Local Move

Yep -we are moving, not back to the US as was the original plan this summer but a few miles down the road.

Our exit plan seems to be on hold for a variety factors. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing or does it really matter? Yes, life in the US is undoubtedly easier with it's efficiency and abundant choices but then is 'easy' necessarily what it's all about? I could rationalize the pros and cons, the pluses and minuses of here versus there but in the end we are here, we will be here for sometime longer and for now I am not going to worry about the hows, when and why's but concentrate on the nows which is soon going to be a lot of cardboard boxes.

After helping friend C relocate, recently lived through the OWC pink ele at close corners and now our move ---- I am going to be a little boxed out!!

We are essentially moving to exchange bus 3B for one of the '5' buses. The school bus is an hour each way on a "good" day and as its crosses train tracks, passes major construction projects, winds through villages and stops in another housing complex they are a myriad of reasons why there aren't many 'good' days on bus 3B!!

Bus '5' , of which there are three have a much more straight forward drive and hence many 'good' days on a route of 35 minutes. Simon's commute will about the same as it is from Vista.

Wills is very excited about the move - he has so many friends from school in the new 'hood and there are a lot more open spaces for cricket balls and footie ones to fly without risk of broken windows or angry neighbors. Ads is sort of indifferent - he has friends here and friends there but appreciates the shorter bus journey. He will miss brother from another mother across street (so will I) but now they are older and more independent they can travel - all they need is bit more organization!!

Me, I will miss Vista. I will miss Shubha - even if I don't see her one day, I sort of feel connected as I see her maid, Teqi, her car, her driver, the boys etc. but then how many people are so lucky as to have one of their bff that close for even a couple of years! I will miss so much here and in the environs. The little old guy I buy a lemon from every day I pass as he grins toothlessly from under his turban, as he squats on the gravel near his small pile of yellow fruit.  We have never exchanged a word but wobble and smile at each other to convey all is going well in our vastly different lives. The guy at the fancy shop who when I come in for one sheet of gift wrap tries to sell me a mile of brightly colored bangles or   a years supply of different shaped bindi's. The portly manager at Nilgiris (the grocery store) who will have everything in 'next day ma'am'. I have had a happy life spiraling out from my safe haven at Vista.

I will miss my neighbors, especially those who are now friends but who hopefully I will still see from my new abode.

Currently I am dealing with the outward part of the move, more about our new 'hood when we get there. When we moved in here we bought a huge unit/dresser from a neighbour which as we have more closets in our new bedroom we are selling on. It's new owner has sent a lorry to come and pick up. Just waiting for more man power to come help it down the stairs. The beginning of the 'out' wards move. Though packers don't come until next Wednesday and we move Thursday/Friday next week.

So next Thursday kids will leave home on Bus 3 B and return home on bus 5. Their move completed!!

Over 50,000!!!

Blog has had over 50,000 page views!
How wild is that!

It's been quite an experience. I have met people through it - people who were thinking an assignment to Bangalore was on the cards and on 'googling' to try and work out what it life here would really be like found the blog! On arrival in Bangers and having tracked down the OWC arrive at our weekly coffee morning, introduce themselves to me, knowing a lot more about me than I know about them!!

I have kept in touch with friends/family all over the world, met other 'bloggers', used my posts for the basis of articles published in the Rangoli magazine, embarrassed my boys..tho I try not to!!.......

This week folks from India, US and UK have viewed blog. Nothing unexpected there - but also Russia, Germany, Poland, Canada, France, New Zealand, Australia and Spain...go figure!

During the two plus years my blog has been going I "met" friend G before she came to India. She came, she lived here, she left.!!   The full cycle!

I had always thought if I'd ever reach the giddy heights of 50,000 it would be at the tail end of our time in India and a great time to shut up/put up....whatever the term is.

However it seems we will be here for some time longer and I don't seem to be running out of stuff to say, pictures to take........so onwards and upwards (I hope!!).

And how do you eat your mango?

Chopping up Mangoes for the kids, I was reminded of an old After Eight T.V. advert which was a sort of character study. People sat around a dinner table, the narrator watching how they ate their after dinner mints....the nibbler round the edges, the stuff the whole thin mint in the mouther........and determining what this may or may not portray about their personalities.

And After Eights bring back memories. Those Yuppie (Young Upwardly-mobile Professional Person) dinner parties of the early nineties. G & T's, starter: green salad, main: beef bourguignon with copious red wine, desert: chocolate mouse. Followed by After Eights and coffee from the cafetiere in little espresso cups. Attendees trainee chartered accountants and lawyers working in the "City" (of London). Music: Roxy Music, Bowie, Simply Red etc. That was a long time ago!!

I have seen After Eights here in Bangers - but only at way exorbitant prices. But on my next trip to the UK, I think I'll hunt some out  - I do still have the music to go with!!

Anyway my kids have very different ways of eating their mangoes.

Wills likes his sliced off perpendicularly at either side of the stone and then he eats with a spoon - like eating a boiled egg.

The middle section around the stone is left in one piece and he picks it up by hand and chews and sucks until every last vestige of mango is gone and his hands and face are mango juicy.

Ads meanwhile likes his mango diced hedgehog style. This is one skill I have nearly mastered since being in India. Again mango is sliced perpendicularly either side of the stone. But then the two end pieces are knifed to the skin criss cross style and then the skin inverted and it does look a bit like a sort of hedgehog. Its easy then to cut the pieces off. Ads eats with a fork. 

Two different styles to eat their mangoes -what it says about their very different personalities I need a therapist to decipher! 

Pondicherry Part 3 - Mahabalipuram

Mahabalipuram is seriously old and is home to many beautiful temples, carvings and my favorite Krishna's butterball. That my picture of this includes Wills is particularly pertinent for a variety of reasons.

Firstly when we first came to India on vacation in 2008 when Wills was three, he loved the story of Krishna stealing the butter from the Aunties of the village. I must of read it to him sooooo many times. He also loves butter - be it butter naan, butter chicken, butter pop corn and to be honest he was a bit a of butter ball baby!

From the shore temple overlooking the sea:

the elephant carvings, part of the Five Rathas which were thought to be done by students as part of their learning process,

to the more elaborate shrines,

the history is immense. As with all Indian historic sites we have seen you can climb, hide, run, explore all over them. A conundrum whether tis best to preserve these precious sites of bygone ages or to enjoy them first hand. Anyway in Mahabalipuram you can clamber over the monuments but woe betide you if you leave any litter:

Pondicherry part 2 - Auroville - the town of human unity.

Just north of Pondi is the universal town of Auroville. It is based on the ideals of Sri Aurobindo, whose ashram we had previously visited in Pondi.  The project was driven by this character called "The Mother". I never quite worked out who she was and why her picture and words kept cropping up around the ashram and Auroville.

I also didn't quite work out whether I thought the town was an enlightened inspirational idea, a hippy hangout for those running away from real life or a bit of a money spinner (when I'd seen the price of items in their boutiques!)

The town belongs to no-one but to humanity as a whole. To live in Auroville you need to be a willing servitor of the divine consciousness but you must not have a religion. This led to some debate in our family as to what constitutes a religion and whether or not this last sentence is a contradiction in terms. We didn't resolve this one and I think gave up trying!

 Auroville is also a place of unending education, constant progress and a youth that never ages. It wants to be a bridge between the past and the future taking advantage of all discoveries from within and without, boldly springing towards future realizations.

While I admire the concept of all living in unity - the details of a life in Auroville were perhaps a little too out there for me.

The center of the town is the Matrimandir which is supposed to be a symbol of the divines answer to man's inspiration for perfection. Only those in search of their own consciousness can enter.

Well it looked pretty spectacular in a star wars kind of way. Not sure if the boys are trying to figure it all out or just having a rest!

In all an interesting, thought provoking, conversation raising trip!

Pondicherry - part 1, about town

Seems a while since we had our Easter break in Pondy and indeed it is! We took both car and driver as we wanted to stay in one base hotel and do some day trips from there. The drive to Pondy is about 7 hours which as we left early in the morn got us there early afternoon. There are two routes from Bangers to Pondy the shorter very bumpy route and the longer smoother route. We took the longer route - which having spoken to other Bangers folks was the better option as we arrived in good shape just about! After driving round Bangers for so long Purander got a little excited seeing open road and had to almost have his foot removed from the accelerator!

We stayed in the Hotel Atithi. From a efficiency point of view this provided exactly what we wanted. There are lovely beach resorts but these are out of town and then we wouldn't have been able to walk into town and also really quaint little guest houses in the French Quarter but they don't have a pool which we wanted so we could laze in the hot afternoons after a morning of sight seeing. The Atithi met our needs well along with an excellent breakfast buffet. Again a point of interest in our household. Wills direct to the fresh made dosa station having already collected his veda and sambar, Ads searching for eggs and sausage, Simon a mixture but always finding something sweet and me to the croissants and fruit.

Pondy took a while to grow on me. I was expecting more French influence both in terms of quantity and quality. The French quarter is pretty small, but is quaint and there is definitely a little left over French air. Goa, I think, maybe feels more European in places but that I guess can be attributed not only to the historic Portuguese legacy but also to the number Europeans inhabiting and visiting the state.

Pondi is right on the beach and there is a long prom, ideal for people watching. This is one of my favorite pics from our trip.

During the day the prom is pretty quiet but there is always a welcome breeze. At night the street is pedestrianized and the food vendors and other street sellers are out in force. 

Funny to see the street signs in French and Hindi - see road name on left, as compared with the Parisien street sign, on the right - same colors tho! 

The French area does have wide tree line boulevards - very similar to areas of Paris:

And we did see someone sitting sketching tho it wasn't quite Montmartre!

And some of the buildings had a distinctly French influence both in color and style. Though the statue in the foreground is an Indian politician.

The boys did find crepes complete with "beaucoup de chocolat"

On Easter Sunday we were in temples, ashrams but also found a church! The whole trip had a bit of a follow the fedora going on - except in the pool I don't think I have a picture of one or other of the kids without one!

It was so hot at times for Wills his fedora wasn't enough, he ended up with scarf as well!

In the hot afternoons we retreated to the roof top pool - even I took to the waters and it has to be very hot for me to do that! Being roof top there's that strange sandwich of water (pool) buildings and the water (sea). 

The hotel had a really good rooftop grill - amazing chicken and lamb. But also a chance to try out some night time photos with my tripod - this is my best Pondi by night shot:

We found a couple of really yummy restaurants to eat in the french area - with great food and wonderful ambience:

Pondy did grow on me the week we were there. It is a case of been there, done that...it won't be on repeat list of places to revisit but definitely worth a visit. 

Down at the Dhobi

Driving back from down town Bangers to our little piece of suburbia, we pass an open space filled with billowing an drying washing. We are not talking a garden here but a couple of football pitches, a cricket ground, a couple of fields....big.

This is a home of one of Bangalore's traditional laundries or dhobi. It appears that not anyone can become a dhobiwalla. It is a position that is passed down from generation to generation and in Bangalore as in all big Indian cities there are some renowned dhobi families who have owned their business for generations.

Purander has obviously long decided some of my antics in India are a tad wierd but I think stopping in the heat of the day to take pictures of people doing their washing will need some beating!!

Essentially laundry is collected from hotels and big business round the city, washed, ironed folded and returned within the day.  It is so hot at the moment in Bangers and monsoon has not struck so I imagine business must be booming as everything must dry as soon as it is hung.

There are rows of huge stone sinks and table on which the items are scrubbed and pounded. This is not light work, although this lady, no spring chicken made it appear so.

 Water was flying and I wanted nothing less than to get in the way of the spray to cool off myself.

Washing of all shapes and colors was strung up wherever there was something to tie a line

 Nimble fingers could peg and unpeg in the blink of an eye!

Amazing how these traditional methods must still be financially efficient and carry on cheek by jowl with the hi tech.