India 2009

I flew from San  Francisco to NYC arriving late in the evening with my flight to India scheduled for the next afternoon.  That gave me enough time to spend the morning in Manhattan, visiting Peter Mitchell at his SoHo co-op apartment.  What fun to see his new stomping ground. 

The flight, the next day, was Long…enough time to eat a few meals and watch every single English language movie, documentary and TV show!  Arrived at night in New Delhi, Nina met us with a driver and we headed for our World Class hotel for the night.  The next day, we toured the sights of Delhi including the home and memorial to Indira Ghandi.  I especially enjoyed the amazing sights in the Old Market.  So many colorful costumes, the different modes of transportation, the artistic arrangements of the wares for sale.  The following morning we boarded the train to the state of Gudjarof. 

We stopped at the ashram of Ghandi and saw the room he lived in and his spinning wheel.  We spent the night at a Mararaja’s palace that has become a Bed and Breakfast.  His amazing treasures are on display in the common rooms as well as his garages of classic cars.  Most of them date back to before independence, when the mararajas had great wealth.  We also visited his Great Palace which is now a bit neglected, but still quite grand.  More colorful markets and this area has the cows wandering through town at will.   The Budj area is renowned for its textiles.  We visited ancient sites as well as artisans of weaving, embroidering, tie dying, block printing, applique, batiking, etc. We headed for the back country and stayed at an “eco lodge”, owned by the community and built to imitate their own mud housing.  We toured the small villages in the countryside and bought directly from the “people”. The children were wearing the old style of colorful clothing and loved posing for our photos.  Before returning to Budj, we stopped near the Pakastani border at a temple where after devotions, the community leave leftover offerings out to a platform where the food is eaten by the wolves. ( Made me curious as to how the custom evolved.) Not only did we visit textile workers, but those who work with metals and printing. 

We visited many markets and government stores with the opportunity to purchase various sarongs, shawls, saris, etc.  We also headed for the sea coast of Kutch to visit the Palace at Mandavi.  I was discouraged by the air quality in India, mostly for the lack of visibility and the dulling of colors.  At Mandavi, we could barely see the sea until we were upon it.  People in India are incredibly friendly.  When we toured the Palace at Mandavi, there were a group of Indian women just leaving.  When they saw my cameras, they all offered to pose for me.  I loved the photos of their colorful clothing.  Almost all women in India wear the traditional dress:  saris and the outfits with pants (I forget what they’re called), but the men are moving towards the more western style clothing.  Hope that the women don’t follow suit.

We began the return to Delhi through Rajastan.  We visited a fort where we arrived perched on top of elephants!  At this place, I finally saw a man playing a pipe as a snake danced up out of a basket!  We visited a palace where there were 4 very decorative doorways, one for each season.  The tile work and mosaics with precious and semi-precious stones were gorgeous.  We also visited the women’s quarters of the moslem palaces.  The women could not be seen by the public and elaborate screen work was built for them to live behind and yet not be kept from seeing out.  One building was built along the main parade route and was only one room deep, but 4 or 5 stories tall.  All with carved mesh work for the Queens and their attendants  to sit behind.  Nearby was the King’s astronical observatory.  It mingled astrology with astronomy and was both scientific and beautiful.

We paused for a day of pampering at an Ayurvetic spa.  I had a face mask and when it was peeled off, it was like looking at my own face!  We also saw an Indian film in an old Art Deco-style theater.  It was in Hindi and a bit hard to follow, but the dance numbers were terrific.

We spent the night a few hours away from the Taj Majhal where there was a lesser known complex.  This is where we  learned of Isabel’s death.  The next day we gathered flowers from the grounds of the little hotel and took them with us.  We spent the day at the Taj Mahal and afterwards, sent off the floral tribute sailing down the river behind the Taj Mahal which eventually flows into the Ganges. 

The Taj Mahal is amazing.  I took lots of photos to try to capture its awesomeness, but it just doesn’t.

When driving in India (being a passenger, not a driver, of course) I began to notice the patterns.  Drivers tend to ignore the traffic lanes, simply driving wherever they fit (or think they fit).  When they want to pass another driver, they simply honk their horn and the vehicle in front is to move over to the left.  In fact, the trucks  have written on the back (in very ornate lettering) “honk please”  and “use dipper” (at night, they dim their lights as the signal).  In general, the trucks are decorated with colorful designs and I found myself taking photos of Trucks and  for their costuming!

The tour ended back in New Delhi at yet another 4-star hotel.  Before departing, Nina took us to a cooking class where we assisted and then, most importantly, ate…

After I parted from Nina and the evercharming, Helas, I wanted to stay on for the Republic Day parade in Delhi.  I had a few days’ wait, so Nina helped me arrange for a 3-day stay at nearby Neemrana Fort-Palace.  A palace dating back to thee 15th century that had fallen to ruin after the fortunes of the mararaja ended.  Taken up by a ambitious couple of developers who turned it (eventually) into an amazing resort.  There is a recent addition of a ZipLine tour up to the nearby hilltops.  There is an amphitheater where I saw an evening of classical dance.  There were afternoon teas,  nightly feasts and a small cooking lesson.  My rooms were in the 15th century wing, but half the hotel has been recently built in the same style.  I enjoyed the winding corridors that led to different wings.  I’d take a turn and find myself in a garden or climbing stairs to a crows nest.  Lots of photos.

Had a tour of Neemrana town.  An elaborate water source was built with almost a hotel down the sides.  The entire 8 or 10 levels down to the water level had walls lined with rooms for traveler’s to stay in (in the olden days).  On the way back to town, my guide, Ballou, let me visit his home and meet his wife.  Very friendly community.

The finale of my visit was the Republic  Day parade.  Very security conscious, New Delhi requires constant checks for weapons.  I was patted down and scanned with a wand, every time I entered my hotel.  Any car approaching the hotel, had the mirrored wand run under its carriage, the trunk opened and papers reviewed.  To attend this parade was even more stepped up. Everyone  had a ticket with an assigned seat alongside the parade ground.  We were not allowed cameras, water bottles, purses or packs of any kind.  I was run through a scanner and then with all the other ladies, taken behind a curtain to be patted down.

The parade ground had a huge archway (like the arc de triomphe) at one end.  The high officials had a grandstand towards that direction.  As the different parts of the parade reached them, they made their salutes and other signs of respect, the bands played their loudest and the announcer made flowery comments.  There were tanks and missiles, battalions and camel mounted brigades.  It was showy, both modern and old fashioned, and all together hypnotizing! 

One last night, an afternoon of shopping, and an evening Air India flight back to NYC.  I was horrified to find that the video selections hadn’t changed from my earlier flight.  16 odd hours without entertainment?  But,  when I turned to the Hindi films, it turned out that they had English sub-titles!  So, I watched about 8 Indian films and really got a grasp of the country’s style.  Later, when I saw Slum Dog Millionaire, I could appreciate how it included the classic ingredients.  A bit like Shakespeare’s comedies where the co-incidences, long lost relatives or sweethearts and happy endings abide.  And the dance numbers….so Busby Berkeley!

While I was in India, Slum Dog was nominated for the Academy Awards.  I loved reading the articles in the newspapers covering it.  Obama was inaugurated during my stay, also.  I have clipped those Indian Newspaper articles and kept them.  It was amazing  to have another country so interested in my own government.  And such fans.  The day after the inauguration, as we arrived at the tourist office to meet our driver for the day, he was standing against the wall with the newpaper wide open, reading.  There on the open front page, was full coverage with photos of Obama.  I asked the driver if he had seen any of the coverage.  With the time difference, it was after midnight before it was shown.  The driver said that he tried to stay awake to watch his acceptance speech, but that his “eyes fell asleep”.  I loved that they shared my hope and optimism for my country’s leadership. 

When I arrived in NYC, it ws snowing and my flight to San Francisco had been canceled due to frost on the wings.  I struggled to maintain for the next 12 hours in the JFK airport until the next Jet Blue to San Francisco.  They had no place to store luggage for the day, so I had to stay with it.  I ended up making a wall of the suitcases, topped it with a folded up coat, and leaned up against it and slept!  I had a very groggy flight to SFO, rented a car, arrived in Berkeley in the evening in time to hit the sack, get a good night’s sleep and actually wake up refreshed! 

I spent the next week finding a tenant for a vacant apartment before flying back to Mexico.

Here are the 308 photos from India I was able to edit down from the original 2000!  Click on this hot link and then select “slide show” , sit back and enjoy. India 2009

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