A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to New Year's Dinner:

I spent the holidays in Chennai, a city in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. There, I stayed with family friends who also live part time in Connecticut down the street from us. Originally, I thought I might be in Chennai for long enough to do some volunteer work. My friend Aparna's family runs an organization that does disaster relief and various related projects. Though I didn't end up being in Chennai for long, they invited me to New Year's dinner. Address in hand, I arrived in the trusty auto where my host was on the porch inviting me in. I was welcomed by his son and daughter, both of whom were married to foreigners (one from Chicago, one from Denmark). Before long, I was brought a plate of delicious food. I asked Aparna's aunt, Usha, about her work but she said she didn't much feel like talking about it. So, we discussed other topics. When we started talking about Aparna, it became clear that something was not right. They have a niece in the states named Aparna but she lives in Texas and is a doctor. My Aparna lives in Montana and is an lawyer. Hmmm. Then, it turns about that my hostess' name was Uma, not Usha. I was at the wrong place-- Usha lived a couple doors down! So, with good blessings, they sent me on my way to Usha's along with my box of sweets I brought. I arrived at Usha's just in time for their New Year's dinner. First we served the wise elders. Then, we sat at ate delicious festival foods, made all the more enjoyable by eating with our hands. After dinner, we had coffee, sweets, and continued to laugh about the blunder I made. What an amazing place where people invite strangers into their home and feed them. Only in India would this have ever happened.