India Trip: Day 7 – Traveling by Train to Vadodara, Gujarat, India (March 20th, 2022)

Today is finally the day that I will travel to Monish’s childhood home and spend time in the place where he grew up. But first, we’ve got to take a 5-hour train ride from Mumbai, Maharashtra, India to Vadodara, Gujarat, India.

India Trip: Day 6 – A Mumbai Adventure (March 19th, 2022)

This morning began by saying goodbye to Mom and Dad as they are heading back to Vadodara to prepare for us to come stay with them. After sending them off to the train station, Moni and I ventured out to purchase fabric for me to take home! I’ve been looking forward to this moment for months now because as an aspiring fashion designer, I know that India manufactures large quantities of textiles and that I will be able to purchase good quality fabrics at a lower cost while here. Moni and I hopped into an auto and made our way to Tirumala Shopping Centre – let the fun begin!

India Trip: Day 5 – Celebrating Holi (March 18th, 2022)

We woke up pretty late this morning after getting some well-deserved rest following all of the travel and adventure surrounding our recent trip to The Taj Mahal. As I was slowly coming-to, I noticed a sound coming from below that was much different than I’d heard on previous mornings in Mumbai… Moni promptly reminded me that today is Holi! Excitement began to fill my body as I realized that today is the day that I finally get to play Holi – and in India, for that matter!

India Trip: Day 2 – Meeting the Parents (March 15, 2022)

We awoke mid-morning after a full night’s sleep and began to frantically get ready for the busy day ahead. First on the list were our salon appointments that we were on the verge of being late to, so breakfast was scarfed down in a hurry just moments before we rushed out the door. We scurried down the street, hailed an auto and made our way to the salon. Upon arriving, Moni notified the salon staff that we needed to leave no later than 12:30pm as we had a flight to catch that afternoon…

India Trip: Day 1 (Part 2) – Exploring Mumbai (March 14th, 2022)

As Moni and I laid there for a moment, allowing ourselves to fully become awake, we began to notice sounds from the streets below as Mumbai was also beginning to wake up. We ate breakfast in the house prepared by Auntie, then Tanvi walked us down the apartment building and up the street so that we could catch a ride in an auto (also known as an auto-rickshaw) to take us to Westside, a clothing store local to India.

India Trip: Day 1 (Part 1) – Arrival (March 14th, 2022)

We landed at the Mumbai airport at 2:30am. By this time, we had spent about 18 hours total in flight (14 hours from Houston, TX, USA to Doha, Qatar then another 4 hours from Doha, Qatar to Mumbai, Maharashtra, India). Both myself and my partner, Monish, were incredibly exhausted, hungry and…