Fish Ball: Colourful Characters

Chinese New Year Dept: Last December, at the age of 30, I returned to India for the first time since we immigrated to Canada. I was accompanied by my wife, Jennifer. When I told my mother about our plans for the trip, she replied with her trademark bluntness: You re not going to like it. It s dirty. I heard similar responses from other family members but was undeterred. It was simply something I had to do. My parents and siblings had all been back to visit, according to Globe and Mail. We had never met before but Jon treated us like old family. He served us masala dosas and we chatted about the many colourful characters in our family, the latest Bollywood hit movie and shovelling snow. Meeting him was the highlight of my time in Delhi. He made the city come to life and I won t soon forget his infectious laugh and growing up, I was exposed to almost as much Indian culture as Chinese culture. We d eat goat curry along with fish-ball soup during Chinese New Year. My father would belt out Hindi songs at family weddings while the fried rice was being served. His singing always left the wait staff a little confused. Our first stop was Delhi, where we met with my cousin Jon. I was expecting Jon to be traditional read: stuffy but was pleasantly surprised when I saw he had dyed blonde hair and was wearing edgy leather pants. Like India itself, Jon was vibrant and full of life. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.