Blogging from India

I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Mumbai India, sipping on some chai. I got here last Thursday morning. The trip has been average so far. My dad's birthday celebration went extremely well last Saturday night. All our relatives came and his friends were there as well. My uncle organized the whole thing and MC'd the event. He recorded various memebers of the family saying a few words about my father and incorporated it into a montage which was played for everybody. I got up on stage and said a few words which were received quite well.
The food was great too. A whole slew of appetizers, a several course meal, and a large selection of deserts. My family definately outdid themselves here but a 60th birthday only comes around once and my dad is not one to really celebrate every birthday. He was very grateful.
Friday was the puja which is a traditional way of celebrating one's birthday in the Indian culture. It was a plethora of old traditions most of which I don't understand and am not too enthusiastic to learn. It was interesting to watch but after the 7th hour I started to get a little tired. You heard correctly, 7 hours! That is just a little extreme. If I ever have a puja done when I get older I will not go for one of these long winded ordeals. I would go for the abridged version of about 30 minutes. That would be more than enough for me.
Tonight my Aunt and Uncle are coming to pick me up from Thane (town) and take me to Bandra (another town in Mumbai). I'll spend the remainder of my vacation at my Aunt's place. This Aunt and Uncle of mine treat me as one of their own sons so it is always a pleasure spending time at their place.