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Entries in Vinu (1)

Wednesday
Apr112012

Return to India, Part 3: My Facebook friend, Ramz, her mischievous brother, her nationally recognized achiever mom, her dad at the wheel

 

 

 

You have heard the old adage, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease." Be certain, Niece Ramya Srivinas, "Ramz," is not a squeaky wheel. She is not complaining about anything and she is not a nuisance. She keeps a pleasant demeanor. The smile on her face is for real. She is fun to be with and to communicate with. Yet, as I always do, I took all kinds of pictures in India and shot many little vignettes. I will get to some of them, and some of them I will never get to - most of them, in fact - there are just too many and time is too short.

I am pretty certain I would have gotten to this vignette of Ramz and family, because we are Facebook friends and Ramz sends me a few pokes, every day. I would have remembered and I would have gone back and found these images at some point before I finished the series - but probably not for awhile yet. I took these pictures shortly before those of us who rode the train departed Bangalore to Pune. When we arrived in Pune, I found a Facebook message from Ramz asking to see the pictures.

This kind of thing is simple with most people, because by comparison they don't have that many pictures to sort through, prepare and post as I do, and they don't spend the time with the individual images that I do, either. It is not simple with me. I have a continual river of photogaphs to deal with and it can be very hard to reach in and snatch particular images out of it.

I promised Ramz I would get them sooner or later. A bit later, I got another request from her, and another after and still one more. And every time I see a poke from her on Facebook, I think about these photos and how she wants to see them. So here they are, Ramz.

This is Ramz' little brother, Rajeev. He is famous across southern India and even worldwide for being very mischievous. This is so, because of the appearances he makes on Ramz's Facebook page. Indeed, Ramz does have readers across Southern India and worldwide - I, for example, am one of her world-wide readers.

So, truly, he is famous worldwide.

And now his fame grows a little more.

 

 

 

I was a little boy once and I still remember how it felt to be taken onto the lap of a beautiful woman relative or family friend who would hug and smooch me and tousle my hair.

It was damned embarrassing... and yet... something about it... quite nice!

I think Rajeev is embarassed - I think Rajeev finds it quite nice. Even as he struggles to get away, he enjoys the attention and affection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Lalitha Srivinas, mother to Ramya and Vinu. Right after the wedding, at a function in Mumbai to honor Indian women of achievement in conjunction with the International Women's Day, Lalitha received the number 1 Women Achievers of India award from the State Bank of India.

Lalitha has developed innovative ways to help the visually impaired read and cope with daily life - and with banking. She is visually impaired herself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I do not know if there is a photographer gene, but, just as Ganesh is, it appears to me that Ramz may well be a natural-born photographer. She is continually changing her Facebook profile picture - mostly with self-portraits - and many of them are amazing - glamourous, even.

And I see promise in the fun and creative pictures that show up in her Facebook albums.

So here she is, Ramz - the Amazing Self Portraitist - standing in the night street light.

But where is her mischievous brother, Rajeev?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There he is!

And there he goes! Rajeev - the Mischievous One.

Rajeev waves goodbye.

Dad is at the wheel.

Off they go. They were not able to come to Pune for the wedding. I have seen none of them since - but I bet if I go to Facebook right now, I will find a poke waiting for me from Ramz.

 

 

 

Series index:

India series, part 1: With a little help from the Indian Air Force, I begin my India series without actually beginning it
Return to India, Part 2: Pain beneath the fan, a sprawling tree, monkey on a string; those I would soon join on a train ride; the garland
Return to India, Part 3: My Facebook friend, Ramz, her mischievous brother, her nationally recognized achiever mom, her dad at the wheel
India series, Part 4: When you overtake an elephant on the highway, be sure to pass on the right; birthday remembrance; In Wasilla, pass "oversize" on the left
Return to India, Part 5: I wander the cold, empty, streets of Bangalore
Return to India, Part 6: A cow, blessed and safe; Suji takes me to lunch, then goes out with Bhanu to do some wedding shopping
Return to India, Part 7-A: A three-snack outing as mother and daughter shop for Suji's wedding
Return to India, Part 7-B: On the painted holiday of the final full moon of winter, Sujitha and Kruthika go back to get a necklace
A spacer only - the Buddha and the glamour poster ad
Return to India, Part 8: henna, to highlight her beauty and deepen the love between bride and groom; a moment on the way to the train
Return to India, Part 9: A prayer and a blessing for Suji; we head for the train; three calls to Manu
Time for another spacer - the green man who showed up at the railroad station
Return to India, Part 10: The train to Pune, part 2: Sujitha by the window as a thin thread of her India flows by
Return to India, Part 11: On the train, part 3: Ganesh Ravi - Photographer: how we discovered his hidden talent
Return to India, Part 12: On the train, part 4: After dark
Return to India, Part 13: train ride, part 5: we click and clatter into Pune, take a perilous walk and step into a world beyond imagination
Return to India, Part 14: The groom his wedding suit; me in mine
Return to India, Part 15: A function to mark the final night Sujitha would spend with her family before the wedding
Return to India, Part 16: Inside the Biradar house: portrait of an elder woman - portrait of a young girl
Return to India, Part 17: We dine in the home of the groom's parents, then join in the Puja of Kalasha
Return to India, Part 18: Slideshow: Sujitha and Manoj at the wedding hall - Engagement and Haldi Night
Return to India, Part 19: The wedding band, in the visual style of Sgt. Pepper's (10 image slide show)
Return to India, Part 20: The groom rides a white horse to the temple, there is dancing in the street; Sujitha and Manoj are wed
Return to India, Part 21 - Benediction: Sujitha takes me to the sacred waters; fish dine - a crow flies