More "Faces" of India

I use the term "face" a little more loosely in this post, but they are faces all the same.

Let's start with the reason we are here:  Mr Iyengar, honored with the title, "Guruji".  While we may not get a picture of him in the flesh, since photos are not allowed indoors at the Institute and we usually see him only indoors (plus the privilege of a photo would be unlikely anyway), here is Mr. Iyengar's likeness on the outside of the building.  There are about 5 or 6 of these relief-style images altogether.

Being close to 93, Guruji doesn't teach directly anymore. Instead he teaches through his 24-ish grand daughter and several other young teachers at his school.  His daughter, Geeta and son, Prashant, continue to teach each week as well.

Faces on the face of a bus. Bollywood stars totally rule here, in case you didn't know. 

Dogs are everywhere in India and very docile if they live on the street.  During the day they sleep like logs, often in the gutter of a busy road with trucks and cars buzzing by.







Cats are also around, but not as often. This one was seen in front of the brand-new mall just built near the Institute, Pune Central. It doesn't look look like it, but the mall was open and crowded at the time.  No one gave the cat a second glance.













Sweet dreams.

Oh, and we mustn't forget the sacred cows.  In other towns (this snap was in Agra), cows abound on the street.  Last time I was in Pune, cows were often seen on crowded city streets, but this time we have seen none other than in the countryside.  Pune has changed a lot in 5 years. 

Pigs, however, come to town everyday to check out what's to eat in the trash dump. One day I saw piglets here that were just learning to walk.

On a trip to a small hill station, I saw a number of unusual  faces. Unusual for me, anyway. The British built hill stations as places to escape the heat during their rule here. Altitude here in MATHERAN was 800 meters or 2625 ft.

For the record, Pune was also used as a hill station and stands at 560 meters (1800 ft). That's why it's only really hot three months of the year, March - May.

Not a great picture of this chicken, but an interesting view of a tea stand at a very touristy, though remote, town.  This photo is very India. I wish I had taken a larger photo of the area for you to see.







For extra credit, what yoga pose is the monkey on the right doing?

My traveling buddy, Jennie, calls this the Alien Baby.

"Welcome to Maaaaat-heran."  I snapped this picture of a poor goat, badly in need of milking, walking down main street.

Oh, and did I mention that no motorized vehicles are allowed in Matheran?  They have 540 horses in the town and boy are they busy. We road freely with a horse-wallah walking or running behind us as the case may be. He could control the horsed with his voice.  The animals were well treated and well trained.

Catch you again soon.  Thanks for looking.

Jane