Top Ten Things I like about India

10) The maid. I haven't washed dishes, folded clothes, mopped a floor or cleaned a bathroom since July. The maid is taking a couple of days off next week, I'm not sure what I will do.

9) The driver. It is so relaxing to be driven everywhere. Prasad and I carpool to and from work and it's nice to chat and not worry about the traffic. The only pain is that we lose our independence.

8) The cook. It's great to have fresh food, salads and chappatis every day. I do complain about his cooking but at the end of day, it really shaves off so much time that I get to enjoy with the kids. Also we entertain more since we have the added help.

7) Living in a gated community. The kids are more independent and bike to their friend's homes without supervision. A luxury we did not have in the US except with our immediate neighbors.

6) The exotic fruits that are so tasty and delicious. See pictures above. Any time I see an exotic fruit growing on a tree, I have this dire need to take a picture of it.

5) All the travel we're doing, it's so much fun to plan our holidays. We used to travel when we lived in the US but this is a welcome change to travel in india.

4) Seeing our relatives. We spend a lot more time with our cousins, uncles and aunts. They live in Bangalore and we see them fairly regularly. We have also reconnected with our relatives in other parts of India too.

3) Indian food. I do miss eating non-Indian food but not as much I I thought I would. The food at my work cafeteria is still appealing believe it or not and it's great to be able to make the time to be eat a proper lunch everyday. I still haven't started eating street food yet, but it sure does look inviting!

2) Experiencing all the Indian festivals. There are so many festivals that I did not get to experience living in the US and although we did celebrate Diwali and Dassera, it's a bit different experiencing them in India.

1) Did I mention shopping?!? Because it deserves the top spot.