Laudi Majra, Punjab

I grew up a city kid.  I had never visited a small village until I was 8 years old.  My grandmother was from a tiny village so when my parents told me we were taking a trip to attend a wedding, I was very excited.  I had never met my relatives or cousins from that part of India.  

In the 1980s, the 8-hour drive from Delhi to Laudi Majra was bumpy and grueling.  Our route did not go through any major highways; just lots of residential areas and towns.  As we drove through narrow residential streets, I peeked into houses to see how people lived their lives.  

As we got closer to the village, my grandmother got more chatty.  She started pointing out all the major landmarks she remembered from her childhood.  She talked about people she knew from the village and how they might be doing, mixed in with her memories of the landmarks we were passing.  

We reached the village early in the afternoon.  As we got out of the car, I immediately began waiting for my dad to arrive (he was driving up solo later in the evening).  As I sat outside my grandmother's house, I could see singular cars approaching from miles away.  Every time I spotted headlights, I would excitedly track the car as it wound through the roads.  After following a car for 20-30 minutes, it finally would get close enough for me to realize that it was someone else.  I watched cars for a good part of the evening until he finally showed up.  

After dinner, when we were getting ready for bed, I had to use the restroom.  It was detached from the main house so one had to walk outside to get to it.  When I stepped out of the house, it was night.  Although there were no street or outdoor lights, to my amazement, I could still see everything under the light of the moon and the stars.  I was so busy staring up at the night sky, I almost ran head-first into a grazing water buffalo.  I remember thinking, this is so great I could study out in the open if I wanted to.  (That never happened!)

The next morning, my father took me to visit his extended grandparents (they must have been in their 90s at the time).  As was customary, as soon as we arrived at their home, they offered tea.  And as was customary, we accepted.  When the tea started boiling, grandmother went to their yard with a tumbler, milked their water buffalo, and finished the tea with the fresh milk.  My jaw fell; my 7-year old mind exploded.  I have no idea what was being discussed over tea.  All I could think about and watch was the water buffalo, mooing and swishing her tail out in the yard.  [Jeet]