Signs of India

It's time to leave, but I have a few minutes before we go.  It will be good to touch our feet on US soil.  Actual travel time, door-to-door, will be about 30 hours.

The trip has been beyond wonderful, educational and transformative in so many ways. We have made friends with people in England, Australia, Canada, Israel, Scotland, Italy, Budapest and  the USA.  Oh, and Russia.  I'm tempted to become a bit misty and poetic about the whole trip.

But why get maudlin when you can leave on a light note.  I say you can't leave India without saluting the signage. Here are just a few of the many that we were able to capture.

First the vehicles.  India loves to decorate, and the cars, trucks and rickshaws are never left out.

Truck drivers want passing vehicles to announce themselves and they tell you with the famous saying, "Horn OK Please".  I think the one to the left added "TK" to the "OK".  In India, they mean the same thing.







Rickshaws are also heavily decorated.  Here is one quite tricked out and adorned with the name of our beloved teacher, Jyoti.  Jean is proudly showing it off.

Here's another one that caught my eye.  In case you don't know, we are a very Volkswagen family.

Then there are the many warning signs of what to do and not to do.  Here is an interesting one that Jennie found when we stopped for gas on a weekend trip.  Remember, do NOT comb while refueling.







The Zoo had good signs too.  Here is the map of the park,

And here are the signs announcing the Snake Park within the zoo, plus Diwali greetings from the snakes themselves.














 

Perhaps it's a sign of Dani's courage?

And, while not a sign, while we are at it, here's a great action photo available to all at the Snake Park.

There are signs on buildings, including a pizza chain you may be familiar with.

A woman sells beads outside of Cafe Goodluck, a great place to eat.

Jennie poses next to the most important sign.

Tattoos are not too common in India, yet.

Some fun street signs and sights seen on the street.

Why not just "stop"?

Hand-painted signs are everywhere.

Hmmm... of course, we stopped in this dangerous spot for this photo.

And finally, some signs that remind me that it's the end of our journey.

The sun sets over Mumbai...
and on our time here.















Did we reach Samadhi on this trip?  Ghandi's grave is supposedly the "way to samadhi".  So are the eight limbs of yoga.  We have been given tools to go find it.  The rest is up to us.


All the best,


Jane

Indian Wedding

We happened upon an Indian wedding street procession (groom's delivery to the bride).  The pix are fun, but for the true flavor of the celebration (music, movement, dancing), watch the video below. Do be warned that it's not for those with trouble viewing amateur moving pictures.  It's highly amateur, if I do say so myself. 

                                        The thumbnail here shoes the groom in his carriage.


 

The procession began with these Riders Riding,  dressed up and bearing weapons.  I guess they are protecting the huge party of revelers behind them from being assaulted as they create all sorts of mayhem in the streets and snarl traffic.


Even the horses wore their finest outfits.

 

Pretty scary.

Next came the four Ladies in Saris atop camels. They represented the wise men coming to see the baby Jesus.

The procession was proceeding rather slowly due to the traffic or something, so the Ladies look bored from time to time. I think they are jealous of the revelers.

Following the Ladies Riding were the Lords a Leaping.  These were the festively dressed gents having a very good time and assigned to get all the women along the street to join them.  I was only pardoned because of my bandaged ankle.

Next came about 25 brightly adorned musicians who were jamming their souls out, if not their soles. They wore pleated hats, gold belts and gold boots.  Unfortunately there are no photos.  Their instruments included drums, horns and anything loud. Sort of like a steel drum marching band.

After some sound equipment and additional musicians rolled by, next came the Groom seated in an elaborate open carriage made of what appears to be hammered silver...?  With him are 2 young children, which Tiki said is traditional. I thought maybe it wasn't his first marriage. (He is shown above in the video thumbnail).

Lastly were the Ladies Dancing. How are their outfits different than the ones we saw in the zoo that day, you ask?  Not much, but they had paid lots of attention to  hair, makeup and shoes from what I could tell.

So much more than a partridge in a pear tree.
Warm greetings from India, and Happy Thanksgiving.

Jane

A New Path

Doctor's Visit:  $4.00

X-Ray:   $8.00

Self-made cast: $1.00 

 Crutches:  $6.00

Hearing the news that the foot isn't broken:   PRICELESS  

Yes, I fell in my flat and twisted my foot.  Big bummer.  Ever a resourceful bunch, a fellow Iyengar student from the U.S.showed me how to make a cast fashioned from the following:

• toilet paper for cushioning
• an ace bandage to cover the TP
• duct tape to support the foot. 

Jean just happened to pack duct tape and I had purchased eye wraps (ace bandages) from the Institute..

VOILA!

I also learned an unorthodox way of treating feet ailments, and it seems to have worked, but I'm not going to mention it here.  Ask me about it when you see me in person.

Ouch.  

I can't take classes at the moment, but the foot is healing nicely and I hope to resume shortly.  In the meantime I'm sitting in the back with other onlookers and taking the best notes ever. It feels as though I'm actually getting more out of the classes by taking notes and practicing what I can later. 

Q:  How is duct tape similar to "The Force"?

A.  It's got a dark side, it's got a light side, and it holds The Universe together.

Thanks for looking and for all your comments.
See you soon...

Jane

More "Faces" of India

Faces of India

Some "Snaps" from around town.

One of many babies seen wearing Kaja or Kohl.  This is the concoction Cleopatra used to get her beautiful eyes (done from 3500 B.C. onward). Some mothers still apply it to their infants' eyes soon after birth. Sometimes it's done to "strengthen the child's eyes", and others believed it could prevent the child from being cursed by "the evil eye". 

We will keep a lookout for said evil eye and treat our own if we see it lurking about.

 

An elderly Indian woman enjoys a day at the zoo with her family. The Indian people LOVE to have their pictures taken.  Thank goodness for crazy camera wielding folks like me.

This woman's braid was very attractive to us as the class we attended that morning was based on teaching us to "make the fibers of our muscles smooth like well-braided hair".

OK, when I go to the zoo, this is not how I dress.  I guess I look very casual to them.

"Mom, can I have some money?!! Mom, are you listening to me?!"  I think she was more interested in having her picture taken, or in what we were doing.

Brother and sister happy to pose for me.

 Muslim men at the zoo.












Right: Mehndi is a ceremonial art form which originated in ancient India. Intricate patterns of mehndi are typically applied to brides before wedding ceremonies. The bridegroom is also painted in some parts of India. Perhaps this woman was recently married, or she went up the new mall near the Insititute where they will paint anyone with henna.

Anyone need to use the telephone, or buy cigarettes?

Possibly a student on FC (Fergusson College) Road.

Could be two brothers walking near R. Deccan Mall.  We had gone shopping for good handmade stuff at Fabindia and then happened upon them on our way out.














How can you not snap this photograph on the right?

In front of the zoo was a carnival.  Horse rides, games, food, carnival rides.  These women sell popcorn, berries and peanuts.

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you have enjoyed these photos. More later!
Love,
Jane

The Road to Pune

St. Louis to Chicago: 2 hours. 

Piece of cake. Well, bag of peanuts anyway.

 

Chicago to New Delhi: 15 hours.   

Lots of time to knit.

Yes, I started this scarf on the plane.

We flew over Greenland and came south through Russia, then through northern India, waking up to the stunningly brilliant landscape of the Himalayas below us in the airplane.

 

Travel by Car to Agra

Ahmed, our driver met us at the airport, then skillfully dodged many motorcycles carrying families to see the Taj Mahal in the city of Agra.  People were  traveling due to the Diwali holidays, sort of combination of Christmas and the 4^th of July.  (Sorry – no paint was shot at us.  Tiki said that happens in the spring.)  

Ahmed also dodged cows, cars, scooters, rickshaws and trucks.  We just closed our eyes.

First stop in Agra: Fatehpur Sikri

 

This was the first planned city of the Mughals, which served as the Mughal Empire's capital from 1571 until 1585.

An example of the intricately designed architecture found throughout the buildings.

Next, the majestic Taj Mahal which is actually a tomb for the third wife of Shah Jahan, a Mughal Emperor.  It took 22 years to build and was completed in 1653.

A group photo before we see the actual Taj.  From left to right: Danni Simon, Kathy Simon, Tiki Misra, Jean Durel and Jane Fitzgerald. The anticipation is killing us... 

 

Needs no explanation, I hope. 

 

Detailed inlaid marble on the building surface.

Last stop in Agra: The Agra Fort  

Shah Jahan, who built the Taj, was later banished by his son (“Dad, you’re spending all the money on these lavish buildings”) to live out his life and weep for his beloved wife, entombed in the Taj. The Fort is across the river from the Taj so at least he could see her tomb.

Current residents inspect the fort.

 

No more crocodiles in this moat.

The Cardinals: While we missed game 6 (don’t rub it in), we did get to watch them win game 7 at the hotel in the morning before leaving to see the Taj Mahal.  (Dear Diary, today i saw one of the seven wonders of the world and my team won the world series.) 

 FYI, no one cares about baseball in India.

 

The next day, in New Delhi:

The Bahia Temple, built by the architect who built the Sidney Opera House.

See the lotus flower in the design?

Qutub Minar: the tallest free-standing stone tower in the world, and the tallest in India, measuring 237.8 ft.  

 

Note the detailed carving…knocks your socks off, 

if you were wearing any.  

"So you see, Jane...it's really tall.  Got it?"

And finally, to our flat in Pune. 

 

Our kitchen.

My bedroom.

This will be home for the month.

we have now taken a week of classes and learned enough to keep us busy for a year.
More later.  

Jane