From Bangalore

We're here in Bangalore, where we arrived yesterday evening after
almost missing our flight from Delhi. We had trouble finding
appropriate transportation to the airport from our hotel, due to the
amount of baggage we had. We ended up taking two auto-rickshaws.
That was probably a lucky decision, because they w\could wiggle in and
out of the heavy traffic, which we did not anticipate. Still, our
rickshaw had to stop and get gas along the way and Ani's rickshaw
ended up going to the wrong airline terminal, so it was a very close
thing indeed to missing the plane. I was \getting somewhat panicky
without Avinash there and they were doing the final boarding call and
we didn't even have boarding passes yet. Fortunately, I was able to
enlist the help of a Spicejet employee and I think that he bent some
rules for us to make the flight safe and sound when Ani finally showed
up at the terminal, running and pulling three heavy suitcases in the
100 degree heat. That was an experience I would rather not repeat!
We were all so shaken up by the experience it seemed like the flight
was over before it begun, because it took us quite a while to calm
down and cool off! We arrived in B'lore and checked into our hotel
and went to a Hyderabad-style restuarant on Brigade Road for supper.

Our hotel in Bangalore is an old Raj-era edifice, without A/C, but
that's ok in this garden city which is somewhat cooler than elsewhere
in India. We have been enjoying the huge Lalbagh Botanical Gardens
and just had a wonderful and very cheap meal at a central-Asian
restaurant called Samarkand. This afternoon we may go to the city
market and perhaps do some shopping along Bangalore's famous
Michigan-avenue style M.G. Road.

That's all the news for now. Tell Dad to give the cats a pat for me
and Suki too.