Jayesh's Taj Mahal Photo Dump (stories and videos to come later)































 

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Well...Crap.

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My kids have given me a lot grief about dysentery. Kind of ironic because our travels will lead us to Oregon in a matter of days. Thankfully we had plenty of concerned family, air conditioning, and access to the needed medicines. It was so wonderful to see my aunt and cousins again. We were starting to feel under the weather before arriving at my aunty's, so even though she was worried about how sick we got, there is no way she caused it. She did ensure we were in good health before we left, otherwise she would have had the doctor come to the house and give us IV fluids.
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Goodbye, Mumbai

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It's only now that I truly feel like I am on my way home. Only a couple minutes into our flight, and the lights, glitz and squalor of Mumbai have been left behind as our jet races over the Arabian Sea. Briefly I spotted the lights of a cargo ship reflecting off the water but even that faded into the night, slipping over the horizon.  With a murmured "Goodbye Mumbai," my visit to India truly feels done. The one big difference this visit from other visits is in the past there has been this feeling of finality. When I was 10 years old, I had no real control over when or how I might return. Years later when I was 18 years old, I had some degree of autonomy but no true financial ability to return. Another thirteen years after that, I was lucky enough to have a brief visit but as a father to young children, raising them was the top priority for both time and money. Now it's different. My children are adults, now. They made space in their lives for in...
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Amee Palshikar ahay! (We are Palshikar!)

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It has been more than thirty years since I have visited our ancestral village of Palshi. I was young then, and did not understand what I was seeing, but remember the ancestral home built with sturdy teak timbers I remember the dirt streets and a deep well that my father and his siblings would dive into as children. Even though I was a child, I was struck with my longing to connect with the people, left with a determined feeling that I must return. As years have passed, I have heard stories about returning to the ancestral village presented in different ways. It may have happened that our family was forced to sell the land and the villagers feel shame or even mild concern that we may desire to reclaim our ancestral land. My brother said he went back and got a polite reception, with locals understanding who he was. I am told the local Brahmin is friendly with my cousin and the family that live in the ancestral house are friendly as well. My cousin said there is even a contested hectre of...
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