Most ridiculous mama & papa bhatia quotes from our recent vacay in Kerala*

7. "I didn't assume, I overheard."- papa bhatia referring to a couple (who have been married for 4 years) on our tea plantation walking tour in Munnar as "newlyweds" without having ever spoken to them. "4 years of marriage is still considered newlyweds; you are newly married until you have been married for 5 years," my father, clearly a marriage expert, further explained to the couple.

6. "South Indians must really like gold."- papa bhatia commenting on the sheer number of roadside billboard advertisements for gold jewelry.

5. "It's not that we don't like your current flatmate, but if you had a ring on your finger, we'd like him a lot more." - mama bhatia's response to my concern they don't like my current (male) flatmate, even though they have never met him.

4. "Did you bring any oil?" - papa bhatia trying to be funny in conversation with a Saudi Arabian medical resident on a boat tour of Periyar Tiger Reserve after finding out where he was from. "What? It's a very funny question," he rebuked after a look of terror swept over my face (no pun intended).

3. "The food here [in Kerala] is much better than the food in Telugu."- papa bhatia on comparing Keralan food to the food they ate on their tour of Tamil Nadu last year (yes, papa did mean Tamil Nadu and btw, Telugu is a language spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh).

2. "Sorry, we meant 'Tamilian food.' It's just that we consider everything south of Delhi to be 'south India.'" - mama bhatia trying (hard) to justify papa bhatia's earlier comment.

1. "We're SO happy right now."- mama & papa bhatia exclaiming between bites of fresh tandoori roti at our last lunch after 5 days of Keralan parotha, Appam and Phulka (which was apparently too long for my Punjabi parents).

p.s. Mama B- thanks for all the goodies you brought me from the USofA :)

*Kerala is beautiful! In addition to the 24 hr. mama & papa bhatia entertainment, the greenery, abundance of coconuts at every corner, delicious seafood curries and variety of boating trips available, Kerala made for good photo taking opps and a welcomed diversion from city-livin.