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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Fountain of Heavenly Bliss, King Humayun's tomb


 


The four streams of water, wine, milk and honey come together at the Fountain of Heavenly Bliss....




"Humayun's tomb is the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun. The tomb was commissioned by Humayun's wife Hamida Banu Begum in 1562 AD, and designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyath, a Persian architect. It was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent, and is located in Nizamuddin EastDelhiIndia. The tomb was declared a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site in 1993, and since then has undergone extensive restoration work, which is still underway."  ----from wikipedia 



Wedding Lane, Old Dehli








Sunday, December 25, 2011

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Our Lady of Ransom Church, Kanyakumari



The century old Our Lady of Ransom Church in Kanyakumari, the multicultural town at the very southernmost tip of India. In addition to the lights, accompanying music was blaring from loudspeakers all over town.  As we were walking away from celebration the entire town was suddenly plunged into darkness that lasted for about an hour.  The electrical load of the rocking Tamil Nadu Jesus was too much for the local grid!






Friday, December 9, 2011

A walk to work in Goa


Don hat and sunglasses against 90 degree heat....say good-bye to cats, kittens, dogs, puppies, and chickens at house....

 walk up hill...

pass daily dozens of supplicants standing outside wall of minister's house hoping for audience....withstand inevitable stares at two odd white people walking by....

acknowledge neighborhood street pig...commiserate about her piglet that was run over the day before....


walk by candy shack....

  
say hi to my hindi-speaking friend (my destination in the background)...


 avoid traffic!....

pass mysterious egg tree....

note "Fuller" brush man has set up in town today.....

 almost to work...one last hill, the one where you finally break into an open sweat....





Thursday, December 8, 2011

An Indian Kitchen


I've been thinking a lot about personal space and William Morris lately.  I painted many a rental apartment/house in my youth (cheap labor for the landlord) and have had a burning desire to hire painters since arriving here in Goa.  I forgot how soul-sapping it can be to live in an "ugly" environment, the sine qua non of William Morris's genius. So my drab apartment will do till late January when our time in India is up. I will appreciate all the more my lovely, personalized space when I return home, space that will be even more beautiful with the addition of Indian fabrics.

My son and I are living in a high-rent-district, an upper class neighborhood in the Indian equivalent of a mansion---in fact, it is called Peter's Mansion.  But this country is changing fast; it is seemingly in a time warp between the past and the future.  On tv, nearly all the commercials depict an India that seems to have no connection with our everyday experience here in Goa---the commercials look like people living lives in Europe or the US.  I can't even imagine how weird that must be for young Indians coming of age.  This country is making the leap from developing world to first world, seemingly in a generation.

The front of our house with my laundry (washed in bucket) hanging on line.  Could be art deco Miami, right?  We live on first floor.

 And here is our kitchen.  Note the green plastic two-stage water filter and super-charged Coleman stove for cooking.  The sink has two taps, only one of which works, with water that cannot be drunk without boiling.  I sterilize dishes in the bucket in sink.



Here is the bathroom that gives new meaning to the term indoor plumbing (note sink drain and drain in floor.  When you wash your hands your feet get wet!).  Below is "suicide shower" with a taped electrical element heating the water in the showerhead. 


So, it is probably obvious if you've been following the Indian posts that on weekends we often escape to beach "bubbles" of loveliness.  Next post, my daily walk to work.....

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Goa Beach Mandala





 Last weekend, on an early morning beach walk at low tide, I came across this sand mandala.  It's kind of spooky as there are no obvious footprints, however, the sand was very hard.  How was it made?  Is this the tropic's answer to crop circles?



Sunday, December 4, 2011

Cannonball tree outside my office





I was not surprised to discover the common name of this wacky and beautiful tree --- and you don't want to be under it when one of these nuts lets loose.  They are larger than a coconut and much heavier.
Apparently the force of impact causes the fruit to burst open scattering the seeds inside.