American Expats In India

While I lived in Gurgaon I never wanted to leave India

2012-01-27T19:17:00.000+05:30

Hey there,

So, a short time ago I got an email from a fellow at Merinews (www.merinews.com) asking me to contribute a small essay on our stay in Gurgaon. Always happy to help. The essay I sent them was indeed small. I love that place and could discuss it endlessly. But I wont, at least here. Anyway, since the genesis of the request was as a result of this blog, I thought I would complete the circle and put a link to the article below. Hi India, hope all is well with you. Things good here.

While I lived in Gurgaon I never wanted to leave India

Dīpāvalī kī hārdika śubhakāmanā'ē

2010-11-05T20:39:00.000+05:30

We are coming for a visit and will be there the day after Diwali. You have no idea how much I am looking forward to it. Really, no idea. Enclosed find a picture of my beer cellar in the US. Note the inclusion of the Tiger Beer, which, although not an indian beer, I enjoyed many times on our balcony in Central Park One. See you tomorrow Gurgaon and happy Diwali!!

Pieces of India

2009-07-28T19:19:00.004+05:30

I keep finding vestiges of India In my belongings. A ten rupee note, a receipt from Cafe Coffee Day. This morning on the train to work I came across a five rupee stamp reading "Leopard Cat". We live in a beautiful town that I could not complain about even if I wanted to. Still, India keeps tugging at me. I learned a little about myself from my experience in India. Mostly that I have a lot to learn but also that there is a lot our there worth learning. We are trying to work a visit to India into our plans for the future. Go figure. Another thing I've learned is that India took a piece of me when I left it. And you know what? I don't want it back.

End Game

2009-05-03T18:27:00.000+05:30

Some time ago, I noticed that my local (Indian) phone had either the Nokia theme ring tone or some other banal ring tone. Every Indian I met had a really cool or at least unique ring tone. I tried to let it go but after a while I got jealous enough and asked someone to get me another ring tone. Luckily, a guy picked one of the ring tones available on my Nokia phone so I did not have to pay to download it. The ring tone was kind of catchy and people always, and I mean always, give me kind of curious look when it rings. I always look right back at them and say something clever like "Indian music" or something like that. A couple of months ago my friend Nitin told me that the song was actually one he knew and he sent me the lyrics as the ring tone is just that, a tone with no lyrics. Here are the lyrics in Hindi, and translated by Nitin into English. They are kind of beautiful and they are Kristina and our good bye song to India.

thodisi dhuul meri dharti ki mere watan ki
A little bit of soil of earth of my country,
thodisi Khushbuu baurai se mast pavan ki
A little bit of scent of the mad winds,
thodisi dhondhane waali dhak-dhak dhak-dhak dhak-dhak saansein
{dunno the meaning of dhondhane wali, maybe it means fast}
A little bit of lively and fast breaths,
jin mein ho junoon junoon voh boonde laal lahuu ki
Those red drops of blood, which have passion in them,
yeh sab tuu mila mila le phir rang tuu khila khila le - 2
You mix all of them, and create a new color,
aur mohe tuu rang de basanti yaara
And friend, you color me saffron,
mohe tuu rang de basanti
mohe mohe tuu rang de basanti - 9
oh mohe rang de basanti basanti rang de basanti - 2
Color me saffron .. {repeated many times}

sapnen rang de, apne rang de
Color my dreams, color my beloved,
khushiyaan rang de, gam bhi rang de
Color the happiness, and the sadness too,
naslen rang de, faslein rang de
Color all species, color all crops,
rang de dhadkan, rang de sargam
Color the heart beats, color the notes,
aur mohe tuu rang de basanti yaara
And friend, you color me saffron,
{after this, repeated from the first stanza}

dheemi aanch pe tuu zara ishq chadha
On a mild flame, put some love (to cook)
thode jharne laa, thodi nadi mila
Bring some waterfalls, mix some rivers,
thode saagar aa, thodi gaagar laa
Come here some oceans, bring some (water) pots,
thoda chhidak chhidak, thoda hila hila
Sprinkle a little, and then shake it,
phir ek rang tu khila khila
And then create ONE color,
mohe mohe tuu rang de basanti yaara
And friend, you color me saffron,
mohe tuu rang de basanti
Color me in saffron (color).

basti rang de, hasti rang de
Color the inhabitation, color the existance,
hans hans rang de, nas nas rang de
Color in jubiliation, color each vein (or artery, )
bachpan rang de, joban rang de
Color the childhood, color the youth
ab der na kar sachmuch rang de
Don’t delay it anymore, color me in reality,
rang rez mere sab kuchh rang de
O painter, color everything,
mohe mohe tuu rang de basanti yaara
And friend, you color me saffron,
{continued from the first stanza again}

What the heck?

2009-05-02T09:43:00.002+05:30

A few weeks ago we were in the Hauz Khas section of New Delhi wondering around and we came upon these fellows (believe it or not in a place named Deer Park). It looks as if someone had taken some gauze and wrapped their antlers with it. Kind of like antler bumpers in case they should get in to a deer fender bender. The thing is, there were also deer (in the same herd or whatever it's called) that had regular bony antlers. Weird. I asked Kristina why just to get a picture of what she looks like when she is pondering something (see the last picture).

Newest and best priced (read cheapest) custom made Suit

2009-05-01T08:23:00.000+05:30

I had this copied from a super duper expensive suit that Kristina got me. It cost roughly 140 dollars us including material and labor. The only problem is that I look like a Mafia goon from eastern Europe in the last picture. Actually, maybe that's not a problem. Worse problems to be had I guess. Whatever.

Mausam garam hai, nah? (The weather is hot, no? More or less.)

2009-04-30T15:05:00.004+05:30

Holy mackerel it's hot here. Now, let's see. To convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, first you divide the Celsius number by the square root of negative one, then multiply by two times the square root of two then add the last number of pi, then multiply by the circumference, right? What does that equal? Oh yeah, one billion degrees. Of all the things I will miss about India, and there are many, I assure you (Dal Makhni anyone?), I will not miss the seventeen crore lakh degree weather we are experiencing right now.

Signs Redux

2009-04-29T16:59:00.001+05:30

I agree with every one of these signs we saw except the surveillance one. I especially agree with the Dust Free Mausmi sign. Awesome.

Were it not that I had bad dreams

2009-04-27T23:31:00.003+05:30

We saw this little girl down an alleyway and down a stone staircase in Rishikesh or Haridwar. I don't know about anyone else but she scared the heck out of me. What did Milton say? It is better to rule in hell then serve in Heaven? I will try Heaven first, if only for a little while.

Including today, only 7 days left

2009-04-27T07:29:00.001+05:30

The counter on the right side of the screen is a little misleading. Today it shows there are 15 days to go. Actually, that takes us to the date our visas expire.

Indian Evil Eye

2009-04-22T09:20:00.003+05:30

Considering that it is in vogue for people to throw shoes at politicians in India right now, I thought it might be a good segue for this blog topic. Ahem, speaking of shoes, drivers in India put a depiction (see second picture, and in the first picture, the real thing) of one on their trucks (cars, rickshaws, etc) for some reason but I have yet to figure out why, much less it's origin. Now, if I have this right, and I am pretty sure I do, truck drivers put a picture of the face of the guy with the tongue sticking out to ward off the evil eye. Kind of like the Italian horn that people used to wear around their neck when I was a kid. As a matter of fact, any input from from you out there in internet land would be very helpful. What do you say?

By the way, did you know that the Italian horn that people wear to wear to ward off the evil eye (Malocchio) is not a horn but a pepper (the vegetable)?

One more thing. We are going to Phuket, Thailand tonight for a few days. Any suggestions as to what we should do while we are there. I know, this is kind of a needy blog posting. So sue me.

Five year old kid as James Dean-ish rock star

2009-04-21T15:38:00.003+05:30

I have mentioned before that in India, you often see several people on a scooter or a motorbike. It makes sense for a ton of reasons, mostly finance related, but also convenience and traffic related. What I have not mentioned is how bad-ass a five year old can look on one. If I had a picture like this of me when I was a child, it would have totally mitigated my oafishness. But then, maybe I would not have such good manners had I grown up with that kind of panache.

Rishikesh and Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India

2009-04-20T10:36:00.005+05:30

You don't really get to see this much. We see peacocks in the wild often enough but I have never seen that whole fanned feathers thing before. When the bird fanned out his tail, it started slowly turning around. It did this a couple of times before closing tail back up. I don't know if the turning thing is part of the process, if it was a one off kind of thing, or if this particular bird was mentally unstable. Whatever, it was really cool. Going to Phuket, Thailand on Wednesday. More pictures of Haridwar (very holy city BTW) and Rishikesh to come.

By the way, click here for a hyperlink to more of the pictures of Rishikesh and Haridwar!!

Remote Blog, Haridwar, Uttarakhand, INDIA

2009-04-18T09:22:00.000+05:30

Sorry, we went to the holy city of Haridwar, but we are going to visit Rishikesh. More later.

Netaji Nagar Market, New Delhi

2009-04-17T13:34:00.002+05:30

Every once in a while I to go to an area of New Delhi to buy a ton of groceries/sundries/etc for the shelter. As many times as I have been there over the last year or so, I have not seen one westerner there. I was there yesterday (Thursday) and there were quite a few people going into a very small Mandir (Hindu Temple) in the market. I respectfully asked around and was told that Thursday is Shirdi Sai Baba day. That is, Thursday is the day that devotees of Shirdi Sai Baba go to the his Mandir. More about Shirdi Sai Baba (people kept referring to him as simply Sai Baba) below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sai_Baba_of_Shirdi

I passed a spice shop and I saw the woman in the last picture who I think was actually separating wheat from chaff. I promise you that if I could speak enough Hindi I would have, without a doubt, said some thing like; "Now there's somebody who really knows her wheat from her chaff". I don't know Hindi, so instead, I did not get murdered, said "sat sri akal" (Sikh greeting like Namaste) to the Sikh owner of the spice shop, and took a picture of the nice lady. All's well that ends well.

We are driving to Rishikesh today with a bunch of Welsh people and a bunch of English people. More about that when we get back.

Don't try this at home. Badshapur, Haryana, India.

2009-04-16T15:12:00.002+05:30

As far as the interesting meter goes, it is hard to beat the area south of Gurgaon called Badshapur. Every time I go there I find something both fascinating and a little bit off the radar. Also, and more importantly (for the purposes of of this blog anyway), I have yet to get killed for poking around there. This time I passed a guy smoking a Hookah (also called a shisha). I pulled over and said "Ram Ram" hoping that, since the guy was older and we were in a village, he might warm up to me for using this way of greeting him. I think it worked. This does not imply, in any way, that the same may hold true for the future. Which goes to show you, it's better to be lucky than good. At any rate, Ram Ram.

About Ram Ram:
RAM is a reincarnation of Lord Vishnu.
RAM RAM, by extension became an expression used for greeting and welcoming....human beings.
Nowadays, Ram Ram is mostly heard in the countryside, where tradition is strongly alive.

About the Hookah
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hookah

Goan two different eyed, one and one half eared cat

2009-04-14T15:58:00.002+05:30

And other things. We spent the weekend in Goa and it was beautiful. For once we did not take a zillion pictures and mostly laid around and went to the beach. However, we did get a picture of a Dr. Seuss like tree, rangoli, and a two different eyed, one and one half eared cat. Also we include a picture of the sunset as our room was right on the Arabian Sea. What is rangoli you ask? Good question. Here's a hint:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangoli

Happy Good Friday

2009-04-10T09:14:00.001+05:30

Basilica Santhome, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

We are off to Goa tomorrow and will write about it in couple of days. In the meantime, for all my Catholic brethren (sistren also implied), happy Good Friday and don't eat meat. For all my Indian brethren (sistren), have a nice holiday. Did you know that this is not a US holiday (except stock exchanges)?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santhome

Kapaleeshwar Temple, Chennai (formerly Madras), Tamil Nadu

2009-04-07T10:42:00.002+05:30

When I was in Chennai, at a huge Hindu temple called Kapaleeshwar Temple, they were celebrating a religious holiday (I think) before or during which many people (women and children included) shaved their heads. I promised myself I would write an entry about it when I had a chance. I do not know the significance of the shaving nor of the colored powder on their faces/heads. Blame this on my Hindi or, rather, lack thereof. I DO know that the colored powder is a bit of a constant here (think Holi). Anyway, when I took the pictures I was trying to be as discreet as possible and of course I got caught. Luckily for me, the people I met were very excited about having their picture taken. We get this reaction a lot. The only problem I had was an older woman right outside of the Temple smeared the tikka (is that right?) on my far head and it kind of did not come out. Worse problems are to be had and I always look better when part of my face is covered or hidden anyway. For example, I look my best in the forgiving half light of a candle late at night.

Is it a pumpkin or a gourd (and what's the difference anyway)?

2009-04-05T19:53:00.001+05:30

Neither. Turns out that this is a melon and, among the zillion fruits and vegetables that we have encountered here during our sojourn, more evidence of cool stuff in India.

On another, unrelated note, we are going to Goa next weekend, Rishikesh (spelling?) the weekend after that and Phuket, Thailand the weekend after that. Super duper whirl windy but I think it was Confucius who said "He who hesitates is lost". Wait, is that right? Was that Rilke? Schopenhauer? Whatever.

Snake Charmer Redux, Jaipur, Rajasthan

2009-04-04T10:43:00.004+05:30

We saw this guy outside of some royal castle in Jaipur. I love it. I mean, how long into the interview for this job would you say something along the lines of; "So, okay, you want me to do what? And you're gonna pay me how much? Um, yeah. Let me get right back to you ". Actually, I would probably say something little more colorful than that but I am not going to put that here anymore than I am going to put the lyrics to 50 Cent's "Candy Shop" (which I think is a metaphor, by the way). My sister "Spitting Cobra" is a teacher and her kids look at this blog sometimes. Thinking about it, it might be a while into the interview before I said anything because, after all, I would definitely have to hear the guy out, right? Just to see if it was some kind of practical joke.

I forget it's name

2009-04-03T09:12:00.001+05:30

I mentioned earlier that we saw crocodiles while we were in Chitwan, Nepal. I also said that there was one that was considered to be less dangerous that the other (the other being the more conventional croc, you know the one of your nightmares). Here are a couple of shots of the "less dangerous one". By the was, from ten to twelve feet log. "It mostly eats fish and it's snout or whatever is thinner so, it's less dangerous". Right.

Coming down from the top of the Kathmandu Valley

2009-04-02T17:58:00.002+05:30

One morning, after we watched the sun rise with a bunch of chanting Buddhist monks, we were driving back to our hotel in Kathmandu and came across a Nepali wedding. These people had a parade going on like an hour after the sun rose. See the hats that the guys are wearing? They are called sola topees and they were not worn specially for the wedding but are very very common. I saw men of virtually all ages wearing them throughout Nepal. Young men did not have them on that much but it may be a function of their age group or that the young people in Nepal think it is not fashionable. I can tell you that I bought and wore a sola topee when I was in Nepal and that all through the country people (of ALL ages) were very happy about it. They would stop me in the street and say very encouraging things all the time. No kidding. It was kind of weird but also kind of neat. By the way, take a look at the woman in the last picture. The look on her face is great. She looks so confident, so not demure. Her attitude was kind of contagious and I could not help but give her a big smile back.

Nature Factoid

2009-04-01T13:11:00.002+05:30

Have you ever noticed that when you see a bunch of birds in the sky flying in a "V" formation, there is always one line of birds that is longer than the other one. There is actually a reason for that. Do you want to know why? See below.

Because there are more birds in that line.

Love In The Time Of Camels

2009-03-31T09:29:00.000+05:30

Love, exciting and new,
Come aboard.
We're expecting you.
Love, life's sweetest reward.
Let it flow,
it floats back to you.
The Love Boat
soon will be making another run.
The Love Boat promises something for everyone.
Set a course for adventure,
Your mind on a new romance.
Love won't hurt anymore
It's an open smile on a friendly shore.
It's Looooove!
Welcome aboard - It's Looooove!

Neemrana Fort Palace, Rajahsthan, India

2009-03-30T13:20:00.003+05:30

In the spirit of doing all we can while we're here (time is running out), we took a day trip to Neemrana Fort-Palace on Sunday. It's just about an hour and a half outside of Gurgaon.

It's a strikingly beautiful place and we wish we could have spent the night. We have had mixed reviews about it which gave us some pause which is why it took us so long to get there.

Interestingly, it seemed like it was frequented mainly by westerners. Maybe the zip-line they had was just a little over the top for locals? In any case, we decided to pass on that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neemrana

Puzzle

2009-03-29T00:09:00.006+05:30

So we went to Sundar Nagar which means, I think, beautiful city (corrections welcome as always) and is much harder to pronounce (it's Hindi) than it looks. We found a place that wholesales to Anthropoligie and Kristina bought some knobs (for drawers) that would have cost maybe a zillion times more in the actual Anthropoligie stores. She also convinced me to buy a couple of original posters for some Bollywood movies that were made in the sixties (again, I think). The posters cost more than the zillion knobs she got. So be it. I know nothing, and I mean nothing, about Bollywood movies but I have been told by a couple of people that the two movies that the posters represent are well known.

Are you a betting woman (or man)? Here is the deal. The first person who names both movies gets to have a donation of food and sundries made in their name to a children's shelter whom we have supported. The shelter is called Progetto India (http://www.progettoindia.com/it/ ) and the couple who run it take in, feed, clothe, educate and make family of children in the New Delhi, which is a very good thing. Hit me back, Jack.

Mocambo Restaurant, Calcutta, India

2009-03-25T10:35:00.002+05:30

So this time the New York Times scooped me. A couple of months ago we went with our friends Suky, Loes, Maxi, and Pierre to Calcutta. We were looking for a place to eat and went past this restaurant. The outside of the place looked like a throw back to the 1950's (America). Look at the menu. If I am not mistaken, those are either two Flamenco dancers, or maybe south American. Also there is a cactus on the upper left hand side. The food was not remotely Spanish. It was kind of insanely discordant given that this was Calcutta, if you know what I mean. Anyway, there was a guy who was weirdly dressed and had a strange accent (but speaking perfect English) that we could not make out smoking a cigarette in front of the joint. He said he went there all the time and that it was great. If this seems kind of Twilight Zonish to you, imagine being there at the time. It was weirder. We went in to check it out and the interior and menu were something out of a midwestern (US) supper club. It was insane. So we all decided to give it a shot. The food was fantastic and again, I have not seen these dishes on any restaurant in the US in twenty years. I wanted to know more about the place because it was it was so bizarre and it was the only place like it we have seen in all of India, bar none. I googled it and sure enough, The New York Times journalist Somini Sengupta was there back in August and wrote a great article about it. You may remember Ms Sengupta's name from her coverage of the Mumbai attacks in November. Her articles were front and center in the New York Times for quite while. Oh well, if you are going to be scooped, it may as well be from a New York Times front page journalist.

Link to the New York Times article:
http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/travel/31bites.html?scp=1&sq=mocambo&st=cse

What's the plural of rhinoceros?

2009-03-23T14:29:00.002+05:30

So a couple of things. Baby rhinos are kinda cuter that I would have thought. I also would have thought that the rhino horn would be, I don't know, more intimidating or something. One more thing, look at the third picture. They have funny looking ears. I hadn't heard that before. I would think I would have.

By the way, we took these photos in Chitwan National Park while riding on the back of an elephant.

Just In Time For Halloween

2009-03-21T09:58:00.006+05:30

It was full moon time in Nepal when we went and there was a dearth of ambient light (yeah, you heard me) there due to electricity rationing so there was a couple of opportunities to take some moon pictures. The first three pictures were taken in Pokhara and the last one was taken in Chitwan. Why is that relevant you ask? It's not, I just like saying Pokhara and Chitwan. Sounds like one the specials at the Chinese take out place around the corner from our house.

Hello From Flat Stanley

2009-03-20T10:51:00.003+05:30

Have you ever heard of Flat Stanley or the Flat Stanley Project? Me neither, that is until we got a note from Kristina's nephew whose name is August but whose really good frineds call him "one way" (like the street sign). Any way, the story goes something like this:

Stanley Lambchop and his younger brother Arthur are given a big bulletin board by their Dad for putting pictures and posters on. He hangs it on the wall over Stanley's bed, but during the night the board falls from the wall, flattening Stanley in his sleep. He survives and makes the best of his altered state, and soon he is entering locked rooms by sliding under the door, and playing with his younger brother by being used as a kite. Stanley even helps catch some art museumsneak thieves by posing as a painting on the wall. But one special advantage is that Flat Stanley can now visit his friends by being mailed in an envelope.

More about Flat Stanley here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Stanley

So we got Flat Stanley in the mail and took a bunch of pictures of him in Nepal. By the way, the second shot with the woman was taken in a hut on the side of a mountain before the sun rose over the Machhapuchhre mountain. Machhapuchhre means "Fishtail" in English and that is how it is commonly referred to. So, what was I doing in a hut on the side of a mountain in Nepal at 4:30 in the morning? Believe it or not, in the dark, working my way up the side of the mountain, I smelled coffee and she sold me a cup.

Here's Looking At You Kid!

2009-03-19T13:21:00.002+05:30

We saw more elephants in Chitwan than you can shake a stick at. That works out fine because we think that they are kind of neat. We actually had an opportunity to take a bath with them (not kidding and photos of that coming up soon), but the river in which they were going to bathe was the same one that had the crocodiles in them so we chickened out. Apparently it is safe because there is no way that a croc is going to mess with a bunch elephants. Really? This falls into the "whatever" category.

Chitwan District, Nepal

2009-03-18T10:51:00.000+05:30

We took these pictures when we were in a flat canoe made of cottonwood on a river in Chitwan, Nepal. The water was very shallow, about two feet in most places in the river and the water level was three or four inches from the side of the canoe. We got pretty close to these guys and were kind of at eye level with them. I do not mind telling you, we were a little nervous. Much more so than when I was holding the cobra in Old Delhi (I was nervous then too really). These guys (girls?) were about ten feet long I think. The crocodile in the second picture has a thin snout. That is a different kind of croc and it is supposed to be less dangerous because it's snout is so thin. Whatever.

I said "Get Away From Me!!"

2009-03-17T10:25:00.002+05:30

NOW!

Okay, but I'm telling mom.

MOMMMMM!!

We took these shots in Chitwan on Holi Day. The baby elephant is actually a lot more menacing (and big) than he looks, especially if you have cookies that he wants (see side show). Also, in a fight, I would take mom's side against the elephant who is pushing him away. For sure. More on Holi later.

Kathmandu, Nepal

2009-03-15T22:10:00.000+05:30

Just back from Nepal and it was great. Included here are a couple of pictures to give you a feel for what we were in for. We spent a few days in Kathmandu and a few days in the cuts. Sometimes strange and weird. Sometimes comfortable and homey. More to follow and please see the slide show to the right and the link to a ton of pictures. We met, by the way, a great family when we were in Nepal, some of whom I have known a very long time, some not. More about them later. Hi Diane and Sonar. Hi Rufinis. Hi, Joseph.

Link to our Nepal pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kalgminas/Kathmandu

Remote Blog - Port of Call - Kathmandu

2009-03-12T12:01:00.002+05:30

Just got back to Kathmandu from Pokhora and Chitwan. We'll update our slideshow when we get back but we're happy to report you will see animals other than monkeys on this one.

It's quiet and peaceful here relative to Gurgaon, but it's also a lot darker. Some power runs on generators but it's on a schedule and much of the day we don't have access to electricity.

Flat Stanley is well and good. And somehow, also has made it to Agra within the last week.

Flat Stanley Remote Blog Posting

2009-03-08T22:20:00.003+05:30

We made it to Nepal along with Flat Stanley. More on that coming soon. We're all safe, sound, and pleasantly surprised with everything.

Many thanks to Diane and Sonar, and hoping all is well with all of you.

Yetis and Yaks

2009-03-07T09:09:00.000+05:30

We're going to be in Kathmandu for the next week or so but we'll attempt to remote blog if we can.

It's 15 minutes later in Nepal than India. One, it's one of the least important things most people would ever need to know. Two, you personally will probably never forget that fact in spite of the insignificance.

We Scooped The New York Times Again

2009-03-06T11:38:00.001+05:30

When we first got here we wrote a blog posting about the stark contrast between the people who lived in apartment complexes like ours and the people who lived in the slums around us (like within one or two hundred feet). Shortly thereafter, the New York Times wrote about the exact same thing in an article. I made a point of calling "Foul play New York Times!". No response from the Times. A few weeks ago we went to Mumbai and noted that the taxis were different and strange and cool. See link below. Today, the New York Times saw something similar. Coincidence? I don't think so.

Our Mumbai Taxi Blog Posts:

http://americanexpatsinindia.blogspot.com/2009/02/fiat.html

http://americanexpatsinindia.blogspot.com/2009/02/happy-birthday-gus.html

The New York Times so called "article":

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/mumbai-taxis-roll-into-retirement/?scp=1&sq=mumbai%20fiat&st=cse

They could almost be the same pictures. At least I had the guts to ask the guy to let me get in the driver's seat of one of the taxis.

For The Purposes Of Comparison Part Two

2009-03-05T18:37:00.004+05:30

About a month or so ago, we were in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and we went to an excellent restaurant. On the menu was something like lobster and mangosteen salad or crab and mangosteen salad. In the description of the dish, the ingredients included one hundred grams of lobster and two hundred grams of mangosteen. Of course, I confused "mangosteen" for "langosteen", which is kind of a mix between lobster and shrimp so I thought it was going to be 300 grams of seafood in some kind of yummy salad. Guess what? That's right, you guessed it, Apparently langosteen and mangosteen are two different things.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangosteen

Now, I was not disgruntled when it turned out that mangosteen was a fruit but I was disgruntled when what Kristina ordered for dinner was way better than what I ordered. Absolutely crushedit. Okay, maybe I was not disgruntled but I certainly wasn't gruntled. I have seen mangosteens in produce sections of markets in India and I bought these today. A little bit different than Beer Can Chicken, no? Anyway, this is more typical of the food we have been eating in India for the last ten months as far as health goes.

For the purposes of comparison

2009-03-04T19:05:00.004+05:30

And because we have been too busy getting ready for our trip to Kathmandu, Nepal on Saturday. Our eating habits in India consists almost entirely of rice, vegetables, beans, and about a zillion different spices. In stark contrast, here are a couple of mug shots I came across of the main course of a dinner we cooked on our barbecue last summer. You can't really see it, but there is actually an open can of Budweiser beer stuffed in to the chicken. I'm not kidding. In fact, the name of the dish is beer can chicken. I include a link to the recipe because if I were you (unless you are one of my friends from San Francisco), I might not believe it myself. We actually made it a couple of times and it was pretty good. The only problem is that it kind of looks like a guy sitting on the floor. One time I was cooking one and I actually gave it a name. That made it kind of strange when we actually ate him (sorry, "it").

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Beer-Can-Chicken-102216

In The News, Indian Raspberry Rudux

2009-03-03T18:04:00.003+05:30

We had a question about the Indian raspberries. They do exist and they do look like slightly unripe tomatoes and they do taste like raspberries. I am sure they are delicious but they taste so discordant with the look of them that I kind of can't get over it. According to various "man on the street" sources and our friend Suky, they are called roosberries (I have actually seen signs like this at fruit stands) but they are actually gooseberries. I do not think I have ever actually seen a gooseberry so I can't confirm that one way or the other. Interestingly, the question came about as a result of a very good article buy the journalist V. Shoba in the newspaper The Indian Express. The article, which is about expat blogs, mentioned blog our which, of course, we can not believe. Being mentioned in an article totally mitigates my oafishness (or not). Anyway, here is a link to the article in The Indian Express:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-expat-blog-about-town/428894/0

Special note of thanks to V. Shoba.

Cheers Shoba

Peacocks

2009-03-02T11:11:00.003+05:30

We took these pictures in Deer Park in the Hauz Khas section of New Delhi the other day. I had an idea that peacocks were beautiful but had no idea their tails (or whatever they are called) were so long. I could not make the birds fan out their tail like in pictures. Apparently it takes more than whistling or making kissy sounds. The peacock's tails are so big that they have to walk funny, kind of like their bodies are a fulcrum between their tails and heads. Fulcrum, I thinks that's right.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fulcrum

ful⋅crum

1.	the support, or point of rest, on which a lever turns in moving a body.

2.	any prop or support.

3.	Zoology. any of various structures in an animal serving as a hinge or support.

–verb (used with object)

4.	to fit with a fulcrum; put a fulcrum on.

Yeah that looks about right. Fulcrum.

I'll Take it!!

2009-03-01T20:58:00.004+05:30

We saw this sign down some back alley in Calcutta and I had to take a picture. I do not know if I want the Bamboo Chicks or the Vatical Blind. But for sure I want one of them.

Spice Night

2009-02-28T19:48:00.001+05:30

We ran out of a couple of basic spices again, and more importantly, I was going out of my mind reading about random access memory so I got out the spice pan and the spice grinder. For sure, for sure, for sure, I have eaten more spices in the last ten months then I have in my entire life. From the upper left and clockwise they are; chile powder, ground cumin, curry powder, and garam masala. The chile powder and the ground cumin are respectively, dried red chiles, toasted and ground and cumin seeds, also toasted and ground. The recipes (if you will) for the other two are below. I add more pepper or chile powder than the recopies ask for and it makes it better. That's not opinion, it's a fact. Strangely, I have yet to see a curry powder recipe that calls for curry leaves. What do you make of that?

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easy-Garam-Masala/Detail.aspx

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mild-Curry-Powder/Detail.aspx

Super Duper Naan

2009-02-27T11:35:00.005+05:30

After a full day in Delhi, we joined a couple of friends the other night at the British High Comission for drinks and then went to Bukhara, a restaurant at the fancy schmancy ITC Maurya Hotel. Now, it is known as one of the best restaurants in New Delhi and I am told it is former British prime minister Tony Blair's favorite place to eat in India, thank you very much. However, when you place these to facts next to a picture of one of their signature family style naans (see below) who cares about Tony Blair. Who cares about the the restaurant's reputation? Look at that thing. It looks like the seat of a papasan chair. We could not eat the entire thing, and took it to go. You know what? They had to fold it. Like a blanket or towel. Can you believe it?

Indian Wedding

2009-02-26T12:51:00.005+05:30

A couple of weeks ago a buddy of mine got married and we were invited to the wedding. Of course, we went. Actually, I had been biting at the bit ever since he had told me he was getting married. We had heard so much about Indian weddings and had not been able to attend any yet. The scene was a little different than a Catholic marriage, I can tell you that. My buddy did not ride up on a horse or (my personal preference for him), an elephant. Other than that, it was a shin-dig. The amount and variety of food was astounding in itself. There was about fifty feet or so of food dedicated to what I think is called chaat. It is the food that I see in street stalls all over India and would live to try but the risk of having a tummy ache is too great. This was not the case at this wedding and I made up for nine months of hungrily and bitterly passing the chaat stands by. FYI, some of what I have described may be inaccurate. For example, chaat may not even be spelled right, much less what this type of food is called. But hey, YOU move to India and get invited to a wedding and try and figure out what the heck everything is. As usual, all corrections welcomed.

Indian Cactus

2009-02-25T11:24:00.002+05:30

I was driving down the road in a very rural area and staring out the window when my field of view encompassed a large plant. Hey, I recognize that plant. I just did not realize they had that here. It goes to show you how much I think I know about India as opposed to how much I do know. I will find out how to say cactus in Hindu and put it on the blog. That's how I am learning Hindi by the way, one excruciating word at a time.

Bus Art

2009-02-24T10:29:00.002+05:30

We have mentioned Indian truck art (made up phrase) before in the blog where truck drivers have their vehicles decorated with discordantly beautiful art and metal festooning (word?). Well, in Calcutta, the bus drivers seem to have the same affinity. Every bus that we saw, with no exception, had some design painted on the back of their bus. Now, since I have to think that the drivers do not own the buses that they are working on, it makes me think that the bus company pays for this. What is their incentive? Oh, and by the way, the designs on the buses were all different and kind of personal. I don't know what to make of all of that.

Taxi Doors

2009-02-23T10:04:00.003+05:30

Almost all of the taxis in Calcutta, like many of the taxis in New Delhi, are Ambassadors. Unlike New Delhi, they are almost uniformly yellow. There are a huge amount of them and it is not unlike midtown Manhattan where you are confronted by a sea of yellow (the taxis in Calcutta are the same shade of yellow). One thing though, it seems like part of becoming a taxi driver in Calcutta includes painting your own personal "Taxi" sign on the the driver and front passenger doors. By this I mean that all of the signs were different on the taxi doors, although they all had them. Just like snow flakes. Well, no, not really just like snow flakes. Still, I thought it was neat.

Mug Shots

2009-02-22T11:37:00.003+05:30

Okay, look straight at the camera. Great, now look right, good. Okay, now stick your head feathers up. Okay, how about one from the back.

I took this picture in a village about twenty five miles south of Gurgaon. I think it's a wood pecker (in Hindi, more or less, kathhora).

Calcutta Taxi Driver

2009-02-21T10:40:00.000+05:30

The Ambassador, the classic car of India. they are used by virtually all politicians and babus (people in government who are important enough to be assigned a car, I think). They are also the car that the majority of the taxi companies use. They are really neat but I do not know how good they are overall. I do know that I have not seen them anywhere outside of India. This particular taxi driver let me get in the drivers seat for a few minutes. He was looking at me as if I was odd. Fair enough.

Grass Roots Recycling

2009-02-19T18:07:00.001+05:30

We have seen this quite a few times in our travels here (elsewhere too but I don't remember where). If I have this worked out correctly, the cow pies are left out to dry in the sun (first two pictures), then they build huts out of them. Then, they stuff them with more dried cow pies. They are then used for fuel for cooking and for heat. I bet that just a few years ago people would respond with "yuck" or something like that to this kind of thing. In today's world of carbon footprint concerns, oil volatility ($35 to $150 and back again per barrel swings), and the worry on the part of many people about the dependence of the world on the sources of the oil (some of which may not exactly agree with the people to whom they are selling said oil), I think many people might think something more along the lines of "Hey, great Idea!"

On another, less philosophical note, look how cool the "cow pie huts" are. I have seen quite a few of them and they have all looked like someone was paying a lot of attention to detail when constructing. Actually, they are kind of beautiful. I probably would still not want to live in one. Even if I could fit.

Damdama Lake, Gurgaon, India

2009-02-18T10:00:00.000+05:30

I got an email from a follower of this blog who suggested that we take a look at Lake Damdama. It is a pretty big lake about twenty five kilometers south of our apartment yet still in Gurgaon. I had no idea that this place was so big. In checking out the area, I got a lot of strange looks. Just like the rest of my life. The place is kind of off the radar and I did not see any westerners. The Millennium City, as Gurgaon is called, still has a fairly vast amount of farm land. I spent a few hours pulling off the road and checking stuff out. Kilometers of farmland, tons of animals, and theses fishermen. Note that these three pictures are actually of one fishing scene. The guys on shore are pulling in the two sides of the net. The two guys in the boat? Who knows, maybe guiding but they are defiantly part of the equation. In the third picture you get an idea of how big the net is. That's the same two guys in the boat. Oh, the guy in the third picture actually in the confines of the net, what's he doing? Maybe scaring the fish to shore? You tell me.

Fashion Street

2009-02-17T15:17:00.000+05:30

There is a street in Mumbai where there is stall after stall of vendors selling clothing and stuff. The stalls kind of specialize. For example, one stall has belts, another shirts, another jeans, and so on. The prices are ridiculous although bargaining is the norm. Shirts are two or three dollars. It's crazy. From what we were told, the stuff they sell there are the surplus or leftovers of large orders manufactured in Mumbai. So, for example, a guy orders 5000 shirts. There will always be a couple of hundred pieces of surplus clothing (shoes, whatever). The manufacturers are not in the retail business so they send them to Fashion Street and get rid of them for close to nothing. We could not verify this information but have heard it from a few people and it seems to make sense. In the first and second pictures below, you can see a couple of the stalls in the background. There are so many stalls that we were there for more than an hour and we did not reach the end of the row of stalls. It's nuts. In the third picture, well that's just me acting like an ass by hanging from some vines in a tree on Fashion Street. Everyone there loved it so whatever.

We could not find much information on Fashion Street but there is some in the link below:

http://www.mumbainet.com/travel/fashionst.htm

Calcutta, West Bengal, India

2009-02-16T13:10:00.001+05:30

Pictures taken over the less famous of the bridges in Calcutta. The first picture is the best of the entire trip and was taken by Kristina. I had some preconceived notions of Calcutta (Kolkata) that were completely unfounded and way off by the way. More about the city and a slide show later but for now enjoy the sunset.

Happy Birthday, Gus!

2009-02-13T19:04:00.000+05:30

Super Duper Special birthday wishes going out to Gus (AKA One Way). We thought you would like this taxi that we saw in Mumbai. Check out the green white walls (greenwalls?). Anyway, have a great weekend and keep up your chess game. Joe will be back soon and is bringing his "A" game. We can't wait to see you.

PS: As far as the "SPEED" moniker goes, I mean, C'mon, it's a Fiat. Just goes to show you that you can't believe erverything that you see just because it is in print (exept in this blog).

Happy Birthday, Dalia!

2009-02-12T15:43:00.003+05:30

This shy monkey says, have a Coke and a smile!

Signs

2009-02-09T20:22:00.025+05:30

Here are some of the signs we saw while we were in Mumbai. So, a couple of things:

Sign one. Given the terrorist attacks in Mumbai on November 26th, you would think some one would ask that this sign be taken down.
Sign two. That's a lot more effective than "you will be towed at your own expense", don't you think?
Sign three. That seems kind of unfair.
Sign four. That was just a funny looking sign.

By the way, we are probably going to Kolkata (AKA Calcutta) this weekend. Any suggestions?

Fiat

2009-02-09T16:14:00.006+05:30

It seems like very time we go to a new city in India they have a different mode of transportation as far as taxis go. In Mumbai, they are Fiats. One of the taxis we took let me get in the driver's seat, if only for a second. I think I might have broken something in that brief second (see third picture). Everything in Mumbai, and I mean everything, was super cheap. We took a rickshaw a few times and one of our bills was 13 Rupees (about 26 cents) for the three of us. The most we paid was 20 Rupees. It was actually the first time we took a rickshaw (also called tuk-tuk).

Sun Setting Over The Arabian Sea. Mumbai, Maharastra, India

2009-02-08T21:24:00.008+05:30

It's a strange courage you give me ancient star: Shine alone in the sunrise toward which you lend no part!

Yeah, I know, It's not a star. Whatever. We just got in from Mumbai. Beautiful and we had a great time. More about it later.

And they're off! (redux)

2009-02-05T23:27:00.024+05:30

So we're taking another trip this weekend. A shorter one than last time, but we're still happy for it. The hints are:

18.96°N 72.82°E
Sounds like Blum-bye
Big hint: Slumdog Millionaire

We are hoping to do a remote blog but if not, you'll definitely see some photos when we return.

J & K (not to be confused with Jammu and Kashmir)

Quick note: Everett and August, we heard about the Chess results. Good work and kudos!! -One Way and Aunt Kristina. PS: Uncle Arvydas is the one to beat.

I'm sorry, Can you repeat that?

2009-02-01T18:39:00.009+05:30

We were driving around in Delhi the other day when I saw this sticker on the back of an auto rickshaw or tuck-tuck as they are also called. Of course I called and asked if I had reached the "Magnetic Knee Caps" store. Yes the guy said, I had. Can you imagine? It's not much of a blog posting, but I had to put it up or else I myself would have thought I had dreamed it. Feel free to call them yourself. I am a size eleven.

Hindu Temple, somewhere outside of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2009-01-31T19:17:00.001+05:30

On one of our random walking trips in Malaysia we passed a Hindu temple and our friend suggested that we check it out. So we did. Unfortunately it was closed but as we were walking around the perimeter we ran into a guy and after chatting a bit he asked if we would like to see the inside of the temple. We said yes, please, and so he had us wait at the front door while he went inside to unlock the gate. It was beautiful. We took off our shoes (protocol) and went inside. One of the neat things about the visit besides the fact that the guy opened the place for us was that we were there all by ourselves (besides a couple of guys who were sweeping flowers off the floor). We saw a few images that we have not seen in the Hindu temples we have been to in India so I took a few photos. The figure with the snake head and the monstery looking guy in base relief (is that the correct term?) were a couple of examples. The monstery guy was all over the place like in different colors like the fleur de lis decoration you see all over New Orleans. Our driver is a devout Hindu and he didn't recognize either the snake god (an iteration of one of the major gods?) or the monstery guy. We are thinking that the monstery guy is a Chinese or other eastern country influence only because it is similar to Chinese images we have seen in the past. Total guess. The temple was amazing. The next day it occurred to me that, for the rest of my life, I will have those images in my head and I will know exactly where the temple is and exactly how to get there. It gave me a kind of strange feeling.

Monkey and Child

2009-01-30T07:30:00.000+05:30

Sometimes you need to ask yourself, when is enough monkeys enough? I guess it might be because monkeys don't roam free in the US, but we just can't help ourselves. You would think that one or two photos of monkeys would be great, but just when you think you took your last monkey shot, you run into something like this. The Batu caves are riddled with monkeys. In fact, it's odd that the Hindu temple at the caves is not dedicated to Hanuman like the one in Jaipur. So although you can't see it in this photo, it was taken on the steps leading up to the entrance of the caves/temple.

They're a little scary (did we tell you about the time they chased us and blocked our way to the exit of our Kuala Lumpur city/jungle tour?), but they're also captivating.

At any rate, this will probably be our last monkey picture unless, of course, we see another one that's better. Which means you should just plan to see more monkey photos.

Coffee Shop, Malaysia Style

2009-01-29T08:00:00.000+05:30

On one of the days that we were in Malaysia, we decided to jump on the train, take it to the last stop, and then work our way back randomly. We had no specific destination or tourist spot we wanted to see, we just jumped on the train or walked to the next train station when we were ready to move on. We got to see a few neat things that we might otherwise have not. Here's one. In one neighborhood we saw a bunch of guys drinking coffee so I decided to order one. The woman asked me if I wanted it to go and, a little surprised (we were kind of in the sticks), I said yes. She gave it to me in her version of a "to go" cup. I think the shots Kristina took make this situation fall into the "asked and answered" category. How about you?

Batu Caves, Malaysia

2009-01-27T20:04:00.016+05:30

The Batu Caves are located about 13 miles to the north outside of Kuala Lumpur. They are basically a Hindu shrine. Kind of amazing. The first picture is sunlight coming through one of the fissures in the ceiling. The second one is of two monkeys (the caves are absolutely full of them), and the third one is a shot taken from the floor of what is called the Cathedral Cave. The ceilings are about 100 meters high. The last picture is of the Petronas Towers from one of the caves and it gives you an idea of how big the towers are.

For more about the Batu Caves, click here.

Kuala Lumpur, Maylasia

2009-01-27T00:22:00.014+05:30

We got back safe and sound from Kuala Lumpur. It was amazing. We went with some friends who are incredible easy to travel with. More about the trip and some pictures and stuff to follow but for now, please see a picture of one of the Petronas Twin Towers which used to be the tallest building (bulidings?) in the world. We took it at night right after it rained. Special thanks to Suky, Loes and Pierre who made and otherwise fantastic mini vacation more so (fantastic, not mini).

By the way, click here to go to a link to the pictures that we took in Kuala Lumpur.

And click here for more on the Petronas Twin Towers.

And they're off!

2009-01-22T18:40:00.000+05:30

No pictures in this posting but a riddle. Where do you think 3° 7' N 101° 42' E is? That's where we are going for the long weekend. Hopefully we will be able to do a remote posting.

Jack and Jill...

2009-01-19T20:43:00.007+05:30

We were on a hike in Jim Corbett Park, in the foothills of the Himalayas when I noticed that there was a Jar, on it's side, making it's way up the hill on a path parallel to us. It was kind of skimming it's way up the hill on the top of the bushes. I ignored it like I do most of the other times I see imaginary things and thought I probably ought to get a little more exercise. After a minute or so I sow that there was a woman dressed in a typically beautiful sari carrying it on her head. I was kind of relieved and amazed at the same time. The woman was walking to a water source up the hill to fetch a jar of water. It was a bit of a walk and she did not look the least bit winded. In fact, she looked kind of care free. And how is that thing not rolling off her head? Live and learn McGann, live and learn.

Correction:

My Aunt sent me a note letting me know that this is not a sari but a salwar kameez (AKA shalwar kameez). Thanks Aunt Elaine!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salwar_kameez

Garam Masala

2009-01-13T15:56:00.001+05:30

We were about to make dinner on Sunday night and realized we were about to run out of Garam Masala. I then realized that we have gone through a few kilograms of spices (thats like 2.2 pounds per kilogram, Jin) since moving here. That is more spices than I had ever imagined eating throughout the course of my life. Anyway, enclosed, see a picture of what Garam Masala (hot spice) looks like before it goes off the fire and into the grinder.

Raspberrys

2009-01-13T13:21:00.005+05:30

That's right, these are called raspberrys here (the sign said 'ruseberries'). The thing is, they actually kind of taste like raspberries even though they look more like little tomatoes.

Even though they look like they grow in bunches like grapes, on closer inspection (see bottom photo) we realized they are all manually tied together with string.

That wouldn't be that shocking if there was only one or a few in existence. However, they're in huge quantities in every store and fruit/vegetable stand.

Faces, Paper Street (Chawri Bazar), Chandni Chowk

2009-01-11T15:42:00.016+05:30

Okay, it's not called Paper Street, I made that up but virtually every store on the street sells paper or paper related products. I have actually bargained with a couple of the shop keepers when I purchased some school books and binders. You can be pretty sure that I was out bargained but I got a MUCH better deal than I would have in the other stores in Gurgaon and New Delhi. Located a few hundred meters away from gate six of the Jama Masjid, it is my favorite street in India so far. The tiny alleys , some covered, that branch off the street branch out into even smaller alleys just jammed with little stores. I am trying to figure out a way to faithfully capture the images of the little alleys. The guy on the bicycle in the last picture reminds me for some reason of my father.

Raptors

2009-01-09T18:11:00.006+05:30

The other day I saw a bunch of birds flying above some jungle about a kilometer away from our apartment. I went to check it out and got a couple of pictures. These shots don't really do it justice because there were about fifty of the birds flying within twenty five feet of me.

We see stuff like this all the time

2009-01-09T16:56:00.005+05:30

I swear. Only we almost never have our camera with us. Today I did. Pure luck. It goes to show you that even a watch without a battery is right twice a day. Awesome. Note that the cow in the middle of the picture (looking at you) has a crow that is just about to land on its head.

Special Connie McGann Blog Posting

2009-01-07T22:51:00.004+05:30

Okay, so the little house across from our apartment is getting more dilapidated as time goes by, but we still see it every day because it is so near our balcony and there are always cows, peacocks, seagulls (I think) and other animals hanging around it. The other morning it was eerily alone in the fog at that special time when night turns into day so I grabbed a picture of it. Little cat's feet and all that stuff.

Fog

2009-01-06T08:09:00.003+05:30

A lot of people don't know this (okay, I didn't) but northern India gets really really foggy in the winter. Like San Francisco foggy but more dense and constant, where as San Francisco is more rolling.

We made it back

2009-01-05T14:53:00.011+05:30

LINK TO ARTICLE:

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/01/03/Northern_India_shivers_under_cold_wave/UPI-93361231021559/

Happy New Year. We had a wonderful time in the US although it was a little strange because we felt oddly out of place. Now it is similarly strange here. Chicago was beautiful and freezing, San Francisco was beautiful and San Francisco like, and Monterey was beautiful and beautiful. Corresponding pictures shown above. We ate our way through the US and are now in the process of losing all the weight again. We did not have a chance to go to the east coast but we will be there again in just under four months. It is now absolutely freezing here. Although people in Chicago or in New York may not consider it very cold, it is unusually cold for people in India who are not prepared for it. the overwhelming majority of people do not have heat. After we read an article about the severe cold in India this morning at five AM (see link at top of page) we made and bought down two cups of tea for the security officer at the front of our building.

Special Remote Blog Post

2008-12-25T02:26:00.000+05:30

We got into Chicago just as the first of several snow storms arrived. Great to be back in the USA but it is also like a zillion degreees below zero. We are headed to San Francisco and Monterey on the 26th and more to follow about that. Hoping to add a couple of pictures when we remote blog in San Francisco. In the meantime, Happy Holidays. Also, we are hoping to have two guest bloggers in the way of Kristina's nephews, Everett and Gus later on today. Cheers!!

Bird

2008-12-16T09:55:00.005+05:30

I was wondering around in the sticks a couple of weeks ago and I ran into a bird and scared him (her). Of course, the bird scared the hell out of me too. My first thought was "tiger" but no, just a scared bird. I had my camera with me. Set to "action". Speaking of flying , we are taking a metal bird to Chicago and then to San Francisco for Christmas vacation. Couple of weeks. Will be kind of light on photos for now but will hit up some blog postings.

Four ladies praying (I think)

2008-12-13T19:55:00.006+05:30

We were in Jaipur and went to this kind of random Hanuman temple. As I was passing a kind of courtyard going up some steps, I chanced upon these women circling around the cage with the plant in it and chanting or singing or something. Normally I am wary of taking pictures of people praying but these women were smiling at me as I stopped to look at them. As I snapped a couple of quick shots they started laughing at me so it was like my childhood all over again exept for much quicker.

Vishnu, Lakshmi, and Shesha

2008-12-11T13:33:00.011+05:30

Drive south out of Gurgaon for about 15 kilometers on Shona Road and you will come to a little village called Badshapur. If you get lost looking for something, like we did, you may accidentally hang a right on the correct street off Shona Road, and then hang another right on the incorrect one. Actually, I would not call it a street, more like a dirt bike trail. Anyway, we managed to get about one half of a kilometer up the road and found a Hindu Temple. Amazingly, I still thought we had the right place. After twenty minutes or so I had to admit I was wrong and we went back and found our correct destination. However, I promised that I would come back and check the temple out again as it was both in the middle of no where and super duper over the top. If I have done my homework correctly (and I may not have), the statue in these pictures is that of Vishnu, Lakshmi, and Vishnu's protector Sesha. The statue is like twenty feet tall and was one of many at the temple. By the way, Shesha is the seven headed cobra coiled behind and above Vishnu and Lakshmi. See link below. I would like the name and location of the temple here but I was lost and NO ONE there besides Kristina and I (and Victoria, once) was speaking any kind of English.

SHESHA LINK

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shesha

Alsisar Haveli

2008-12-10T19:35:00.001+05:30

I should have taken a picture of the entrance but I did not. Dumb of me because of the stark difference between the sketchy looking entrance (via alleyway) and the hotel. From the street, which is a hodgepodge of shops, the likes of which you would probably not enter, the entrance to the hotel looks like an alley that you would never even consider going into in broad daylight, much less at night. However, once you enter the "alleyway", the transition is stunning. The place is overwhelmingly beautiful anyway, but the effect going from the street into the courtyard magnifies that beauty by several times. The rooms are all different and lavishly decorated. They should be because historically the hotel was a mansion. The word haveli is of Persian origin, meaning "an enclosed place". The havelis of Pakistan and north India follow the Islamic style of architecture and usually contain a courtyard often with a fountain in the centre. Below find a link to the website of this particular haveli. Oh, one more thing, as compared to the hotels in Jaipur, this place was a fraction of the cost and with TONS more character. I could not recommend this place highly enough.

LINK TO THE HAVELI's WEBSITE

http://www.alsisarhaveli.com/alsisarhaveli.htm

Jal Mahal Jaipur, Jaipur, Rajasthan state, India

2008-12-09T16:04:00.004+05:30

When we were in Jaipur, we passed (and of course stopped at) this palace in the middle of Mansagar Lake. It was kind of fronted by the two stone whatever they are in the bottom pictures. Jaipur was a nice city and we stayed at a beautiful Haveli. We would have liked to spend more time checking out the city, but due to the two facts that the hotel we stayed at was so amazing (more in a later post) and the goings on with the hostage situation in Mumbai, we expeirenced only a few sights of the the city had to offer. Maybe next time.

This makes sense

2008-12-08T06:00:00.000+05:30

Thank you, Victoria!

2008-12-07T15:54:00.002+05:30

As you can tell by the photos, Victoria made quite a hit here. With everyone she encountered along the way, but even more so with us.

We feel very lucky for the visit. Luckier still that she made it home safe and sound.

Victoria - we may need to request a guest blog from you so you can share your impressions. I'm afraid it's likely we've completely lost perspective.

Dear Mr Truck Driver,

2008-12-06T11:51:00.004+05:30

I think you mean the opposite of what the back of your truck says. Like, as opposed to "HIGHLY IN FLAMMABLE", maybe "DO NOT OPERATE A FLAME THROWER ANYWHERE NEAR HERE". Just a thought.

Galta Ji Temple

2008-12-03T17:29:00.009+05:30

The other day Victoria, Kristina and I went to Jaipur and visited what I think was a Hanuman temple called the Galta Ji Temple. The temple was about ten miles outside of Jaipur but well worth it. I got the idea from some one who lives in India and has visited the place before. Apparently the temple is not that well known. There are an awful lot of amazing things to do in Jaipur itself so why bother I guess Anyway, we were the only westerners there and the place was huge. The temple is kind of cut in to the side of a mountain, it very much reminded me of a scene from an Indian Jones movie. It was amazing. We stayed at a (an?) Haveli instead of a hotel. The Haveli is kind of hidden in a very run down street so I was a little worried because my sister was visiting and I did not want to take to the Rajasthan version of the no tell motel. Not to worry, it was incredibly beautiful. In fact, we did not ant to leave it. Link to the Alsisar Haveli below.

http://www.alsisarhaveli.com/alsisarhaveli.htm

Thanks You Guys

2008-11-30T10:35:00.006+05:30

Hi all,

We received a ton of notes, emails, instant messages, blog posts, and phone calls regarding the terrorist attacks in Mumbai and concern for our safety and well being in general. Thank you so much. It really means a lot to us. Uncle Wiggly and Aunt Annette, long time no hear. How is every little thing?

Joe and Kristina

Oh, And By The Way

2008-11-29T21:56:00.003+05:30

All is well here

2008-11-27T09:12:00.003+05:30

We're happy to report that Victoria arrived safe and sound last night. You have probably heard that there were some terrorist attacks in last night Mumbai. We are fine and far to the north east of that city.

On another note, we had reservations for Thanksgiving dinner at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi that we are probably going to cancel.

Who Are We?

2008-11-25T16:41:00.008+05:30

A friend of ours is, to put it mildly, a HUGE fan of the Welsh football team, Swansea City AFC. While we were at the Pakistani-Indian border watching the daily closing of the border, he had the idea of asking one of the border guards to stand with us with the Swansea City (AKA Jack Army) flag. Great idea except we do not speak a lot of Hindi (me none) and the Border Guard did not speak English. If you think about it, that flag could have said anything. Given the current and historical relationship between these two countries, we were lucky we did not spend the next couple of days as guests of the Indian Border Security Forces. These guys don't mess around. At least I felt lucky, Phil was too busy laughing his #$^% off.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swansea_City_A.F.C.

A think these fish are being a little coy, dont you.

2008-11-20T19:24:00.006+05:30

Taken at the Golden Temple, Amristar.

Neccessity is the motherhood of invention....

2008-11-20T18:46:00.008+05:30

Whatever. A few weeks ago we took a trip that involved driving a couple of hundred kilometers outside of Gurgaon so we were kind of in uncharted territory. What I saw a lot, and want to see more of, is what can be described as good ole' Yankee ingenuity. As far as I can tell, people take whatever spare parts they have of tractors (and other vehicles?) and just build what I will call an "Anything Moving Machine". Then, just to add a little spice, they would do essentially the same thing insofar as decoration. Now, in my experience, if some guy who lives on your street takes the parts of whatever amount of different vehicles he can and makes a transportation vehicle of sorts. He does not necessarily make a celebration of it. Not here. Talk about a utility vehicle.

Two things

2008-11-19T21:18:00.003+05:30

One:

I was walking down the street yesterday and someone stopped me and asked if I was from the United States. I kind of stick out and people from the US walk funny (at leat I do) so I said yes. He asked if I was from New Jersy. I figured I met him at a party or some other function here so again , I said "yes". He then told me that we had met two years ago when he was in Jersye City on a business trip and he was staying with a friend of mine from Jersey City. Can you imagine? India has over one billion people. What are the odds of me running into a guy in Gurgaon, India that I had a beer with two years ago in a seedy bar in a rough area of Jersesy City? Well, let's see. There are more than one billion people in India, so that makes the odds at least one billion to one. Time to pay the lottery.

Two:

Enlcosed find a couple of pictures I took with the zoom lens that Bill W. recommended. Thanks bill.

Mehrauli Flower Market and India Truck Art

2008-11-18T10:35:00.019+05:30

I checked out the Mehrauli Flower Market other day when one of my classes were canceled. I pass it everyday going back and forth between Gurgaon and New Delhi. It is really amazing the way people will come up to you again and again (not the same person) asking for you to take their picture.

That is a good thing because Kristina and I are trying to figure out what the deal is with the way trucks in India are so elaborately decorated (the last three pictures). At first we kind of ignored it because we were so overwhelmed by the move from the US to here. India can be hard to process because it is so overwhelming. Truck Art, as we call it, is one of those things that we could not ignore for long. Trucks in the USA are sometimes painted with elaborate decorations, but the theme of the paintings and decorative metal work in India has quite a different feeling to them. They are beautiful in a VERY colorful and they are often of flowers and birds. They are very much juxtaposed to what we think of when we think of truck drivers, at least where we come from. We are going to attempt to look at the art, who makes it, why they do it, and all things Indian Truck Art. This means taking lots of pictures at Indian truck stops (I think they are called dhabas). I hope the eagerness on the part of people in regard to my taking pictures extends to the truck stops on the highway.

Lodhi Garden

2008-11-16T10:25:00.006+05:30

I believe it was Rilke who once said, "The Lotus Blossom that thrives in adversity is the most precious of all".

At any rate, we went to Lodhi Garden in New Delhi on Saturday and took pictures of the flora (some fauna too). The park is in a posh area of New Delhi that is fairly quiet so you are not deluged with the din that pretty much describes life in the city on a daily basis.

Chapatis

2008-11-14T19:38:00.015+05:30

We have a synthetic guest blogger today. A friend of ours, to whom I recently lost a bet and owe forty rupees, came to our apartment and made chapatis the "proper" way. Chapatis are kind of like naan, only more ubiquitous (I think) because no one really has a tandoor in their house. Insanely delicious and likewise easy, not only were they delicious, but they were super-duper cool to make.

By the way, I think I have figured out that I can have a custom made wool suit made here for about fifty dollars. Just as a test to see who is keeping up on our blog, I will get the first person who responds to this a suit, including shipping. The suit will look like a brand name, New York City, Chicago, or Bond Street, style suit. This offer assumes that you will give me your exact and complete measurements (which are needed to make said suit). This is open to men or women, in USA or in India. Cheers, -Joe

Chennai

2008-11-12T10:56:00.005+05:30

I had to rewrite this one as Krisitna alerted me to the fact that the pictures did not show on the blog. A few weeks ago, we spent a couple of days in Chennai. It's beautiful there, similar to Cochin. Owing to the fact that Kristina spent all of her time there at work, I had a lot of time on my hands and this is what I got:

Located on the Bay of Bengal, in the southeastern state of Tamil Nadu, Chennai was formerly called Madras. Chennai has one of the longest beaches in the world, second only to Ocean Beach in San Francisco. I took a bunch of pictures, (link below). The pictures in this posting are from both Kapaleeshwar Temple and Saint Thomas' Basilica, which probably makes sense if you look at them closely.

http://picasaweb.google.com/stinkfish/Chennai

PS: Did you know that The Apostle Thomas died and is buried in Chennai? True. Did you know that The Mary (Jesus' Mom) gave Thomas her Girdle to make up for the fact that he was left in India while the other Apostles were miraculously transported to Jerusalem to witness her death? Also true. Don't believe me? Click link below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_the_Apostle

PSS: More information about Chennai:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chennai

Oranges

2008-11-11T21:31:00.004+05:30

Look at this. For the first few months of living here (okay, until pretty much right now) I saw these huge limes at the store. While I thought they were kind of neat, I did not see much of a use for gargantuan limes (unless I ran across a HUGE Corona) and avoided them. It turns out that they are oranges not limes, and that they are delicious. See how the insides are orange while the outsides are green? Whoaaaa! Why don't we have them in the USA and why have I not seen them before or at least heard of them? Coming soon right here, pictures of sweet lime. You drink them just like any other juice. Kind of weird.