truth prevailed for them. Courage to know that if someone tells you that you cannot do something, you can try harder to prove it to yourself, rather than showing it off to them. Education, knowing that they missed an opportunity to learn because of lack of funding, I know I should appreciate what I have learned, and the freedom of being able to be anything I want to be. Health, having the option to have insurance and taking care of myself. Being able to enjoy fresh food, hot water, running electricity, and the extra perks like going out for a drink, watching tv, going out to see a movie, etc.

Overall, despite the negative views at the way my grandparents and older generations live, I had the chance to understand that they are stuck in their ways. Their home remedies and old recipes are fine. They live a peaceful life. I think it isn't fair to compare today's luxuries to their simplicity. I hope more people can start to appreciate that and leave the elders alone.