it started out with a game of cards at bagh bazar.. on a day that there was a street festival in bagh bazar (hardly a festival.. but that's what they called it!).. and to top it off there was load-shedding.. which meant the khaal changed rooms three times in the course of the evening... the surprise of the evening of course was that mami also joined in the game of flush!
of course we welcomed laxmi.. and she came in tiptoeing...
...right into the puja kotha..
.. the post-puja dinner in muwa's room...
... of course there were pataakaas padkoing like crazy all around (forget the no-pataka-ban of the government!).. this meant the doggies went beserk... munu became very quiet and slid and stayed under the bed for most of the evening...
... kutu was a different matter.. he barked EVERY time the pataka was close to home.. and the closer it was the more his puchhar would cover the doghood (whatever little he has of it!) and stretch all the way to his navel!
...the dogs were consoled by cholu...
... annochh's hearing loss was probably a boon for the dog!! notice his tel forhead.. proof that priya did puja to him on his great day on kukur tihar!
... post dinner muwa was talking about how she would make a will!!
.. and when we're talking about matters of fitness, muwa loves to show others how withered her hands have become and how the muscles have 'left' the bone...
... 'yo chura yahaan basthyo.. aba herta kahan pugchha...'
.. the ladies sing bhaili(kutu joined the band trying to run away from the sound of patakas)
... baba initially refused to play juwa on laxmi puja.. and this was what priya did to block his view of the television (and the sound on his headphone)!!!
.. we ended up playing 'in-between' ...
... a thrilled and beaming amar.. after he gambled on a 'all' and won about 80 rupees!!!
.. deusi day saw the boys banding up together under a tentative leadership of robin.. soon ganga overtook and bhattyaoed beautifully, to the boys' delight...
...sample of goodies for daji and sandaji.. outside the box...
... and inside...
mayo and cholu is a pink and good mood...
...muwa applies tika on keshari raj buwa...
.. and then on kanccha raja...
.. the two ex- bada-gurujyu cousins.. the third ex-bada-gurujyu cousin, mahila raja, was ill and could not attend bhai tika
.. cholu's a backlighted vision in pink...
.. after muwa's tika was done it was my turn... just the two of us, sandaji and myself.. daji being away in greece...
.. first the tika...
...then the dubo and makhmali garland
.. and then of course, the goodies on wheels.. 'mobile bhaag'!
... then it was sandaji's turn.. daji not being there to give him 'utpatyang' company, he decided to be sober and put a decent saptarangi row of tika on my forehead, instead of the usual 'face painting'!
... i got a double dhogaan.. sandaji dhogoing on behalf of both brothers
.. i got a great hug...
.. and wonderful gifts.. sari and pashmina combo.. topped with beautiful flowers...
... then sandaji started delving into his mobile bhaag..
...and discovered that there was only smoked pushtakari (instead of rato peda) and then with palms turned upwards and lips turned downwards and bringing out his babaraja tone, he said "khoi aanp?" !! :)
...after the tika we hung around with muwa before we had lunch...
enjoying a bit of mellow sun..
meanwhile baba had this own tika in battisputali with jyoti and prava.. priya was in bagh bazar taking all these pictures.. so baba ended up with few photos... priya this year had no one to put tika on.. so she and mayo (who also didn't have any brothers around in kathmandu)went to the rani pokhari gopaleshwar mahadev instead!
