Only In India...And Beyond

Thailand

2011-08-23T17:17:00.005+05:30

In May I had the good fortune of being able to travel to Thailand for my birthday to visit my friend Ann and her family. The trip consisted of much wondering around Bangkok and a few excursions outside the city. Find some fun pics below.

Street Vendors - Bangkok

City at Night - Bangkok

Book Vendor - Market Bangkok

Temple - Ayutthaya

Temple - Ayuthaya

Different Temple - Ayuthaya

Buddha - Ayuthaya

Temple in a temple - Ayuthaya Ruins

Picture of the Week

2010-08-05T01:11:00.003+05:30

This pic was taken at a restaurant just behind the campus named Panda Panda.
Enough Said.

My AD Apartment

2010-08-05T00:08:00.003+05:30

Newly Furnished and redesigned I am finally starting to feel like my apartment is like a home. It has taken some time to settle into the apartment but finally after the delivery of my personal goods and some furnishings as well as of course some love, I am beginning to feel the ambiance and the character. There is more work to be done no doubt and I am thinking that maybe I will first focus on lighting and then on sound afterward. If anyone has any awesome DIY lighting ideas let me know. So far I have taken a beat up lamp shade and turned it into a free standing inverted light for the living room, and I have taken an old metal darkroom light box and turned it into a warm light night lamp. I am looking for more ideas and ways to convert simple items discarded by others, unique, industrial or otherwise into cool home lighting that will add nice lighting and character to the apartment.

The Kitchen

Otherwise I have posted some pics below of my re-designed digs please let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions, though know I reserve veto power.

The Living Room

The Bedroom

The Desk

The Guest Room

The Toilet

The View

Picture of the Week

2010-08-02T13:12:00.004+05:30

Had you told me 6 months ago that I would be happy to leave my bulky Nikon D80 at home in exchange for the easily accessible always in my pocket i-phone, I would not have believed you. In fact I am still not entirely convinced. I have found my phone is always there ready to take a picture while my camera is not. I only wish that the quality of images I took on the phone matched the 10megapixels I get on my D-SLR, or better yet if there was a roll of film hidden in the camera that I could remove and develop. Alas at this point this is not the case. So I have adopted a bit of the Polaroid picture in 2010 mentality. What is the ppi2010 you might ask. Well suffice it to say that I am beginning to really explore the wonder of using the iphone camera to capture life around me for what it is not what I wish it would be or how it falls short of something it isn't.

Last night while at dinner with some colleagues I found myself in that moment of framing the world around me and wanting to capture it. The bathroom of the restaurant accomplished an eeriness that momentarily transported me into what I could only imagine would be a solitary jail cell in a middle eastern country, with the ornate lovely tile and smell of sheesha surrounding me. I walked out of the stall, roughly the size of a typical lower east side apartment bedroom, reached into my backbpocket for the phone, as I imagine a cowgirl would reach into her holster for a gun, kneeled down and hit that cute little touch screen camera to capture this image.

My Stuff and My Apt

2010-07-22T16:58:00.003+05:30

I have never shipped anything internationally prior to May 5th 2010. Generally I carry a small backpack with me, that has expansion capability and I stuff it with the basics, a pair of pants a pair of shorts a few shirts, a sweatshirt, undies socks and flip flops and potentially a really small towel. Even when moving to India I carried a backpack a huge suitcase and a guitar. This relocation was a whole different story. In part I think I never would have had the resources personally, to pay international shipping fees of any kind or figure out in advance of a move how to negotiate and arrange shipping. Secondly I tend to prefer a bit more of a nomadic existence where I have little but can travel with it on my back. I have found that this sort of light weight travel allows for a high level of mobility and flexibility which I tend to prefer.

Moving to Abu Dhabi for me was like stuffing an elephant into my metaphoric backpack. There were multiple legs to the journey, a heftyness to the load and I guess you could say a greyness though that elephantic attribute may not fit quite as well into my metaphor.

Multiple Legs to the Journey:
Starting with inventory lists, and claim lists and packing lists and organization the move entailed three entirely separate parts. The first part was packing up my apartment, the kitchen items and the linen closet items, the bedroom items, and that stuff which was scattered throughout the living room not to mention the things that were stored in the basement. Then there was the what do I absolutely need to have with me for the first two months packing list, which largely entailed work related things like clothes and shoes and some technical equipment and of course a guitar. And finally was the what personal things do I want to move to Abu Dhabi to help my new place feel like home. This was the tricky part, largely due to my nomadic tendencies, I find that I can either rationalize close to nothing or close to everything but something in between becomes a challenge. This paired with needing to itemize each item to be shipped well in advance of the items being picked up really posed a challenge to my last minute-itis. But alas I managed and did the best I could, and low and behold 7 boxes, a guitar case, a black wheely suitcase and some picture frames later I had a Diana-ified apartment in a box items ready for transport to Abu Dhabi.

Cut to 45 days later and those items survived a trip over the Atlantic Ocean, UAE customs and countless van/truck and I am sure fork lift rides across, above, below and who knows where else. My 7 boxes, guitar case, black wheely suitcase, and two pictures arrived to my new empty apartment in Abu Dhabi. A few weeks later when I finally moved into that apartment I began to place the items around the apartment to make things feel like home. That however is for another blog post.

The iPhone says it all

2010-07-22T16:44:00.004+05:30

As a photographer here in AD I have found it really challenging to take pictures. The main issue recently has simply been the weather. It is way too hot and far too humid to be outside for too long, not to mention the lens and viewer fog issues. Other challenges include not knowing where I can or can not go to print photos and finding a darkroom. I think that there is plenty of subject matter and day trips out of the city would undoubtedly prove interesting. For the time being I have pretty much stuck with using my camera phone to take photos wherever I find something of interest. And with a few iphone apps I am able to create interesting tonalities, etc. Take a look.

NEW YORK!!!!

2010-07-22T13:46:00.003+05:30

Yay New York. After 2 months in Abu Dhabi I returned to NY for the first time and it was AWESOME!!!! Granted it was sweltering almost as bad as the AD heat and humidity, but it was fantastic. The first day back I was able to hang with my old roommate Jimmy and in the evening a host of folks and the rest of the week was filled with weddings, friends and family. It was a great reprieve from the AD weather and intensive work climate and really satisfied my soul and being in a way that I so desperately needed. There was amazing mexican food to be had, awesome iced coffees and good friends.

Day Trip to Dubai

2010-06-26T11:56:00.006+05:30

My day to day here has been quite tame since arrival, go to work come home get some dinner a few steps away from my residence then wind down for bed and do it all over again. The weekends however are the outliers in this equation. Generally given the heat, averaging 110 degrees, I try to stay indoors and tend to just relax and read, or hang out with some colleagues. However a few weekends back some colleagues from NY were in town and we embarked upon a hot sweaty trip to Dubai.

It was a whirlwind day as I like to call it. We first drove past Yas Island where the awesome Yas Hotel and Formula One Racetrack live.

We then carried on to downtown Dubai where we passed by mall upon mall one with indoor skiing another with an indoor aquarium, etc. Finally we settled on the Dubai Mall, which is housed in the Burj Khalifa, or Khalifa Tower (according to wikipedia it is the tallest man made structure ever built.)

Much like the Empire state building the Burj Khalifa allows visitors to pay for a ride upto a very high point of the building where there is an observation deck. We of course did this, which I am very happy about as it was very enjoyable. The Elevator ride up was about 60 seconds and I feel the visionaries of the project did a tremendous job coming up with a solution of how to distract a bunch of people trapped in a rather fast elevator for a minute heading up the Burj Khalifa. About 5 seconds after the doors closed the elevator went dark and a variety of awesome LED lights and moving video screens took over the passengers visual and auditory experience creating a little entertainment minute. Rather effective.

The view at the top of the Burj was also really awesome. One thinks of Dubai as such a large city, which it is but also it is sprawling and at the city's edge there is desert and desert. A very interesting view of the city and a really interesting view into the way modernity exists.

Finally the ride home. This is the part of the day where one basks in the glorious Air Conditioning of the vehicle watching the beauty of the desert and world around fade into the gloaming.

Chapter 7

2010-05-18T17:49:00.003+05:30

No this does not refer to bankruptcy as my brother had initially suspected when I posted this as my g-chat away message. (sidebar: can you imagine in 100 years people reading these old relics on page 3,000 of a google search, wondering what the heck people are talking about when every other word is tweet, gchat, iphone, imac : end sidebar) Rather it is chronicling this adventure as the 7th distinct chapter of my life.

It's funny to try and organize one's life into definable chapters. I had never thought about doing so until I, like most, had that moment in my life where I thought about what it would be like if I wrote an auto biography. I'm sure Carly Simon's You're So Vain is ringing in your ears...but seriously it could happen. I realize at this stage in my life that organization is a multi-faceted beast. For example I can organize my socks and shoes but while doing so am I considering the complexities and implications of my microcosmic foot covering organizational structure in the context of the broader full closet or even full apartment organization. Suffice it to say that I decided before I drove myself crazy, that I would simply organize my auto-biography, if I were to write one, based on geographic location/address. This is to say that I would figure out every place I have lived and I would create a chapter around it.

Chapter 7: Kaifa Halak: Abu Dhabi, UAE.
The first week was really hard as I was dealing with a full relocation and full integration into a new working world, cultural world and living environment. I was moved into a small studio apartment with a pass through kitchen in a ginormous 50 floor building, and began work 2 days after arriving in a bustling start-up environment. Thankfully the little gnome that traveled with me to AD did all of the necessary ironing for my first months worth of work clothes before the gnomey departure. Grocery shopping is hard when every purchase decision is of something interesting but not necessarily useful and definitely not a feat, or fake-meat. Even turning on the television felt difficult for the first week, I did however finally master that yesterday. My senses were all twisted about and everything seemed hopeless and difficult. I think most people think it is easy for the person who moves because the adventure is in front of them. Truth be known it is really difficult to see the adventure ahead when what one is leaving behind is most in focus.

The past 2 years have been pretty awesome, especially in retrospect. Leaving NY this time around was really difficult. My life in NY was basically awesome, and I was surrounded by a family a network and a community of loved ones and hipsters. I loved the sunlight that streamed through the living room of our apartment most hours of the day and the way bicycling was recognized as a real and viable form or transportation. I loved having a darkroom 5 minutes away and how the layaway store around the corner basically had everything one could need and if they didn't they probably would in a weeks time. My departure from my Brooklyn life was fast and a bit abrupt which was hard for me and those around me. Sorting out the apartment details, packing, work transitions, family time, friends time, and making time to eat my favorite things that I might not be able to get somewhere else was all hard logistically but also emotionally.

Kaifa Halak means how are you in Arabic. This is the first Arabic expression I learned back in NY from the Moroccan Security Guard who worked the day shift in our office. Every day when I walked in he would look at me, which was a prompt for me to recall the Arabic greeting from the deep recesses of my mind. After about a week or so I was able to recall it while walking through the gate which lead to the path which lead to the first of two glass doors that lead to the guard. For the longest time I found myself stuck on the Kaifa, and specifically the aifa part.

La Ciudad, Mexico

2009-11-26T08:19:00.004+05:30

Hola Hola from Mexico City, D.F.
The Adventures have begun on this brief Thanksgiving Holiday trip.
Navigating the public transportation systems, El Metro y El Metrobus.
Take a look at some great photos from Zacalo, Centro Historico and from Temple Mayor.

Mi en las ruinas del Templo Mayor

La Catedral Metropolitana

El Museo Del Templo Mayor

Una Aztec Masquera en el Museo

2009-05-20T22:42:00.003+05:30

Welcome!

Me and Meera at Saroja Ma'ams after Meera was wrapped!

Nappa JiJi's Wife and Child, Malleshwaram, Bangalore

Ball seller, Main Road, Delhi

Auto Rickshaw Meter, Bangalore

Lakme Salon, near to L&T South City, Bangalore

Meera's Guard, Richmond Town, Bangalore

Makeshift Recording Setup at Nischals
Rajaji Nagar, Bangalore

Mandir Vijayanagar, Bangalore

Back to India Part 1 of Many...

2009-05-20T17:35:00.004+05:30

Indian Me

Indian Birthday Celebrations at Chandan's Family's

Delhi Birthday Celebrations at Shelli's
Oh that chocolate Cake...

Returning to India after almost a year away was beyond wonderful, as many of you might imagine. I was able to take almost two weeks holiday and had time to visit my friends and colleagues in Bangalore as well as head upto the 120 degree humid Delhi for some time with friends there. It was an overall excellent trip marked by sambar, trips to Mandir's, wearing all of my Indian salwar Kameez suits, arguing in Hindi with Auto drivers and of course lot's of great chai! Though it felt far too showt I did feel like I was able to recconect with friends and localities just enough to remind myself how I do have an odd obsession with the country, it's people, language and of course it's food.

Oh Bangalore Kerosene Pollution

In a department store dressing room waiting...

Oh Commercial Street I love you so.

Bangalore was more polluted than I remember, when are they going to mandate CNG for all autos??? I got to eat my all time favorite Dosa, at CTR, central Tiffin Room in malleshwaram, met the recewntly born child of Napa JiJi and his wife, the guards at my old flat. I met with Fruity and she gave me some delicious Mangos. I spent lots of time with Chandan and family, visited the Sathya Sai Baba Mandir in Whitefield, ate his mother's amazing amazing food, rode on motorcycles and scooters, celebrated my birthday with a cake and all, thanks Chandan, met some current fellows, attempted to record some tunes with Nischal my sitar teacher, hung out with Rochana, Ann and Anurag, shoped till we dropped and ate at BBQ Nation which was a first for me. Visited Jimmy's old hood, said Howdah a few times and generally just enjoyed the time pass.

Bhajans at the Rajaji Nagar Mandir

Shiva Musicals in Malleswaram

Delhi was hot hot hot, but not polluted feeling. I think most days were in the 120's + and super humid. The comforting, you begin to seat from the second you walk out of your air conditioned room feeling, brought me right back, but was a super pleasant change suprisingly. From sand storms in Lajput Nagar to a birthday celebration for me and Shelli in Malviya Nagar, yay Sarah and Brian, to autio ride after autio ride, to seeing the Twenty Onwards Crew in Naraina, to the vegi market in Malviya, to Dillit Hut, to Green Market and Costa Coffee to CCD, really anything to keep cool, it was all amazing. Thanks Shelli for your ongoing hospitalituy and beautiful chai, Mike nice to meet you and fun times and all and all a highly succesfull far too short but really lovely adventure.

Shelli on the roof in Malviya Nagar

Buddha at Rochanas-beautiful na?

Abu Dhabi Take 3

2009-05-20T17:04:00.004+05:30

The Corniche (Boardwalk) in the evening

An image of my hotel in the far distance and
a mosque in the near distance.

Beautiful night flowers in the park surrounding
the mosque.

This entry marks my third business trip to Abu Dhabi, and I am loving just about every minute of it. The city certainly is multifaceted and quite layered. After having spent roughly six weeks here in total over the past 6 months I have a much deeper appreciation for the depth behind the white facades of the 20 story high buildings, the mosques on each corner and the every refreshed row of BMW's, Mercedes and Hummers which lined the cramped parking lots of this city. Taking small chunks of time out of my incredibly busy working schedule, to explore little pockets of culture and life here, has proven increadibly useful to my understanding and appreciation for the city. I have made a few friends here and taken long walks down the Corniche, well only once but it was a beautiful evening which served as a nice break from the heat and humidity of early May. The more I am here the more I love it. Though more than quite a bit different from last year in India, these trips to Abu Dhabi have shaped my perspective of the Gulf Region, given me deeper insight into the Emirates, and really good Lebanese food.

A walk to Al Meena Market - souq

Clay baby shoes at the souq

Abu Dhabi Take-2

2009-03-05T16:05:00.004+05:30

Me in an Abaya at the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi

Starbucks Coffee

I am back in Abu Dhabi for work. The conference this time around was at a very nice government venue, went very well and was very interesting covering topics ranging from Microfinance to Tourism Africa-Arab Gulf Relationships. I have eaten more Indian and Lebanese food, which I am not complaining about. I have explored more of the city on foot and so I have a decent idea of where I am and where I am going which is always excellent. I have walked to work, seen my first Starbucks in Abu Dhabi, tried to establish a bit of a seaweed eating, lemon water drinking, exercise bike riding routine and have visited the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, which is absolutely beautfiul. Heading back to NY late tonight. Take a look at some pics.

The wonderful staff at ECSSR the venue of our
Africa-Arab Gulf Relationships Conference

The Lighting Board in the Tech Booth

Boston

2009-02-22T23:14:00.003+05:30

Bolt Bus is awesome! There is a bathroom for starters, internet and power. What more could one ask for on a 4 hour bus ride. Pure genius really. So yesterday I ventured out of NYC for the first time in over a month. I think that I need to do this more often for sanity's sake. I am visiting my friend Ann in Jamaica Plain and hanging out, freezing my hiney off, and eating really yummy food. It has been a great escape weekend and I only wish it could last longer. Take a look at some fun pics from our walks around Jamaica Plain.

Me trying to explain something important!

Ann looking at nice coat at thrift store.

The art of Thrift Store Design, sure beats Old Navy!

OBAMA MANIA

2009-02-03T00:16:00.004+05:30

I need to carry my camera with me in the city far more often than I do. That said this past Sunday after enjoying a delightful spinach, onion and goat cheese omelet at a lovely brunch spot, a friend and I did a bit of low level exploration around downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn via car. It really is amazing the way my brain processes visual information from a car differently than while walking. I think that something about the distance covered in a car and my cavalier attitude toward traveling around in circles when in a car helps my brain plot visually based maps on areas in my mind.

On this particular Sunday there were all sorts of amazing things happening. First of all it was almost 60 degrees on the 1st of February that is worth celebrating in and of itself, but then there was a Chinese New Year Parade in Chinatown, an awesome sunroof open trip across the Brooklyn Bridge, a run-in with an amazing Volkswagon Bus and of course a borrow-wide tour of Brooklyn in search of Hamlin street. I am still not really certain where it is but I have been there.

More Images of Abu Dhabi

2009-01-29T00:16:00.004+05:30

The Al Nahyan Sheikh Family of Abu Dhabi

High levels of construction and new buildings

Hard Hat Area

From the Trailer door looking out

The sunset at the beach on The Corniche,

Work Update

2009-01-24T22:57:00.003+05:30

The Conference:

This week has been dedicated entirely to the planning, operations and summary of the NYUAD Institute's first multi day conference. The conference focused on education and it was held at Al Mamoura Auditorium in Abu Dhabi. This conference brought me back to my days working at Lerner. Our team was awesome and we pulled off a very intense event with great fortitude and a gracefulness that could be seen as ease. The event included two large dinners at very nice hotels in Dubai as well as President Obamas Inauguration and two Jazz Band performances. Incredible. I definitely felt a huge sense of accomplishment about this event and am really glad this business trip happened in the time frame it did, for the ways it has informed my understanding of this project on the whole.

The Al Mamoura Tech Booth where I spent
most of my time with that crestron system!

Le Meridien

2009-01-24T22:46:00.003+05:30

Wow staying in one hotel for two weeks, something I am not sure I have ever done before, has really helped me to feel that my hotel is like home. The same uncle brings me towels chocolates every night. The same wait staff greets me at the breakfast buffet offering me tea and orange juice and the same Mr. Singh and his evening counterpart Mr. Singh greet me when I arrive in the main driveway or need a taxi in the early morning. I was a bit skeptical as to how I would adjust to staying in a relatively fancy hotel for this trip, but I have to say it has been overall very enjoyable and has made my life simpler. Working long days is not conducive of finding time to go grocery shopping or doing ones own laundry, that said I really appreciate the amenities of hotel life. Here is a quick glimpse into Le Meridien my home away from home. Fully equipped with cafes, a hookah sitting area, outdoor restaurants, a pool and of course ping pong tables, Le Meridien has served me incredibly well during my stay in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi Day 13

2009-01-24T21:55:00.005+05:30

Nice door in Heritage Village

Today is my 13th day in Abu Dhabi and going strong. It has certainly been a whirlind and an adventure here. I find that I can't keep myself from comparing the Abu Dhabi to India, no matter where I turn or go I am constantly suprised by the cleanliness, infrastructure and lack of antiquity that I find in my travels here in the UAE. These are not bad things mind you, in fact they are generally wonderful attributes about a country, perhaps minus the antiquity piece which is simply a fact about the Countries age and the way that development has happened here. Needless to say my stay here has been quite seemless. I have not gotten sick or encountered any unsafe or uncomfortable situations. Overall my visit here has been very very busy from a work standpoint and quite pleasant.

Jeeps taking guests on dune bashing rids on the
sand dunes.

Mr. Shah, Ben, Me, Nils, Maura and Krishna
(Brett is taking this photo in Hatta)

Today, my second to last day here, I was able to venture out of the city with several of my colleagues to visit some of the surrounding areas of Abu Dhabi, including Hatta and Dubai. We left around 8:30 in the morning and headed for Hatta a very newly developed area of the UAE with lovely mountains and desert flanking the car throughout the trip. We hiked up a lookout point, visited a 3,000 year old heritage village, hiked down to an oasis valley like area and ate at a nice hotel witha beautiful view.

We then traveled onward to Dubai where we took a quick tour of the city and then planted ourselves on Jumeirah beach, at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, where we watched the sunset over the Burj Al Arab hotel, arguably the most expensive hotel in the world, from the glass plated elevator of the Jumeirah beach hotel as we traveled from the 25th floor to the 1st and back up again.

Burj Al Arab Hotel

Inside of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel

It was a lovely introduction to Dubai, a city that truly is quite opulant. I think I would enjoy visiting Dubai again to hang out at the beach, maybe fly a kite and who knows what else. With several different downtown-like areas, and the Burj Dubai, the tallest structure/building in the world, the city certainly has many intersting attactions both in the skyline as well as around town.

Part of the skyline of Dubai, notice the incredible
tall falace towering over all other buildings, that is the Burj Dubai.

Otherwise much of my time has been spent working on a large academic conference that was recently hosted by the New York University Abu Dhabi Institute here in Abu Dhabi. The conference was a great success and though very draining an incredible feet with a lovely dinner at the Emirates Palace, the classisest hotel in Abu Dhabi and a dinner, Inaguration screening and wonderful jazz band performance at the Royal Meridien Hotel.

AD Day 3

2009-01-14T13:44:00.003+05:30

So it has been 3 days and counting in Abu Dhabi and so far I love it. The city is clean and warm, relative to NY that is, and it is generally calm and approachable. I am happy to be working in a new environment where there are windows and different languages being spoken all the time. I think I thrive more in these environments.

Last night I took my first walk in the city with a colleague of mine after our yummy south Indian dinner. We walked around Elektra street which I believe is considered part of the Down Town Area of Abu Dhabi. I was on the hunt for a fuse for a mixer whose fuse got busted and she for an ATM. I did, after visiting several electronics shops, all of which were closely situated, find a fuse that I hope will work. If not I may have to visit the shop of the gentleman whose store it was to return said fuse :) Then we passed by this children's park that had an awesome blow-up slide in it, which was amazing. The park was really nice and the kids were getting a kick out of the hugeness of the slide, as was I. No I did not go on children only :)

I went out to amazing south Indian food last night. I would say that the food was better than the Saravanah Bhavan in NY. I have met quite a number of South Indians here many of whom hail from Kerala. I love being around so many Indians and people who speak and understand Urdu/Hindi. It allows me to communicate with people in a language other than english, it allows me to practice my Hindi and all that jazz.

I have taken a few pics of the city, though not too many, and I hope to have some more cool media to share with you all. For now this is where it's at.

Travels in the Sky

2009-01-12T12:46:00.004+05:30

So I took my first ever business class flight, which for those of you who know me and my style of traveling know that is a huge deal. I loved it, I mean what is not to love. First of all there was an amazing amount of space and the seat completely reclined. Second of all they served me a mimosa the second I walked on the plane. There was an awesome menu of things available throughout the flight, and they were all really nicely presented and tasted good. It was great.

There were disco-like ceiling lights in the business class cabin, all sorts of fun lotions and stuff that came in this cute little sachel, there was an awesome camera I guess strapped to the front of the plane that allowed us to watch the take off and landing and the blanket was nice and thick!

I know this is going to be problematic for me in my future travels given that I will not be able to afford such luxury but for now as a business traveler it is all good. It is feasible to walk off that flight, go to your hotel, shower and be ready for the day. Okay I may be a little tired but overall it was awesome! Not to mention that now I am in Abu Dhabi which is also awesome so far.

I realize already on my trip, not having left the US since I returned from India in July, that I am way more travel savvy and way more comfortable navigating different countries with a year of India under my belt. I walked out of the hotel today not timid completely confident, walked to the road, hailed a cab and succesfully met my colleague at his hotel. Well more to come.

Work Abu Dhabi

2008-11-19T01:42:00.003+05:30

Well I have never been to Abu Dhabi...Not Yet anyhow. Today marks my almost second week at my new job at New York University. I am the Technology Specialist for Abu Dhabi, a new University that NYU is opening in Abu Dhabi, UAE. So far work is great. I love the project and the job. It is a sort of jump in head first scenario, as most are, but it is really working out well. At present I am working with severeal different departments in the university gleaning info, learning systems, brainstorming ideas and projects, etc. I am excited about the possabilities, and though this is probably blasphamous to say I love the Washington Square park area way better than the upper west side. :-p

Re-cap on the last two months AKA "The Peddi"

2008-10-30T20:15:00.005+05:30

My resettling back into life in the states has included many new and crazy adventures I never necessarily expected. For example I went for the very FIRST time in my life to get a pedicure. That's right. I know for all of you who know me well this probably sounds like the craziest thing you have ever head, and it sort of sounds crazy to me too. I will say that after 10 months in India a pedicure should probably be a requirement to be let back into the states, but that is not here nor there. Anyhow so my friend Shari dragged me to the nail salon, the one where my mom goes no less and she treated me to a spa pedicure (I am still not entirely clear on what that is). The whole experience was a riot due to 3 key factors. 1) The ladies at the nail salon know me as Cheryl's daughter, and because I am come in for waxing occasionally and they think I am a total nut. 2) I probably have the hairiest legs of anyone who has ever come into the salon and rolled up their pants. 3) For some reason I have this effect on the ladies at the nail salon where they surround me in a cult-ish semi circle whenever possible, and touch me and poke me and talk about me in Korean, though I think I am beginning to decipher the language at least the phrase, too much hair, which is often used. Shari and I sat in our pedicure chairs side by side, hilariously laughing the entire time.

A Poem

2008-10-29T23:22:00.002+05:30

All and all I have been trying to figure things out in this huge transition from East back to West. As many of you may know I was going to move to California for a job in late August, which did not end up happening. I had written a poem during my last few months in India which I have not yet shared with anyone but am going to share here on this blog. I dedicate this poem to all of my fellow AIF-ers and the peeps at home that kept me going.

Delirious

We are a crazy lot
Strong headed about our fate
We must disregard warning signs to keep up the pace

Fighting myself to feel the truth
Where tradition lacks comfort and comfort’s not a word
Lightning storms calm my nerves

Down in the dirt I held back the tears
Hailed an auto and got Jimmy’s call
Across the country you were in jail

When obstacles are often people
whom we are positioned to rely on
We grasp onto to those intangibles that we can hide in

Veg noodles and Gobi Manchurian
The film festival at the queerium
Motorcycle rides and heat induced delirium

80 Ruppee phone calls to 001’s
biding my time to unleash my tongue
I realize that I’m always looking for the one

Trying new things investing in new beings
Fellows on floor mats all around the flat
Connecting with strangers whom I’ve just met

Seeing faces that morning at 8am
It made me feel alive again
Mom’s crazy laugh and your beard full-on

Never thought I’d connect like this

You know I don’t like being typical
But this sort of love is deeper than ego
I guess I’m admitting that I miss you.

Just being and laughing
Talking about nothing of importance
That’s what I’ve begun to dream of

Home is what I think about
Falafel lunches and late night jams
Knowing it’s another place I can survive in
You all help me keeping on

Sometimes the small things make me appreciate
what I know I will miss once I leave.

I'm back

2008-10-29T23:03:00.003+05:30

Alright so as I have been readjusting to the states, I have disappeared from this blog. Fear not I am back and in new york city. The past few months have been a bit tumultuous and interesting. I have done some really fun and amazing things including hanging out with friends and family, searching lots of potential jobs on the internet, and doing some freelance Techy work. Below are some fun photos from an array of different concerts I worked some tech and did some photography for, that were a part of the Ear to the Earth festival sponsored by the Electronic Music Foundation.

Back to the USSA

2008-07-03T00:45:00.003+05:30

That's right the countdown is over and I'm back. Weird kinda like I never left but totally different. Back to eating in Diners, to wearing shorts in public, to taking long long hot hot showers and to indulging in foods. I am actually afraid to eat most things for fear of that sudden, I have to go the bathroom now, sort of feeling. So far the omelette from the Landmark diner, though it tasted bland and pretty awful, has stayed in. I have to say that my battle wounds have been healing here in NY. There is something about the dirt and the air in India that made it difficult for some of my wounds to heal though they are doing much better now, even my leg, which has been a mess for months feels better. Strange. Hmmm...Now its just a matter of what to do. With respect to my career, relationships, music, etc.

Countdown 6 Days Left

2008-06-24T12:17:00.003+05:30

Hi all,

Wow only six days left to my fellowship here in India. The time seems to be racing past. I spent the last few days in the hills of Himachal Pradesh hiking, shopping, eating momos and going to the Dalai Lamas temple. Good times good times. I had a leech suck my blood, that was a first. Jimmy and I did an awesome semi-vertical hike down to a stream that runs through the Tibetan Homeland in India. I took a momo making class where I learned how to make the traditional Tibetan Momos in spinach, mixed veg, potato and chocolate flavors, yumm.

Now I am off to Corbett National Park, some tiger sanctuary in Northern India. Apparently if we try really hard we can spot tigers. Let's see Ill keep you posted. For now I leave you with a smalll sentiment from my last adventures in Tamil Nadu.

Dykey Duck and a cappuccino from Cafe
Coffee Day in Coimbatore.

Countdown 9 Day To Go

2008-06-21T12:11:00.005+05:30

WOw 9 days to go? Where has the time gone seriously? I spent my 10th to last night in India on an overnight (15 hour) bus with no AC, and some smelly people (myself included) from Delhi to Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh. The ride was a combination of sitting, peeing in the brush on the side of interstate roadways, and flying out of the seat over the bumps for far too long, as a long small child and I attempted to lay down in the back seat of the bus. But we (Jimmy, Vanitha and I) have made it safely and plan to be here for a few days before we return to Delhi in preparation for our fellowship endpoint conference, and following my departure. STRANGE!! Please check out below for a fun picture of my with my colleage Chandan and a famous Karnatakan play write with his family at their home/arts school in Bangalore.

Let the Countdown Continue 15 Days to GO

2008-06-15T20:24:00.003+05:30

So with 15 days to go I am living it up in Bangalore preparing for the 2 day train ride back to Delhi. My crocs, which I purchased just before I left for India have sprung a hole in them and have been tossed in the garbage. I have finally found a sitar case for my sitar and I have a huge trekking pack full of Indian clothes. Oh and I have finally been wrapped in a sari, oh yes. Saroja ma'am, one of the AYV teachers from Government High School Adugodi, had me fitted for a Sari blouse a while back and made good on her offer of home made North Karnatakan food and Sari fun at her beautiful home in Koramangala. Good times good times. So yup it's now time to come home. Will likely be out of communication for sometime, but reachable on my Delhi mobile.

Over-cuting

Oh yeah Chandan's Signature diagonal shot

The Countdown - 16 days to go

2008-06-13T23:53:00.004+05:30

Saying goodbye is odd and hard. I have done it twice tonight and both times I did not struggle all that much to say goodbye to those who I was not that close to. But those with whom I have a bond they are the ones, where eyes got blurry and watery. They are the ones whose goodbyes were heartfelt and deep. They are the ones whose goodbyes plague me. They are the ones who teach me love is much deeper than attraction and sex. They are the women.

This pic is of Nisrula one of the boys in AYV
from Government Urdu High School Tank Garden
in Bangalore.

The countdown - 19 days to go

2008-06-11T11:32:00.004+05:30

Last night proved incredibly exciting when finally after months of searching, my sitar teacher and I finally found a hard Sitar case here in Bangalore. I thought all hope was lost when our safe bet, in Andhra Pradesh fell through and I nearly freaked out. Anyhow after the chaos, freak out, travel back and forth from music shop to music shop that claimed to have the case but thought cardboard was fiber glass, all ended well and happy, as it seems to do here in India...sometimes.

Wow random thought for the day. Toilet Paper. You know how sometimes you find yourself in a bathroom stall and the toilet paper dispenser refuses to give you the toilet paper. Maybe it is that the paper's beginning is unclear, and as you spin the roll round and round you envision ripping into the middle of it to get at the paper. Sometimes the rolls won't spin at all, especially on those large industrial style rolls, where the little middle piece just refuses to spin until it gets its proper dose of WD-40. Whatever the reason, I have not experienced an pf these problems in a long while. Can't say I have missed it. Nope nope.

On returning to the US. I am beginning to feel really excited about returning to the US, though it feels really far away. I realize that I have awesome friends there and it is likely that many of the ways in which I have felt empty during my time here in India, will be somewhat filled by the love of family and old friends when I return. Granted new vacancies will likely present themselves and I have made some great friendships here, but such is life.

Okay Picture Time!

Me with some of the students at Government
Urdu High School Barlane in Bangalore.

Me in Mcleoud Ganj, do you see me?
I am there I am even waving my arms.

Let the Countdown Begin

2008-06-10T22:06:00.003+05:30

I am so not a countdown person, but in an attempt to help me get through the insanity that is the next 20 days, until I return NY, I have decided to try it. Okay this countdown will likely be inconsistent with many missed days however it will be a good indicator for those around me, I hope. Plus I will try and add a photo to every update which will be fun. Yay photo sharing. I will try not to repeat anything. Here we go.

Me and Vanitha (a fellow fellow and friend)
at my 26th birthday celebration in my apt
in Bangalore.

Overcoming Obstacles

2008-06-09T01:02:00.003+05:30

Hmmm... This is the theme of daily pedestrian life in Bangalore. With sidewalks that are incredibly uneven, often missing, and gaping holes that serve as entry ways for one to fall into the flow of the city's sewer water, keeping ones eyes on the ground below is a somewhat crucial component of walking in this city. I have fallen (not that that is the oddest thing for me) many many times in this city. Sometimes it totally takes me by surprise though many times I can feel it coming but just can't prevent it. There are countless stories just among my friends and acquaintances here, of people having mishaps with sidewalks, broken roadways, dirt roads, random unforeseen holes in the road, accidental sewer mishaps, street cow run-ins, etc

My favorite street, is the one my friend Jimmy lives on, which even on the best of days looks as though it has been bombed. In all seriousness. With exposed pipes and wires, hilly, unpaved dirt terrain, ever changing roadblocks of piled up dirt, gaping ditches and missing walkway, this road is great fun.

She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes Toot toot

2008-06-04T18:02:00.005+05:30

Toot toot...

View from the Toy Train

My last month in India has just begun, and I welcomed it in with a bang. Ooty. Yes Ooty is a beautiful hill station in the state of Tamil Nadu where I traveled with two friends, Jimmy and Vanitha, for a wonderful weekend of fun.

Nice sheep we encountered at the beginning of our day trek

Vanitha and Jimmy walking through some farmers
fields in the village where we ate lunch

We went Trekking and sat inside playing travel Crossword (I think it is the British version of Scrabble) next to the fire. We went out to lovely dinners up dark hills in beautifully decorated mansions, took a toy train ride through the Nalgiri's, and went to a dance club/bar.

Cool flowers on the trek

Tribal kids we met on our trek

Our trip was initially a logistical nightmare mostly for Vanitha who was organizing the whole thing but it turned out to be awesome. Vanitha and I traveled by car from Madurai to Coimbature where we stayed overnight, we then picked up Jimmy who came in via bus early the next morning. Then we all traveled via car together to Ooty and when we reached it started to pour. We stayed in a really cute bed and breakfast style place which I have never seen before in India. We went out on an awesome guided trek the second day and then we took a toy train ride through the mountains for a few hours before we all hit up pizza hut (apparently the only one in Tamil Nadu that is outside of the main city of Chennai) and headed home. Jimmy and I boarded our train back to Bangalore and so it goes.

Stretching at one of the stops on the toy train

View

An overall incredible trip. Though on the cockroach infested sleeper train ride back to Bangalore I began to think of how much of India I have still not seen, how many states I have not visited and how many places I can't even fathom after 1 year here. Wonder what it all means?

From the train

When it got overcast, view from the train

Weekend Getaway - Sargur

2008-05-12T20:52:00.008+05:30

On our off-the-beaten trek journey out of the city, Jimmy and I met many interesting people, mostly farmers. Below you will find some photos of the people we met and some of the things we saw on our journey.

Sagur, a very agricultural area in Karnataka, is inhabited by a large number of 'tribals' as they are called locally, who were living in the forest but due to factors out of their control, were pushed out into the surrounding agricultural areas.

Traffic Life - 5th Issue - On Stands Now!!!

2008-05-12T20:16:00.004+05:30

So as many of you already know I work with a magazine here in India, called Traffic Life. I am happy to say that the 5th issue of the magazine has hit stands in all major cities in India. So if you are in the country you should definitely check it out. Additionally you can get a quick glimpse of some of this issues highlights on their website at www.traffimagazine.in Be sure to check out the DFC's Photo highlight of Chandni Chowk, which has some realy beautiful images. Additionally I have a travelogue in this issue on some awesome spots one needs to see in Kerala. So take a look and enjoy.

The Zhou Brothers

2008-05-12T19:56:00.005+05:30

Going along with the creativity theme, today at work I decided that creativity can happen even when stuck behind a desk, which is the minority of my days here in India. But when it does happen I find myself plagued by an antsy-ness for creation and productivity.

Back in 2007 there was an awesome event held in Roone Arledge Auditorium, at Columbia's Lerner Hall. Since I was one of the managers of the Tech Department at the time, I oversaw the planning and execution of the somewhat logistically complex event. The Zhou brothers, two chinese artists who are brothers I think, do installation paintings in different venues, where they combine, 35mm projection, live music and on stage painting of a huge cyclorama (canvas-like theatrical cloth) some 20 x 30 feet.

Luckily today, as I sat at my desk reorganizing a bunch of photos in my new external hard drive, I came across the 50 or so photos I took during the Zhou Brothers show, from behind the tech booth of course. The above is a fun collage I made with the images. I think I may print it and put it up on my wall one day. It's pretty cool. What do you think?

When I get borred

2008-05-12T19:15:00.005+05:30

It occurs to me at strange times that there are so many possible ways for me to be creative and make things. Jimmy and I for example, made an awesome woven basket/zen garden/rock shrine, this weekend while we were away in Sagur, a very rural place about 4 hours outside of Bangalore. We decided to head out of town for a weekend away from the city, where we would not encounter much chaos or tourism. Luckily we ended up speaking to someone who knew a Dr. Balu who worked at a hospital, that functioned like an NGO, with medical and educational projects. So Jimmy and I headed out Saturday morning, and made it to the hospital by mid day.

We stayed in a room in the visiting doctors section of the hospital , the first time I've slept in a bunk bed in India, it was awesome. We went on a tour of the organizations very progressive school, which caters to students of the local Tribals in the area, and starts in grade 1 and goes to grade 10.

(Super well equipped library and science facilities. This says Heart is English and Kannada. The school is a Kannada medium school)

(student creation-too cute)

(This open-air classroom style is used by the school for grades 1-6)

We visited the first hospital of the organization that began in 1984, I think, and it was small, and located in this beautiful garden of a place.

We met an American Girl who had been 'studying abroad' at the hospital for 3 weeks, with 3 weeks left in her stay, a few medical students and doctors who complained about the Idly with us, at the hospital canteen, and one Dr. Anant who was obsessed with discussing the difference between American English and Indian English, as well as hearing Jimmy speak English with an Indian accent. Jimmy and I decided we were going to create something, at some point during our trip, and so our evening walk, was very project-minded as we roamed around the hospital grounds looking for project-friendly items. We found some twigs, some cool flowers, some baby's breath, a few palm fronds, some ants which we decided to leave where we found them, some cool seed pods,grain like plants, and some lovely rocks. As we headed back to our room we began brainstorming ideas, of what our project items could become, and finally after reviewing the usefulness of the organizations annual report, which sat on the counter space in the room, we froze on a basket. Please note at this point in the story that neither Jimmy nor myself have ever woven a basket. With that said, Jimmy had a vision!

So we began. Varying size strips of the annual report coupled with some palm frond leaves became our core materials. We skilfully, tore, trimmed, visualized and conceptualized our proposed basket. After adjusting the size of the template and switching from a square to a rectangle base, we began. Two hours or so later, Jimmy and I found ourselves staring in amazement at our masterpiece. Which by the way was mostly due to Jimmy's enthusiasm and perseverance. Despite our happiness that our basket had four lovely woven walls that actually stood up, we recognized that we had many neglected project items laying on the slate floor. And so the brainstorming began. We weren't sure at first how to create something that would accommodate all of our wonderful items, but finally we decided on a ZEN garden. I can't describe much more about how our Basket evolved but due reference the photo. Most importantly we had a great time, and after two thrilling, and close, games of Yahtzee we fell asleep.

Tamil Nadu

2008-05-02T14:52:00.006+05:30

(me and Barathi)

Wow it's been a while since I've written. You know the true holdup in all this blogging for me, is the pictures. I have this horrible tendency of not taking my digital camera with me on trips
(I only take the film one) so then I have no pictures from the trips and don't want to blog about them, because I know I would get bored reading my blogs without images. Hopefully, you are interested in the words more than I would be, since I have decided the silence needs to stop, and I will blog without photos, and add them in as I can get them from the friends I was traveling with.

The past few weeks has been a smattering of work, and trips away from Bangalore. My sitar teacher Mr. Nischal has not been too happy about my departure. I really like learning the sitar and one of the main things I have learned is that my progress rapidly decreases when I don't go to my lesson everyday. This may be remedied by me getting a sitar of my own to my home, so I can practice outside of lessons, though I will have to see if that will work.

My first major excursion away from my regular sitar lessons was a trip to the city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, where I traveled with two other fellows, Jimmy and Sumit. We took an overnight train from Bangalore to Madurai to visit our friend Vanitha who lives there working with an environmental NGO. Anyhow the train ride was good but a little hot, we went via sleeper class which has beds in it but is open air so you regulate temperature by turning fans on and off and opening or closing the windows, so obviously when its hot out there is little one can do.

(inside the Menakshi Temple)

We arrived and had that one day to live it up in Madurai, which is famous for the huge and really nice Menakshi Temple, as well as many other temples and holy places. Little did I know, but Madurai is also famous for a one-sewing machine master tailor by the name of Barathi, who works out of the market area of the lower part of the Menakshi Temple. Barathi is Vanitha's tailor and after going shopping for some suit material (Indian women's salwar kameez suits) we made our first visit to Barathi's tailors. The little old man, clad in a holy t-shirt had a warm smile and a mean way with the tape measure. Vanitha explained everything in Tamil and he began taking my measurements for the 5 suits I had brought to him. It was an exhilarating experience. By that same evening Barathi had completed two of my suits and as the four of us, Jimmy, Sumit, Vanitha and I, set off on our adventures of the south I was ready, clad in my new suits.

(I didn't know Jimmy was taking this at the time)

The next morning at 6:30am the driver of our air-conditioned Qualis (SUV) showed up ready for our 3 day long journey. The 4 of us loaded our stuff and ourselves into the vehicle, and rolled up the windows ready for the adventure. Now you have to understand that traveling by car and not public transport sets one apart from the masses in India. But traveling by an air-conditioned vehicle makes one feel like royalty, and a bit guiltily like a glutinous foreign traveler. Thankfully after 10 minutes of feeling guilty we broke out the ipod and external speaker adapter and basked in our touristy behavior. To be fair In the 8 months that I have been in India I think I have been in a car maybe 12 times, and of those an air conditioned vehicle 2 or 3 times and usually only for the 30 minutes trip to the airport.

Our first destination was Rameshwaram, an alleged 5-6 hours away by car. As there is usually only one road connecting you with where you want to go, the quality of the road, and status of current construction projects, largely impacts the length of ones journey. Rameshwaram is a very holy small city on the coast of Tamil Nadu, with a huge temple and lots of water. Our main objective was to meet a friend of Vanitha’s, Das, who was going to take us out on a boat to go snorkeling. Given that the weather in Tamil Nadu was already nearing the high 90’s if not hotter, we were all exceptionally excited to get into the water. We finally made it to Rameshwaram and found Das, and learned that there was a ban on people going out for snorkeling. but, after a 20 minute walk in the desert heat through scorching hot sand paths, lined with dry thorny bushes, we made our way toward a light house and a clearing, wear Das and his friend had a huge wooden boat waiting for us. We were super excited to get into the water and started taking off our clothing garments, we were too modest to take off outside the sanctity of the small beach. There was a fish spearer on the beach, who was showing us the huge fish he had caught by way of spearing them under the water, cool. Then we made our way to the boat and climbed in. Das brought the snorkeling gear and jumped in the boat and they paddled us out a bit to wear the reefs were. The boat was really the biggest sturdiest wooden, paddle boat I had ever seen, no motor no sail, but huge. Getting out of the boat was a bit tricky because it was high up, but one by one we splashed into the lovely water.

We snorkeled around for an hour or so then made our way back to shore and back to the town, where we got a hotel and got lunch. Shortly after, we took off for our second destination Dhanushkodi, which is the focus of a Hindu Mythological Epic where Lord Ram built a bridge between India and Sri Lanka to rescue his consort (wife) Sita from the evil Ravana. The ride through the beach involved the 4 of us, and another group of 11 Indians, piled inside and on top of a tempo-like metal transport vehicle with some wooden benches inside. The trip was super bumpy, but fun and I am honestly amazed that the truck didn’t get stuck in the sand and that no one fell off from the top. The vehicle stopped in this small inhabited part of the beach, where a ruin of a large church was the most prominent thing lining the seascape in front of us. We piled out and walk toward the church, noticing sea-shell vendors and small children and goats around us. There were a few homes spackled in shore, but otherwise not much life. Das, who accompanied us on this trip told us that there had been some cyclone in the 60’s that devastated the community, which had previously been thriving, and was accessible via rail access with a large train station.

Now you may be wondering when Barathi the tailor is going to resurface in the story. Well after some coffee and relaxation in our four single bedded hotel room, Sumit announced that he wanted to go to the Rameshwaram Temple. Jimmy and Vanitha were “templed-out” from Madurai, and I was hesitant to volunteer, because the temple denies entry to the sanctum for non-Hindus. However, thanks to Barathi’s newly stitched suit, Vanitha’s sparkly bangles, and the long braid I wore in my hair, I like to believe that Sumit and I passed for a newly wed North Indian Couple. Sumit was super cute in his waishtee (the Tamil word for Lungi-long piece of cloth guys in southern states of India wear around the waste as appropriate indoor or outdoor apparel) and polo top, and we blended into the crowd that was circling around the temple. It was actually an amazing experience as I did blend in and was allowed to the sanctum and saw a really awesome ceremony called an Aarthi, where the priests lit all these dias and circled the diety with the fire.

(Vanitha, Jimmy and I at the tip)

Day 2 we went to Kanyakumari at the tip of India, the largest peninsula in the world, where the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal meet. A huge highlight of our travel plans, this spot is supposed to have beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Though the actual beach of Kanyakumari was not as serene and desolate as I pictured it in my mind, it was quite built up with layers of concrete paths and steps leading down to the water. Both the sunrise and sunset were beautiful, and the gem of our travel to the tip was our one night stay in a lovely cottage on an ashram. (I saw my first Indian bathtub in this cottage) After a wonderful night of sleep in the cottage, we arose bright and early had some south Indian style breakfast, uttapam, puri, dosa, sambar, chutney and coffee and headed back to Madurai.

Let me save the story of when Vanitha and I popped a squat on the side of the main highway for another entry.

My Favorite Indian Motorcyle

2008-04-10T00:59:00.003+05:30

Finally a few pics of me on Chandan's infamous 2-wheeler which I ride on the back of daily.

Important things to note: Indian dude in striped shirt is my colleague Chandan, weird picture
of me looking like alien pig in helmet, is how I usually look when on the motorcycle, which now that I think about it may account for some of the stairs. Though I am not usually trying to smile big when stopped at traffic signal, as I am here, while posing for picture.

The Ants Go Marching 2 by 2 Hoorah!

2008-04-09T22:35:00.004+05:30

Theo, the Pepsi and the artillery aka my two Chapals.
Note the line of tape clearly marking enemy territory.

Sumit was on clean-up duty for a while. And believe
me this was only a mere fraction of the total wounded

Hmm more like 20 by 20. Last night was the ant invasion of the back room of the 3rd floor flat of the Saanvi Malleshwaram apartment building. Let me give a little background here. So I have this window ledge in my apartment which is swarming with ants, every night. They don't come during the day and they leave by morning, but every night a good 30 of them hang out and mill about for a while, which is very stressful on my anti-bugs indoors personality. Anyhow I have recently rearranged my room in such a way that my bed is diagonally across the room from the ledge, however any guests who come over sleep on a mattress in the nook of the window ledge.

Upon hearing of my ant wows many people recommended that I try the "magic chalk." Now I am lazy and forgetful about such things (especially now that my bed is across the room) and only recently remembered about the chalk, so last night I finally purchased the item for 15 Rupees. True to the name the 'chalk' looks like a short piece of white sidewalk chalk, with its only defining attribute being the large cockroach pic on the outside of the box, with a red cross through it. Following the instructions, I took the chalk and drew lines around the perimeter of the window and this one part of the wall, that has some large cracks in it. Since the ants were already out for the evening stroll, the chalk was greeted with chaos. The ants began freaking out, and to my dismay, instead of walking through the chalk and exiting out the giant crack in the window pain to the freedom of the outdoors, they began flooding into the room. Well let's just say that 3 hours and roughly 300 dead ants later, I was laying tightly wrapped up in my sheet, with a flashlight in hand, which I turned on every 3 minutes to ensure that the ants weren't coming to the bed side of the room to stage a revolt.

Some Close-ups and they don't even do justice

A few more casualties. I will say that the ants were strategic
in that they hit in waves, like 3o at a time were dispatched
by the queen ant. (Are there queen ants?)

Important facts about the invasion. First the chalk inspired ants to jump from the ledge to the floor, and then swagger about into the greater room, this lead to my roomate Sumit, putting a thick line of tape, sticky side up as a barrier to deter the ants from crossing into the room. Next the cracks in the wall, I never noticed, began oozing with ants as though, closing off one exit forced them all to the others. Then Sumit's friend Theo who was visiting took over the role of 'border patrol' as he likes to think of it, armed with two chapals (sandals) and a 2 liter bottle of Pepsi he would smash ants to their death, only after they crossed over the territorial tape line into enemy territory. All and all a very traumatic night, with a heavy morning clean-up. Please take note of gross dead ant pictures.

What separated me from the ant zone, last night.
For some reason having that chapal in the middle
of the floor made me feel safer. Weird.

Office Update: The kids are taking over

2008-03-26T02:30:00.004+05:30

Without a doubt a future Audio Engineer
This kid is so on top of everything when it
comes to monitoring the sound for their film.

The traffic police. These kids, schoolmates of
the students working on the project, took it
upon themselves to be the traffic police at the
moderately busy intersection, where we were
shooting one of the scenes for their docu-fiction.

A scene from the outdoor shoot mentioned above.
Check out camera man and audio engineering lady as they
sneakily walk backwards in the crouching position,
while capturing a great angular close-up of the actors
in this scene.

I love my job. And I have to say that the kids are one of the major pieces of that love. When it comes to photography and film making, creativity and technique, kids obviously have it all. Now this is not to say that 'adults' (whatever that means) don't have it, but more that they don't show it all the time. One of my favorite things about kids is seeing their expressions and feelings written all over their faces. In my work with the Adobe Youth Voices Program, one of my favorite things is seeing future film makers, audio engineers and directors in the students we are working with. Now this seeing I speak of isn't based on an expression of interest, but a pure aptitude and excitement about the projects. They inspire me most of the time and I find that for me, taking pictures of the kids helps me to capture some of the magic I feel when around them.

Total future Camera woman. She is happily,
seriously this is not posed, carrying the camera
and tripod back into the school after a long
outdoor shoot.

The acting team walking across the school ground
after the shoot has ended, ready to head home.
(Just like an album cover, don't you think?)
So Victorious looking.

Fashion Mania

2008-03-25T14:54:00.005+05:30

Me in the studio pre-shoot.shot by Sudhanshu
Malhotra-photographer Traffic Life Magazine.

Oh yeah India is the land of opportunity, among other things. With this said my adventures with Traffic Life Magazine continued yesterday as I photographed my first proper fasion shoot for them. Super exciting. Like butterflies in the stomach exciting, and I went on Ciproflaxin for a few days (though I think that was unrelated). Anyhow I had the awesome experience of working in a nice basement photo studio in Delhi, with a fresher stylist, a make-up artist and a model. We had loads of fun executing our off the beaten trek vision utilizing non-traditional sari wearing methods mixed with a bit of punk rock, but let me say no more, you will have to pick up the May issue to see for yourself. Anyhow suffice it to say that it was great fun and a great new experience. I think I even got some great photos.

Aren the Stylist having fun during the lighting check.

Sitar Lesson #1

2008-03-25T14:36:00.003+05:30

Me and Nischal in the Practice room

Nischal the Teacher

Umm whose that?

Yes inherent in the name of this title, is the probability that there will be several more sitar lessons in my future, and I am hopeful that there will be many many more, several times per week for the remainder of my stay in India..and maybe beyond. Sitar lessons is one of those things that sort of snuck up on me in India, but I am certainly thankful for it. I love music, as all of you know by now, but I didn't see it realistic with my travel schedule for work, to take up regular music lessons for lack of an ability to commit to them. Anyhow luckily for me, my awesome colleague, Chandan, has a cousin brother, Nischal, who is an awesome musician. I have witnessed his insane speed and precision on the Tabla during Bajan's at Chandan's family and since he has taken me on as a student. I won't bore you any more since I have only a whopping 2 lessons under my belt, but I am determined upon my return to Bangalore to continue full force. Anyhow check out the fun pics!

On Stands Now! Traffic Life Issue Number 4

2008-03-14T17:15:00.003+05:30

Hi all,

So as you know I contribute to this rockin Indian based magazine known as Traffic Life. I am excited to say that the 4th issue, The Underrated Issue, has officially hit the stands and is available in all major cities in India. This time around I have contributed a few articles and a few photos, which i am stoked about, but of course there are like 200 other pages of awesome content, so if you have a chance pick it up. And if you are reading this from outside of India check out the website at www.trafficmagazine.in, where you can find one article I co-wrote with Shelli Koffman, entitled "The Men on The Bus Go Stare Stare Stare...."

Indian Picnic revisited: Falling off the Hammock

2008-03-07T16:45:00.006+05:30

So by popular demand, aka requests from the two people who read my blog, I will go ahead and tell the not so eventful tale of how I fell off the hammock, while on my Indian Picnic, by way of illustration.

Background Info: We were on this awesome huge knot rope hammock/trampoline type thing. Then we heard that there was a crocodile spotting, and so one by one we all attempted to get off. In order to get off the rope thing you have to sort of climb up the hammock and then hoist yourself over onto the entrance/exit ramp and then gracefully proceed to the ground. Obviously I was less than graceful at this. Let me also say at this point that I had injured my knee pretty badly less than a week prior and was having some problems using my right leg at all. Okay let's proceed.

Step 1: Make your way to the exit/entry part.
(Don't I look like I'm totally gonna make it over?
Now note the right knee trying desperately to bend
in ways it doesn't want to. Oh yeah in pain!)

Step 2: The Fall
So this is partially me not being able to get my act together
and I swear it is also the remaining people on the hammock
shaking it a bit. But there I went...right into some guy I had
met only a few hours prior.

Step 3: Try Try Again
Make your way back up to the threshold and try again.
For if at first you don't succeed...

Step 4: Clear the Threshold and Hold on for dear life.
Yes I may have cleared the threshold but there was still
the ramp to deal with. Those ropestructures are fun but tricky.

Step 5: Success!
This is me at the almost bottom of the ramp with the dude I
rolled into, in step 2 right behind me. I successfully
made it back to stable ground.

And that folks, is the falling hammock story.

p.s. there were no crocodiles, only far away rocks that someone
with bad binoculars still thinks were crocodiles.

Indian Picnics

2008-03-06T19:07:00.004+05:30

The Hike

Oh Yeah. I have no idea what this plant is called but its cool

The Lake

More Hot Hot Hike

Sumit on a log on the banks of the lake

Now I had no idea that there were multiple types of picnics, until I went on my first Indian Picnic. Last weekend my roommate Sumit and I got a last minute invite from my boss and her friends to join them on a picnic the following day. The catch of course is that we would have to wake up around 6:30am because the drive to place where the picnic would be was about 150Kms outside of Bangalore. Bright and early the next morning Sumit threw on his Picnic shorts (obviously somewhat clued-in to the Indian picnic, by his, Indian men where shorts to picnics comment). I wore my standard, jeans, t-shirt and now Chapels (Indian sandals). We hopped in an auto at the ridiculous Saturday morning hour of 7:30am and met up with our fellow picnic-ers in the center of town. After a few cups of coffee from the bicycle coffee wallah we were off on our way. Two and a half hours or so later we arrived at some fancy exclusive fishing park, where we apparently had reservations. This place was beautiful with overnight accommodations, boating, fishing, hiking, etc. There was even a huge rope hammock like apparatus that could accommodate 10+ people, and which I almost fell off of (another story) Anyhow we went for a hike, basked in the hot hot hot glory of the outdoors and then took retreat under the lunch hut. Take a look at some of my Indian Picnic photos, and note the lack of wine, cheese or picnic baskets, but it was fun!

Office Update: Media Critique Workshops

2008-03-06T18:19:00.006+05:30

Educators attentively watching students media and preparing feedback.

Andre & Sharat critiquing student media in Delhi

Animation Drawings

GHS Kadabagere Animation Stor-board on HI/AIDS awareness.

Discussion

So as most of you know by now, I infrequently work from an office here in India. Which, might I add, I am more than thrilled about. So please appreciate the irony in the newly coined title of Office Update, which will be accompanying my work-related blog updates. With this said we have just completed our Educator Media Critique Workshops, in which all of the Adobe Youth Voices Educators met in their regions, to share in two days of media sharing and feedback. The two conferences in Delhi and Bangalore, included educators from all 25 AYV sites, as well as my boss Geetha, who manages the AYV program from the U.S., myself, two media makers from the states, Andre and Sharat, and a local Bangalorian Film maker, Vijay. It was fantastic to see the works from each of the sites, as well as build enthusiasm and motivation for the last stretch of the project. Mini-workshops on post-production editing and Media showcasing were jam packed between screenings of student made documentaries, animation pieces and photo essays.

Digital Newsletter

2008-02-29T20:00:00.005+05:30

http://app.e2ma.net/app/view:CampaignPublic/
id:787.950260915/rid:753271bf3de1cd38cf7696a3261c7f19

Hi all,

Take a look at the American India Foundation's most recent digital Newsletter for the Digital Equalizer program. IF you check out the final article, it's a little something I wrote about my fellowship with a fun pic. Of course the rest of the newsletter is informative and interesting regarding the work I do hear. Enjoy

BUNDAR BUNDAR

2008-02-26T13:34:00.004+05:30

Shimla Bunder. I don't have any
pictures of the Malviya Nagar Ones

I think this means monkey in Hindi. I have to say that since my more formative adventures in Shimla, in 2004 I have been very wary of going anywhere near Monkeys. They are unpredictable, scary and smart, which makes for a dangerous combination. Despite the one run in I had with the father of the Bunder family in Malviya Nagar (my neighborhood in Delhi) where he ran after me and my plastic bag filled with newly purchased bananas, I have largely been able to avoid these monkeys. However, the night before last there was a Bunder riot on the small clothes washing balcony off my room, or so we think. At 11:30pm a few visiting fellows and myself were just shooting the shit and catching up, when we heard crazy unusual rumbling from outside, followed by Alissa one of the fellows coming in saying there is a monkey and its baby outside. One of the other fellows assured us that we should not mess with it and make sure the door was locked, my roommate then explained that they could rip through the screen over the window and unlock our door and come in, because they are very smart. Needless to say the fear began to creep its way into our thoughts. Alissa's friend Sasha was fast asleep in the room, all the lights were off in there and we were sneakily going in and out of the room to make sure the door was latched at the top and the bottom. Anyhow eventually we forgot about our fear of the Bunder and went to sleep....Dum Dum Dum...

At 4:13am (I think that was the time) I wake up to screaming, pounding insanity. The Bunder were going crazy and upsettingly still on the washing balcony. Apparently in my sleeping stuper I woke and sort of rolled a bit on my floor mat before proclaiming, "the monkey is having birth." Alissa, one of the two sleeping people on the other floor mat, looked at me and said nothing. About 2 minutes later I again opened my mouth and reported, "no I think thats wrong, the money is giving birth," and went back to sleep. Alissa and I had a good laugh about this the next day.

p.s. It wasn't birth they were having it was poop and lots of it!

The Adobe Yout Voices Newsletter

2008-02-16T15:45:00.002+05:30

If you have a minute and want to know more about my work check out a new newsletter that has been created for and about the Adobe Youth Voices Program internationally. There are tidbits on AYV US, UK, India and Canada. It's all in an attempt to keep you updated. http://media.iearn.org/node/674

My Indian Musical Debut

2008-02-07T09:07:00.001+05:30

Hi all,

I have finally gotten my album When Not In Your Head out into the Indian public. This month in the music issue of Trafficlife magazine there is a free compilation CD of new artists in India. My tune Cruise has made it onto that CD, and hence there is also a small write-up of me and the album, which is awesome. So I am pretty stoked, just got my hands on the magazine, and encourage anyone in India to do the same. I hope this will be the start of a continued and fruitful musical expose here. I say this all as my guitar sits under my bed. Well off to work and hopefully I'll play some when I get back.

Life keeps Trucking along, or motorcycling along

2008-02-06T17:32:00.000+05:30

Let me preface this whole blog entry by saying sorry mom. I know you are going to feel anxious and nervous after reading this but just know that I know that you know that I am always safe and responsible whenever possible in India. Now let's begin. This is gonna be a short entry, just got home from a wonderful day in the field, of Bangalore that is. I spent the entire day on the Back of Chandan, my colleagues, motorcycle. I am learning new things about myself by the day here, and today's is that I love motorcycles and may want to ride one forever and ever. There is a sense of rejuvenation and stimulation that comes from hopping on the back (and one day soon the front) of a bike as a means of riding from point a to point b. Granted here in India Motorcycles are less of a rough tough Harley Davidson type of statement and more of an everyday auntie and uncle means of transport. In many ways I am glad that my initial exposure to riding has been in India, where it is likely safer because all cars are used to accommodating bikes. Regardless I love wearing my nifty black helmet and sunglasses, feeling the wind (and dust) through my hair and moving with the bumps of the road. Motorcycle travel makes my job and life here at least 65% better everyday.

The Kids

2008-01-25T18:52:00.000+05:30

Students working in groups to identify the most important theme for their photo-essay, by way of weeding through the 15 odd topics they and their classmates had chosen.

I was recently sharing my blog with my boss, who said she liked it but would like to see more program content included. I agreed and so decided that it was time for the kid entry. Let's start at the very beginning. I am here in India on a fellowship with the American India Foundation (AIF). I am working with a project called Adobe Youth Voices, which is a philanthropic initiative of the Adobe Corporation to bring education around youth media to under served and underprivileged communities around the world. This year Adobe has brought the Adobe Youth Voices program to India, by way of a grant to the American India Foundation. Essentially I work with a team of 4, myself, my boss Geetha who works out of the AIF office in California, Roopak who coordinates the operational aspects of the program in Delhi and Chandan who does the same in Bangalore.

Government High School Kids in Gurgaon watching some short documentary films to get them thinking about topic ideas of their own.

As a team we have organized training programs for our educators. We are in the process organizing future conferences to bring the educators together to share their highlights and struggles working with their students to create youth media and of course are working to provide our 25 schools with guidance on how to get their completed Media out there to their target audiences and the general public. Each of our sites is executing either a documentary film, an animation film or a photo essay project on a social topic decided upon and of importance to the students.

Government High School kids in Bangalore Brainstorming Ideas for their Photo-essay Project.

I spend a good deal of my time traveling to and from our school and NGO sites in and around Delhi and Bangalore, working with the students on their pre-production, now production and in the near future post-production processes. I guide teachers through the pre-production steps of the project, facilitating our sites in picking topics for their media, creating scripts and story-boards outlining their vision for their media and ultimately learning the equipment on which they will be shooting their media projects.

Me with some students in Bangalore at a main intersection near their school where I gave an introduction to shooting moving objects (panning) to aid them with their documentary film on the topic of traffic.

This project is not only incredibly enjoyable it allows me to spend a good deal of my time with the students hence why this post is called the kids. It's amazing what spending time with children can do for a persons psyche and well being. At least that's what I have found. Take a look at some of the awesome kids who are involved in AYV India.

Students who attend a school run by an NGO in Bangalore, video taping a training being given on storyboarding and script writing as part of a workshop to aid them in creating ananimation film.

Kerala Kerala Kerala

2008-01-17T16:01:00.000+05:30

The Backwaters

A brief stop before actually reaching Alapi. Here a man is fishing from his boat just off the shore.

Birds on the Backwaters

A Backwaters Home, of which there are many.

Yeah! I have now made my second trip to Kerala and my second trip to the lovely town of Mcleoud Ganj, where the Tibetan Gov't is in exile and where the Dalai Lama's temple is. Again I traveled by train to Kerala, only this time the train ride was about 16 hours long instead of 30 something hours long. It was a brief 3 night 4 day trip but Willie, Beck and I got to travel around the state in an Ambassador, one of the traditionally fancy, VIP cars for person transport, in India.

Tigi, Our Driver and the good old Ambassador

We traveled to Alapi where we took a lovely boat ride down the backwaters or Kerala, stopping for a fish lunch and coconut beer, which I have to say was pretty disgusting, though I think Willie really enjoyed it, if only for the cultural experience.

The second day we traveled to Vagamon, which is this awesome place that has rolling hills of tea plantations and a giant statue of Jesus, which overlooks a beautiful landscape of mountain tops.

Vagamon Tea Plantations from Below

We also spent some great time at a friends where we learned about the process that makes Rubber trees into sheets of Rubber that can be sold for making things that one makes out of rubber. The trip was beautiful of course, and because, Tigi, our Ambassador driver was convinced I spoke Malyalam (the regional language of Kerala), even though I clearly didnt understand a singly word he was saying, I think I may have even learned some Malyalam on the trip which was a mix of my poor Hindi and his Malyalam.

The second trip up north was awesome, but a bit cold and there were daily hail storms. I don't have any pictures of that trip at the moment since they were all film pics but I will be sure to load any pics when I do get them. This trip was by bus for 10 hours or so in the sleeper section. Hmmm. All I can say is that people do devise interesting ways of emptying their bladders when trapped on a really bumpb bus for large amounts of time with no bathroom available. More on this later.

New Years and The Taj Express

2008-01-17T15:27:00.000+05:30

Anant, Hannah & Willie on New Years in
our apartment in Delhi. Nice masks huh?

In the foreground: Hannah and Leila
In the back near the train door,
which can stay open in India even
when the train is moving: Willie

Me Obviously at the Taj Mahal. How big is it?

Willie on a boat heading to a sand dune behind
the Taj for sunset

From left to right: Camel, Boy who rides camel
and solicits others to ride for money, Willie
and Beck. Oh and the Taj in the background.

Hi all,
Wow its been a super long time since I've posted to this thing. I never made it back to Kenya but such is life I guess. I think it just wasnt meant to be this time around. Life has a way though so I am certain that Kenya and I will find each other again. Since last I have been traveling around a bunch which has been good fun. First was New years, which I spent with my Fellow fellow Leila and Hannah, My friends Willie and Beck who were visiting from the states and Shelli and Anant. We all hung out have some good Indian Whisky and then most everyone passed out before midnight even hit. Granted they were all super jet lagged and we had to catch a 7am train the following morning, but still. Leila and I forged ahead to a new years party across town at Rita's apartment in Malviya Nagar which was super nice and festive. Then around 12:30am we too pooped out and returned home to get some rest before we caught our train the following morning.

The Taj Express. Its awesome for 79 Ruppees you can get from Delhi to Agra (where the Taj mahal is located) in 4 hours. Half asleep and certainly sleepy we rolled into the cab at 6am and then out of it into the train station where we found out train and were off. As many of you may know I have never been a huge Taj Mahal fan, I think mostly because as a foreigner it costs 750Rps just to get in the gate, which is about 1/3rd of my monthly personal stipend. Anyhow all of my complaining aside I was told I couldnt travel all the way to Agra and not go see the Taj Mahal and so of course I went to see it. Leila, Hannah, Willie, Beck and Myself all stayed in Agra for the night which was enjoyable and we saw the massive mosque/palace from within and from a land sand barge behind it as well. Overall A positive good time.

Wow Momma Aurangabad Here I Am

2007-12-26T17:14:00.001+05:30

No one told you it was HipHop Rockstar
night in Aurangabad??

Annie at work in Aurangabad

So It has been quite some time since I have blogged due largely to Chaos In my life. The important thing is that I am well and happy and in Aurangabad. No I didn't just make that name up, it is a small city of about 1.5 million people located south of Mumbai. As it turns out I had my Fellowship midpoint conference in Mumbai and traveled to see the elephanta caves and the lovely gateway of India. Otherwise the majority of our time was spent at the hotel/ conference sight. At the conclusion of the conference I headed off to the international airport prepared to ship off to Kenya for the holiday season. To my dismay I got stopped at immigration and was not allowed to leave the country. Enough said about that for now I think everything is gonna be cleared up shortly and perhaps I will attempt another Kenya trip soon we shall see. Otherwise a strange turn of events landed me first in an amazing beach side apartment in Mumbai where I spent a few days with great company and the Indian Ocean. Then in the city of Aurangabad, which I can now spell as a result of my visit, with Annie a rockin fellow fellow. I have partaken in awesome activities including, eating a flan like substance off of newspapers from a man with a weird non-refrig wooden cart on the side of the road, riding on the back of a red scooty pep which was being driven by a white woman and played a luckily found copy of party scrabble all night until I passed out, quite literally, all in Aurangabad. To my dismay and excitement I head out on a 14 hour bus journey this afternoon to Ahemdabad, which I don't know how to spell yet, to visit Jeena and Leila to of my fellow fellows. I am looking forward to this journey but will only be in Ahemdabad for a short time before I travel back to Delhi on a fun trade ride with Leila only to greet many US visitors at the airport for loverly new years celebrations. So many fun things are going on. More soon.

Dykey Duck!!

2007-10-31T14:04:00.000+05:30

Dykey with me next to some of our friends in front of a clothing store in Mysore

Dykey on top of the water truck with onlookers of the Mysore Dasara Procession

Dykey and Sumit on Couch in Mysore

Okay I have decided that Dykey duck will no longer sit idly by on her trip to India. As a result I have begun bringing Dykey with me to various venues and places and tried to get snaps (photos) of her in those different places. I do have to say that Dykey infrequently goes unnoticed and as a result there is always this akward moment of explanation in which I have to choose how to address the topic of Dykey. I
often talk her away, explaining that in the US a lot of people have bath tubs and these ducks are typical children's toys. I have had people think it was a guy with an i love girls t-shirt, people be really confused, some people accept my explanation, and others who are too smart for their own good. I realize that Dykey is totally Western, and mostly US-centric in the ways she epitomizes the stereotypes she does. In any event please stay posted for more pics of Dykey Duck. For your perusal today are a few from Dykey's trip to Mysore.

Washing Clothes

2007-10-31T13:38:00.000+05:30

Washing my Clothes is like some fun ritual here, that I avoid like I do showering. Though I do tend to shower more often than I wash my clothes. Do to Sumit's influence I have been giving my sweatshirts and jeans to Raul's Clearners, across the street so that they get properly cleaned, where as I do most t-shirts, socks, and underwear. Yup and that is about all the different types of articles of clothing that I have. :) In any event the washing, I feel that washing is like an art form that I have not quite mastered. First I fill my bucket with luke-warm water and then put some powder laundy detergent into the bucket, followed by the dirty clothes. I let the clothes sit in the water, until the water turns a yummy shade of black, at which time I move my operations into the green bathroom, where I take my fun scrub brush and Power soap, which is a blue bar soap, intended for cleaning clothes, that has a rather sand-papery texture to it. Piece by piece I take my articles of clothing out of the bucket, rub the most affected areas with the Power soap, and then begin scrubbing withe brush. I do this in a softball pitcher-like squatting position in the bathroom, while still managing to get soap suds and water all over me and everything. Then piece by piece I turn the tap on and rinse all the soap out of each article and pile the clean, slightly damp articles in the sink. Once I reach the bottom of the mucky bucket of water, I empty and rinse the bucket until it too is clean. I think place all of the clothes into the bucket drag it upstairs to the laundy clothes line which is on our upper balcony and hang my laundry there. Depending on the Bangalore rain, which is abundant, i will retrieve my clean/semi-clean clothes in a few days.

Mysore

2007-10-30T12:21:00.000+05:30

Me Posing In Front of The Mysore Palace

The Awesome Temple

The Mysore Crew Minus Me and Simba
(Jimmy, Sumit, Nafessa, Vanitha, Menaka, Menakas Cousin and Padma Cousin)

Hi all,
It's been quite a while since I have written but I now have internet at the apartment so I will hopefully be posting much more frequently. So I am in the home stretch of my first visit to Bangalore. I will be returning to Delhi at the end of this week. I have to say Bangalore has been quite a trip and in many ways a very different experience from Delhi. This place is way more polluted than Delhi to the extent that I look like a bandit when I am riding along in the autos to work.

Okay Mysore. Right last weekend was the culmination of the Hindu Festival of Dasara. Several of the Bangalore fellows along with a fellow from Hyderabad, one from Madurai and one from Darwad, all headed by bus to Mysore to visit the Darwad fellows cousins and to celebrate Dasara. The visit was really enjoyable and interesting. We went just for the weekend but were able to see the palace lit up for Dasara and the processional with elephants and floats, etc. We also went to this very large Hindu Temple which was an awesome experience. Take a look at some of the pics.

In other news I am in the process of looking for a new place to live in Bangalore because my housing here is still moldy and unhealthy and as of yet nothing has been done to remedy the situation despite many attempts to do so. I'll keep you posted.

BANGALORE!!

2007-10-18T10:37:00.000+05:30

My Bangy Room
My New Bangalore Mobile# +91 9916967305

My Green Bathroom

The mold right outside my room

My Trip in the back of the movers Auto

Wow I have been so out of touch the past two weeks. I haven't had internet access or anything, which for being in a big city is crazy. With that said me time getting started and setup here in Bangalore has been really good. I am living in Malleswaram with two other AIF Fellows, Erin and Sumit. We live in this cute house that has two floors. Sumit and I live on the first floor where the crazy kitchen is and Erin lives up above where the outdoor balconies are. Aside from the mold issue, which is somewhat severe things have been going well. Sumit, what a sweetheart, met me my first day in Bangalore and took me all around the city helping me to get a bed and furniture and sheets, and all of that.

We had a fun little adventure in fact. Our settling in stipend for the fellowship is 3000Rps, approximately 75 dollars, and is intended to provide us with all of the, bear necessities, as outlined by the fellow handbook. This includes things like a ceiling fan, curtains, abed, a desk, and a chair. In the case of both my Delhi and Bangalore accommodations none of these items came with the apartment and so we took off on an adventure to look for furniture. In Delhi I have a simple mattress on the floor with two bamboo cane stools and a mat, which works out well. In Bangalore however there are some cockroaches and fun other critters and so i was advised not to have my bed on the floor. Sumit took me to get a bed, which is awesome, I love having a bed. Then we began looking for little tables or dressers for me to put my clothes on or in and maybe put my alarm clock on, etc. Unfortunately we found out rather quickly that furniture is really expensive in comparison to the stipend we were given. With that said, Sumit and I nearly gave up on buying any furniture other than the bed, when we came across the first and I believe only used furniture "store" in Bangalore. It was more like a street display of what, to our eyes, looked like the most wonderful pieces of furniture we had ever seen, largely because we thought we actually had a chance of being able to afford them. Well I found an amazing bench that is now sitting in my room, for 500 Rps and we negotiated them down to 450 and Sumit bought this cool little table for 100Rps. We were both so exited about our finds.

There was also this situation with a shop owner on the road who sells chips and cigarettes and cold drinks who wanted to sell us their used, old, shop table, that had, for what looked like a decade, stored their goods. The table was beaten up and run down, filthy, and gross and somehow at the price of 800 Rps they managed to sucker us into it. I do have to say that I think this piece is a steal given the price of furniture these days. All it really needs is a good cleaning which I am in the middle of, and a good painting which I need to work on. Anyhow the deal with the shop owners old table was that they would give it a cleaning and set us up with an auto driver who would transport our stuff back home, about 25 minutes away, for a small fee. Well for my first night in Bangalore this was potentially one of the more exhilarating experiences I had had. The evening ended with the auto wallah picking up the decade old shop owners table and loading it into the auto, then coming to the used furniture shop, just down the road, and loading me and the table and the bench into the back and then I got a night tour of Bangalore from the back of the auto. It was great.

Indian Home Cooking

2007-10-03T15:16:00.000+05:30

Wow..it's not an easy thing to do. Last night was my first real dabble into down home cooking in India. Meaning my own pans, stove, oil, water, veggis, spices, etc. It was fairly successful everything said and done and the food even tasted decent. I do think that some proper recipes could really help my cause however.

Now that I have discovered the Malviya Nagar veggi market I am possibly the happiest person. I walked from shop to shop, street to street and even down the main road and across it but could not find any veggis. I could find fruit stand after fruit stand but no carrots (gajar) no bitter gourd (karela) and no onions (i don't know how to say this yet) I found a cute little shop that sold spices, and then to my favorite store wallah, whose name I assume is Mr. Anand, because he runs "Anands Store," which is always open baring major holidays, like yesterday, which was Ghandi's birthday, to buy Dahi (plain yogurt). However, even when there is a big holiday and all stores, that are not public phone calling sites, are legally barred from being open and subject to rather strict fines by the police, if found open, they are always open in the evenings. That is what I love about India, its like I got home yesterday and the whole market was bustling.

So after walking around hopelessly vegetable-less I found this little side-step passage way, and I could see one lowly veggi shop at the end, then before I knew it I somehow stumbled into a huge bustling, tight alleyway veggi path, with all sorts of veggi wallah's filling every bare crevice of the way. WAHOOO!!!! Everything and anything is what they had, I left happy with very few vegis but new hopeful promise in my eyes.

I purchased two bitter gourds, two carrots, two onions, some ginger, and the spices, that is all. Very simple. Then I cooked rice, two not so round rotis (sort of like Indian tortillas) and started in on the main course. I had two thoughts in mind, don't burn and don't under-cook, which for some reason seemed like mutually exclusive cooking directions last night. So my food was a little burnt but not undercoIked, when I poured the subgee (vegi dish) into a little metal bowl it even looked like proper indian food, which was exciting. So that was that. Check out the pics and let me know. I do have to say that my Karela did not taste anything like Kiran Didi's, Ann's family's cook last I was here, she made some killer Karela.

The Map Wallahs

2007-10-01T14:51:00.000+05:30

Delhi, one of the largest metros in India, is a wonderful place to find a nearly endless supply of goods. You may have experienced, as I have, that it is often those items you don’t need at all, which you are constantly solicited to buy. As you travel to the market to eat dinner or catch a movie with some friends, someone is undoubtedly asking you if you want a shoe shine, or trying to get you to purchase a wooden flute, or my personal favorite, a map of India.

This Sunday afternoon, while bumming around CP with a friend, I found myself actually contemplating whether or not to buy a map of India, as one of the map sellers was vying for my business. I inquired about the price, which I was told was 200 Rps. Not really knowing how much a map should cost, we bargained with him, and as he put the map inside the outer pocket of my knapsack, agreed on 100Rps as the price. Feeling like we had gotten a good deal, we happily continued our Limca’s and conversation, when a second map seller approached. He saw that we had already purchased a map and tried to sell us a second, this time a world map, I guess convinced that, once a map buyer always a map buyer.

Prem Chand, lives in the Anand Parvat area of Karol Bagh, and spends between 10 and 12 hours most days, selling maps in CP. He carries maps of India, The U.S. and World Maps, but is known for being able to get his hands on other specialty maps upon request. He says that he sells between 5 and 8 maps in a given day, despite the competition from fellow map sellers, but on this day at around six in the evening he had only managed to sell 3. Prem comes from a family of 5 sons, with 3 elder brothers and 1 younger. His family has been in business for several generations, in U.P., running a general store, which sells spices, rice, etc. His opportunity for a livelihood by way of the family store is a possibility but says, he is young and prefers to be outside exploring life.

Each map costs the map sellers 60Rps to buy but they are able to sell them for anywhere from 100-500 rps per map. Bicki, another CP map dealer, told of how he once sold a map for 2,000Rps to an English Couple, though he usually sells them for anywhere between 150 and 500Rps. Originally from Rajasthan, Bicki came to Delhi about 10 years ago, looking for better opportunities to make money. All three map sellers we spoke to, are in there early 20’s, with no children and not married, perhaps map selling is not a good profession for someone with a family.

Ripping-off foreigners is not usually very difficult to do, but Prem says he personally doesn’t ask for more than 300Rps for a map, because he doesn’t feel right cheating people. I believe that there are some people who are inherently prone to ripping you off and some who are inherently honest, the trick is figuring out who is who. Let’s not get into the auto rickshaw drivers, they make me mad, that is a story for another day.

PlumBer Number Seven

2007-09-28T15:37:00.000+05:30

I woke up this morning and my mattress was almost submerged in a large puddle of toilet water. I was like the Indian Gilligan, and surely would have been floating around the place, if it were not for having body mass on my side. I slowly realized that the water had seeped through the bottom of the doorway connecting my room to the lou. PlumBer number 4 was in our flat and undoubtedly to blame, but really I could only praise and thank him for trying to fix our toilet, since plumBers, number 1, 2 and 3, were unsuccessful at the task, and I began to fear that our toilet was getting a bad reputation in the plumBer community of the Malviya Nagar Market.

My favorite thing about plumBers from the Malviya Nagar Market is their approach to diagnosing our toilet problem. Each one of them, on separate occasions, and I believe without communication with one another, has attempted to diagnose our problem identically. Upon being led to the bathroom and being told that the toilet is broken, plumBers # 1-4, all first turn the water for the toilet to the on position, watching it profusely leak water, next they attempt to push, pull and make circular motions with the flusher, and finally completely remove the water spigget, that controls the flow of water. Wait! this is the best part. Each time the water spigget (on/off switch) is removed, water flails wildly all around the bathroom, the doors, the towels, and the plumBer. Usually this rushing of water all over the place lasts for a good 5+ minutes, so that everything is officially drenched, including the majority of both my room and Naina's room, which are both adjoined to the bathroom. This morning plumBer #4 asked Naina for an old shirt he could put on because his was too wet. Alas, Naina had no old mens clothes, and told him no, which certainly did not win us any points in plumBer land. The plumBer took 700Rps from us and said he was going to use that to buy replacement parts for our toilet and would be back.

As we wait for the plumBer to return let me back up for a moment and tell you a bit about the eve of the day of the visit of plumBer #4. First off I was ambushed, two different times in the night, by vicious mosquitoes. I am pleased to say that after getting up and turning on the light in each instance, I managed to capture and kill the mosquitoes who left a bloody residue behind first on my floor and the second time on my pillow case. As gross as this sounds I can not tell you how much satisfaction one can draw from killing a mosquito who has placed near 15 welts on your body.

I then proceeded in my sleeping stupor to break out the extractor. What is the extractor you might be asking yourself. Oh words can't explain, but I'll try. The extractor is this amazing device that was created to suction poisons and venoms out of stings and bites. It is about 7" in length and bright yellow, with black writing along the shaft which reads "Extractor." The mechanism looks much like what I imagine the Matel toy company would come up with for a play syringe to add to the play doctor line of toys. I extracted all of the bites I could find, until the tension of the suction began to hurt, and then I knew the bit was EXTRACETED. I know it sounds crazy and that some sort of preventative measure would be much more sensible, which I am open to. But let's be honest even when you put bug spray on the bugs eat you alive, and even when you take benadryl after the fact the bites still itch once the benadryl has worn off. With the extractor there is a little circular red hickey in the place of your bite in the morning, and the itching is no more :) As exciting as the mosquito situation is, I have yet to tell you about my tummy situation, which is by far more exciting in light of the plumBer situation.

Anyhow I don't know if the mosquitoes were to blame or if it was the chow-mein (lo-mein) I had at the office the day before, or maybe the 'mineral water' jug we recently got at the house is really tape water in disguise, but my stomach is a mess today, and this morning was no exception. In my opinion the worst possible situation when having the runs is not having anywhere to run to, which was pretty much my deal this morning. The plumBer turned the water in the flat, off after his initial visit, because he had disassembled so many of the pipes, that there would be an insta-flood. I guess he didn't want to put them back together until he got back with the part, which translated to Naina and I having no water all morning until he returned. So not only did we have a non-functioning toilet with a bunch of tubes dis asembled for 5 hours, waiting for the plumBer not knowing if he was skipping town with our 700Rps or getting parts, but we didn't even have a bucket of water to use in the event that we needed to use the lou. So i decided I would stay in bed with my eyes close until the plumber returned, fixed the toilet and put the water back on.

Around 9am, the plumBer left our flat in search of spare parts, I closed my eyes praying for no stomach unrest and for his safe and swift return. Ten am, 11am, 11:45am all rolled by with no sign of the plumber, and me still in bed, having gotten up only to squeegee the flood from my room before laying back down on the wet mattress. Naina called the plumber at this point, who picked up said he would be back in 45 minutes, which in Indian time means at least an hour and a half. So Naina and I decided to get food. I got plain raita, which is like plain yogurt, a paranta which is an awesome tortilla thing and had that with mango pickle and water. I also had some of my special Indian anti-diarrhea, gross tasting, grain husk for good measure. Then around 1pm the plumber returned with some parts in hand. He put everything back together as finished lunch and was finished. Hollaylooyah!!! Though before we paid him I decided to check the flush mechanism and so it flushed around and around and around and around, and didn't stop flushing. We now had a super flushing toilet. heheh Oh well I guess you should watch what you ask for, right. Needless to say plumBer #4 is the shining star of plumbers in Malviya Nagar, and fixed the toilet right up and was on his way. Wow that was an adventure. I then jumped into the shower in an attempt to get to work before the day ended, only to find that the little flooding party from earlier pretty much emptied our water storage tank. But alas I think we came out ahead today.

The Only in India Tune..

2007-09-26T17:09:00.001+05:30

Attention Fellow AIF Fellows

This is the Only in India tune, which has been turned into a movie, honestly the only reason its a movie is because that's the only way I could figure out getting it posted on the blog. know thats sort of ridiculous and I am sure someone will eventually show me the quick and painless way. The quality is sort of crappy but it will give you an idea. Anyhow it's long as I warned, and all of the images are from my last trip here to India, which this song was inspired by. Don't forget think of your own Only in India verse and you can post it in response to this post or e-mail it or just bring it with you to the mid-year retreat.

Sipping Chai

2007-09-26T13:41:00.001+05:30

Wow! So we are almost all setup in our apartment; necessity wise that is. The toilet is still not working, but at this point who cares. Take a bucket fill it half way with water, and you can see where I'm going with this. In any event the really exciting news is that we now have a functioning stove with gas in our apartment Woohoo! I feel that this is the most exciting this that has happened in the last week and a half, second only to us getting water in the apartment. I have to say that the acquisition of gas was one of the quickest and easiest processes, relative to my expectation of the what the process would be like.

To give you a bit of background, in India, most people don't have direct gas lines in their houses but instead they purchase gas cylinders you refill as needed (these are like propane tanks for the BBQ in the US) and you hook that cylinder-up directly to the stove. Like many things in Indian home-setup, as I have learned over these past few weeks, sustaining a system is simple one you go through the initial process of setup. For example our garbage gets picked up every morning around 10am, from right outside our front door, in the stairwell of our building, by the garbage wallah. But in order to get the garbage wallah to begin collecting our garbage we had to figure out when he came and then catch him and negotiate with him about the price, per month, for the garbage collection. Then we never really settled on a price because we disagreed, but thankfully he began collecting our garbage anyway, and I guess at the end of the month we shall see what the damage is.

Likewise a start-up struggle Naina and I are facing right now is getting drinking water (mineral H2O) at our apartment, which is cheaper and more environmentally friendly than continually purchasing 1 or 2 liter bottles. The process, as I have recently learned, for getting this water is to first find the person who is in charge of our localities drinking water distribution, this person is usually riding around on a cycle rickshaw with a wagon back, where the water is being held and peddled around for distribution. Then you have to talk to that person about getting a drinking water tin, which is like the large Poland Spring jugs at home, and then give some sort of a deposit and then take their mobile number and give them yours in return and then get the initial bottle delivered and then call that person when you need a refill to schedule a delivery time to trade the old water tin for a new one. Now that I have written about that process I realize how simple it sounds, but oh now it is never quite so simple.

Right so back to the gas cylinder. Well apparently in order to get your initial gas cylinder one needs to register for it, which has been explained to me as a very painful and arduous process by all of the Indians I have spoken to. Additionally in order to register for said cylinder you need to have proof of residency which means a lease with you or your family's name on it. Ahh this is where the 1st major complication arises. We do, in fact, have a lease for our apartment but our names are not on it all, rather the lease is under the name of the NGO that Naina is working for. So you can see the conundrum. But as my friend Vivek told me in the car the other day, in India there is ALWAYS more than one way to get things done. Wow how true that is. In fact the people of India are so incredibly creative and pragmatic in their approach to life, that it is true here all the time in most instances. Anyhow Vivek's parents, whom I love, gave me a spare gas cylinder of theirs as well as a spare bed mattress they had lying around their place. These are two new, precious, fairly costly and exciting acquisitions for me. This means that my bed is 5" higher off the ground now and I sleep much better, but also that after a quick creative, back route approach, to getting our gas cylinder filled, Naina and I were sitting pretty this morning in our living room in our red and black thatched lawn chairs that the landlord left us, sipping chai. Oh yeah, chai with powered milk, but chai never the less.

My Delhi Flat

2007-09-23T14:30:00.001+05:30

Wow I feel like I have been in India forever at this point I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing but in any event things are trekking along. I have been going into work on a daily basis, which is a 20 minute auto ride, and 30 rps away. Usually my work day consists of a school site visit somewhere in Delhi, Gurgoan or Noida (suburb-like places of Delhi) Then we head back to the office where I do some paper work getting our school sites registered with Adobe online, etc. etc. Work has been good overall but by the time I get home I am so ready to crash.

The Delhi heat is no joke, it is around 100 degrees Fahrenheit but it feels way hotter, it is that type of oppressive heat where I really feel like I am slowly melting. All I want to do is lay on my mattress in my room in the dark with the fan on high, which sometimes I can and sometimes I can't. I have realized that in India the entire living structure of society is really setup in such a way that assumes someone is always at every household prepared to answer the door. With this said our doorbell usually rings for the first time every morning around 7. It is usually some child soliciting money for pooja, or something of the sort. Then a while later the door bell will ring again and it will be the guard of the block asking for a payment and then around 9:30am it will be the garbage collector soliciting payment for picking up the garbage and on and on. It seems that Naina, my roommate, and I have both taken to ignoring the doorbell when it rings while we are still in bed. As Naina says, "I think I have no motivation to get up since my mattress in on the floor and it is such a far way from standing." Which, I think I am growing to agree with more and more.

Okay so the plumber crisis. Well basically we moved into the apartment, a really nice two bedroom might I add, in Malviya Nagar. But the apartment is completely not furnished, no stove, no furniture at all, no water and no working toilet. After being at the apartment for a week and having the plumber (which is pronounced plumBer here, with the hard B annunciated just for more comical effect) visit 3-4 times everyday we think our water is now working but the toilet is still broken. At this point both Naina and I are really avoiding dealing with the plumber though we want our toilet fixed. Pretty much each day a new plumber comes to the place and repeats the same ritual as his colleague who came before him, which is unscrew the faucet that turns the water on for the toilet and then proceed to have water spray everywhere all over the plumber, everything in the bathroom, and because Naina and I have adjoining doors to the bathroom, the water usually leeks out into a big puddle in each of our rooms, always nearly soaking our sole piece of furniture, our cotton mattresses laid atop yesterday's Times of India Newspaper. Then the plumber shakes his head says a bunch of stuff in Hindi, of which I understand 1/10th, and think to mean that he needs to get some new part, and then he leaves, never to be seen again. At this point I am not confident that we are ever going to get the toilet fixed, but we are forging ahead moving on to tackle the kitchen, trying to get a gas cylinder (like a propane tank) for the stove so that we can make chai and actually cook things, but apparently there is a registration process required for such which in itself takes a week+ so I think we may resort to less than legal means of attaining said cylinder we shall see what happens.

In any event I have decided to retreat from Delhi and my unfortunate flat, because I can't take it anymore and instead I am spending the weekend with my friend Vivek's family in Gurgoan where they have beds, and functional restrooms and his mom cooks amazing parantas for breakfast with plain yogurt and mango pickle, it feels like heaven. I am gonna stop here for fear of this getting way too long but I want to leave you with some important info.

cell phone number is 9990603963. You will need to dial 91 (the India country code) and then my number. Remember India is 9.5 hours ahead of NY or EST time.