Fieldwork with "Lulu"

You may be wondering what Jeff and I have been up to during this long spell between blog posts. Have they been teaching their pup to be a model canine citizen? Have they been hanging out in coffee shops in Patna, or strolling through the tourist sites? Or have they been busting their butts for JPAL, working long, exhausting hours, just as if they were, what's the term, "field RAs"?

Lalu is the best-loved Bihari street dog

As you may have guessed from the title, Jeff and I decided to name our new puppy "Lalu." Not only is it a fittingly cute name, it also sounds like Lulu, Jeff's dog from home. However, that's not why we chose it. We named our little rascal after Lalu Prasad Yadav, notoriously corrupt and wildly popular Bihari politician running against Nitish Kumar (current Chief Minister - think Governor). Jeff mentioned this in a previous blog post, but one highlight on Lalu's resume was when he was jailed for corruption while he was Chief Minister and put his illiterate wife in his place so he could rule from prison: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalu_Prasad_Yadav . Although our pup will never be given the opportunities for devilry that his namesake has had, he's stubborn and charismatic enough to deserve the name. Jeff reminded me that I probably shouldn't use his name on the streets, however, since some people might find it offensive.

We have a puppy!!!

Jeff and I are now the very proud owners of a very tiny puppy, of indeterminate age, breeding and color (light brownish). I am still completely in shock, so I apologize for the explosion of photos; there's a significant part of me that still can't believe we finally have a dog! Honestly, we are so incredibly grateful to Shruti and Rashmi. I'd mentioned on a number of occasions that I really wanted a dog, but they got up at 5am this morning to go puppy hunting, so major props to them! Photos below....