family gathering

Yesterday the family hosted the yearly memorial for Simon’s grandfather at the house.  Things were a little tricky for a while because an unexpected general strike in town made buying provisions difficult.  Food, cooking gas and kerosene (for the inevitable power outage) all had to be purchased- and purchased by men because the situation in the city was considered unsuitable for women.  They managed it heroically and only one additional trip had to be made across the water for extra yogurt- the silly men only purchased 3 kilos the first time around.

Shikaras waiting for customers street-side.

During the day Simon’s dad and uncle agreed to play cards with us with the warning that they were distracted thinking about the preparations to concentrate properly.  Simon admitted later that he also found the amount of cleaning and cooking the women had to do exhausting to think about.

Geela’s sisters did not appear to help with the cooking 

as expected because they were too busy during the day.

You will be relieved to know that their families 

were able to find the time to attend the evening meal. 

Six priests preformed(?) the 2 hour long religious ceremony in the sitting room while most of the men in attendance, some of whom I suspect were not even invited, smoked and watched movies in the houseboat.  Tea and food had to be shuttled to them continually to prevent them from complaining afterwards that they were not treated nicely. 

Simon’s presence was required in the main room with the men for the meal.  I was also invited, but begged off any stayed with the women all crowded in to the kitchen.   Simon thought he would have rather stayed in the kitchen too until he saw the leftover food being scraped off the plates and returned to the cooks.  He has been here long enough to know that the women will eat whatever them men leave behind.

I am writing this long post because I have an unusual amount of quiet time this morning with everyone so exhausted from yesterday.  It is raining and the town appears to be very quiet (another strike perhaps).  I did not take photos of the event, but have added a few of the lake for good measure.

The family does not eat fish from Dal Lake but someone must.
Fishermen cast nets in the middle of the lake every morning