We had the pleasure of attending Geeta's 7th birthday celebration (Laxmi's daughter).
This is the lovely and curious Geeta. She periodically accompanies Laxmi during the evenings while she prepares dinner. Our apartment then becomes her hunting ground. She likes to inspect the rooms, play with our computers, draw and take pictures, get into Meli's pencil box and my make-up bag, and she loves to speak to us in Hindi as if we understood.
Auntie picked us up around 8:30pm and walked us over to Laxmi's home. Before then, we had no idea where or how close Laxmi lived to us. We soon found out that she lives in a slum neighborhood tucked behind some apartments just across the street. It was dark outside, but we managed to slither through some narrow/unpaved pathway without harm. Laxmi, her husband, two children and sister in law share a room the size of a standard US laundry room. They didn't have much, but Laxmi said they are "very happy" as she proudly noted that her union was a "love marriage." We were humbled to take part in the celebration. <3
I will spare you the details on the celebration, and let the pictures do the talking.
