These are a few pictures from Mussoorie, a small village at the foothills of the Himalayas where three friends and I went a few weeks ago. It was quaint and chilly. We went on a horseback ride and also on a sunrise hike up to a high hill. There were monkeys and sherpas everywhere and we drank many cups of delicious chai and bundled-up in shawls.
also: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PETER!
I’ll see you all in ten days!!! Wawooooo!
Here are a few pictures from Kolkata (Calcutta) and Orissa, from the excursion 1/2 of the group went on long ago.
[Apparently I do have time to waste, or procrastinate…]
Here are three pictures from Hyderbad. I would post more, but I have very little time to waste right now, as my ISP is due in a week!
The first picture is of the top portion of the charminar monument, which is at the center of the old area of Hyderabad. Next to it is a giant Bazaar and chicken market, and a mosque is across the street.
The second picture is from when, after the heritage walk tour I went on, a kind Indian family adopted me for the day and we went to the top of Charminar. See all the auto-rickshaws?? That’s how I get around India. We then went to their house for lunch and then to a museum. They were so open and friendly and had three 10-year-old boys who were a delight to hang out with.
The third picture is of the tomb of the courtesan and poet, Mah Laqa Bai. She was a real tight lady and was into educating women and stuff and I just learned from a book (“White Mughals”) that she actually advised the Nizam on state policy. My advisor is currently heading-up the conservation of this tomb, although it has not started yet and in fact hit some snags the day I visited, as we were approached by a crowd of slightly hostile and curious men who had started using the on-site mosque within the past month, after the conservation team opened up the rubble-blocked entrance to do a preliminary report. The community made their own plans to turn the area into a boys school (it’s a woman’s tomb!) and have the mosque largely active (it’s a grave site! And they brought in their motorbikes!). Hopefully the project will go on, but this certainly adds more difficulties to an already very complicated project.
See you in two weeks!
Anna lies: we DID have turkey.
Thanksgiving Mubarak Hein (Happy Thanksgiving Ya’ll)!
Sending all my love from a warm, sunny, Turkey-less Delhi,
Anna
…but I have been so very busy producing my independent study project.
My project is a paper on Monument Conservation (hey Alice and Rina!) in Delhi and in Hyderabad, where I will be venturing to tomorrow morning. I am flying to Hyderabad where I will hang out for 5 days with my Advisor, Scott, who is currently heading the conservation project of a tomb of a courtesan/poet. I will meet with and interview him and his conservation team, and also people from the US Embassy in Hyderabad, which is funding the project.
My project is about how tourism, outside political interests, and urban growth effect conservation efforts, both negatively and positively, but that they ultimately undermine the true purpose of conservation. I will give details to anyone who wants to know more when I return (Alice and Rina expect a full recap).
Anyway, I probably wont be able to blog much in my last 3 (!!!) weeks here, but I will try to post pictures (Calcutta, Mussoorie, Hyderabad) sometime in the near future.
I will see you all in THREE WEEKS!
It is a crisp, fall day here in Delhi, at a frigid 75 degrees, and the sweater vests are out! A few people have straight-up winter jackets on, but the major trend for men (especially rickshaw drivers) is the sweater vest. Most are tasteful, but 1-out-of-20 is a gem of a vest, made of sparkly, furry yarn.
This week was the start of my ISP period and it has been very fun. Generally I do work during the days (research, writing, trying to contact people), do fun things in the afternoons (go to markets, cafes, other cool areas in Delhi), and relax at night. Last night Anna, Ellie and I made pasta for dinner and then watched “Octopussy” for two reasons: 1. it is set in India, 2. our landlord/old man friend gave us a single DVD that contains 37 James Bond films.
Tomorrow morning at 5am three friends and I are heading off to the train station, where we will take a train to Deradune and then a taxi to Mussoorie where we will trek and bike around for the weekend. Mussoorie is a Hill Station at the foot of the Himalayas. I expect it to be quite cold and beautiful. I will post pictures and stories soon.
Pictures from Diwali
The true spirit of the Diwali season started for me with what we resentfully refer to as “the singing ladies.” At 5:30 am most mornings during the week of Diwali, we were awoken by live music. This music consisted of a low, eerie chanting of, “Ram, Ram, Hanuman, etc.” over a steady percussion of drums and bells. “Great,” I thought at first, “a Diwali Parade at 5:30. At least they will pass through and be gone soon.” To my surprise, they stuck around. “Oh, ok, so one song here, then they’ll move on and I can go back to sleep.” They stayed, settling in the park five yards from our open window. It was not until my post-shower floor squeegee that they had finished up and moved on to serenade another block of Lajpat Nagar.
The rest of Diwali was fun and festive and not annoying.
Diwali is truly a holiday of lights. It is the celebration of Ram returning, so the entire city is decorated with lights and lanterns to welcome his return. It felt like Christmastime, driving through the city at night in the cold wind, waterfalls of lights hanging down storefronts, crowds in the market place buying candles and ceramic lanterns and sweets.
Our family had two major celebrations of Diwali, the first being a large family party on Friday night and the second being a smaller in-house Puja and firework-fun on Saturday.
Friday evening, Alissa and I got on our sequined, bedazzled suits, and the family crowded into the car for the drive in heavy-traffic to a posh outskirt of Delhi. Once there, numerous uncles, aunts and cousins greeted us. We sat in lawn chairs in the large backyard decorated with small lanterns and were passed various snacks. Anna put it very well, whispering to me, “Oh no, I think we are going to have to eat a lot tonight.”
Later on, during dinner, many of the cousins and uncles played cards, which was basically three-card-draw poker and did indeed involve the betting of money. Boeing-the-pug ran around snorting, Aunties forced more and more food and drinks upon us and we enjoyed the cozy, boisterous warmth of the large family gathering. I felt very fancy in my outfit and also ridiculous as most people around our age were wearing jeans or casual, western clothing. The family did enjoy us looking very nice and Indian though, so I felt okay about it.
The next day, everyone stayed at home and relaxed. I will admit that I read Twilight for a large portion of the day.
In the evening was the Puja, the religious ceremony. A corner of the living room was designated as the Puja area (I had to remove my shoes to enter), and Aunty set-up various flower arrangements, candles, incense, boxes of sweets and prayer books. We gathered around as she went through the rituals, reciting prayers and lighting a tray of lanterns to be set-up on the porch. She gave us each a dot of red paint between the eyebrows and we fed sweets to one another.
Afterward, the entire family (upstairs-ers and various other visitors included) ventured out to the front porch to set-off boxes and boxes of fireworks, the most popular kind being ones that solely make a deafening bang. All over the city, late into the night, fireworks were going off and people were setting up small, oil lanterns on their porches and celebrating.
It was an energetic, family-oriented holiday that I enjoyed very much.
We have officially moved on to the Independent Study Project (ISP) portion of the semester. Yesterday morning Anna, Ellie and I moved into our new lovely flat (see below post) and made a delicious pasta dinner.
These are some pictures of my homestay house, family, and neighborhood, just to give you a sense. I will miss them very much, but as my new home is a 10-minute rickshaw ride away, I will visit often.
Seasons Greetings from Our (New) Home to Yours
We’ve moved! Check out the digs and my two new roommates, Ellie and Isabel. Note, fireplaces in India do not exist. They are AC places.
