Happy Republic Day

Tomorrow is Republic Day, a national day to celebrate the signing of the constitution. Big national holidays, lots of parades and marching bands.

I have started a new photo essay called "The things people try to sell you while stopped at traffic lights". I'll need to work on the name... everything here is acronymed so TTPTTSYWSATL isn't cutting it. Here are my first two installations. The first is a guy selling the Indian flag for Republic Day. It comes with double sided tape on the bottom so you can mount it on your dashboard. The next picture will be the cover to my TTPTTSYWSATL book. Fairly appropriate don't ya think? Usually these guys are selling books like, Da Vinci Code or The World is Flat or anything by Salmon Rushdie. Bizarrly good books.

I feel obligated to buy the objects in order to take the pictures so to date I own Indian flags and a book about how to sell anything to anybody but it's clear to me that I will end up a with a massive collection of crap and that this could turn into an expensive hobby! They do sell a bizarre collection of things though so it should be fun.

Getting back to exploring Delhi

The past two weekends I've been getting back out and exploring Delhi. Last weekend a colleague, Dana, wanted to go on a photo shoot early in the morning at Humayan's Tomb. It was a wonderful excuse to spend time walking around the ruins. The tomb was built in 1570, and was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent - that's only interesting in that it inspired several major architectural innovations, culminating in the construction of the Taj Mahal. And it was commissioned by the wife of Humayan, which is cool because most were done by men. It's been rennovated significantly since the last time I was there. Beyond the ruins being cool - there were peacocks everywhere, in trees, in bushes:) It's the national bird, so I shouldn't be that excited but I don't see them very often.

This weekend was nice as well. After having a bunch of people over for brunch (I didn't know half of them) I decided to go explore the local market with the goal of buying a squash racquet. So I took a walk to Malviya Nagar market. It was so wonderful! If you turn off the main road you end up in this endless maze of shops, one aisle selling vegetables, one selling cloth, one selling metal things (like cups, trash cans, utensils, milk bottles), jewelry. And the market is clearly up and coming because they have a Cafe Coffee Day and these grocer shops with a lot of western goods. I came home with a squash racquet (the first shop had no idea what I was talking about, badmitton? tennis?) and ball, a jump rope, vanilla essence (which I hope is the same thing as extract), a mattress topper, a battery for my good camera so that next time I go on a photo shoot I can use it, chapstick, and a handmade ceramic vase. A nice way to spend a few hours.

Happy Eid

First, I apologize for not taking many pictures lately and promise to do better. These pictures are again of the construction site across the street from my office. I'm slowly trying to get them to warm up to me by giving them prints of previous shots so then I can start to take some interesting pictures. The contractor always tells me I'm interrupting work and to get lost. The boy at the bottom of this post is washing his hands from the water truck.

Weather: I know it's geeky talking about the weather but that's all the newspapers are discussing these days. It got down to 0.2C which is 32F - the coldest it's been in Delhi for over 70 years! People are freaking out! Reports of frost are flying around. And that's just at night - highs are still sixties and should be seventies. My guard, the one whose name I knew, quit because it was too cold (so I assume).

Happy Eid: Today is Bakri Id, the muslim id (also spelled eid) that is about goats??? Clearly my understanding is weak. But the neighborhood down the street from me (the one that will be destroyed once the malls are built to make room for traffic) is muslim. So they shut down the road this morning. In our detour, one of the local parking lots was full of perfectly straight rows of Muslim men sitting - probably about 400 of them, with white skull caps on. I've never seen that kind of organization in Delhi. Very impressive!

Why I need a staff

My guard, the one whose name I know, did his first official good deed on his second day on the job when he knocked on my door to tell me that I had left my keys in the front door! Who authorized me to live on my own????

At least I've established an air of general incompetence!

Indian? Not Indian?

I've been trying to think of a quintessencial India moment to write about but I really haven't had any since I've been back. On Saturday I went to get my hair cut/colored. The color came out surprisingly well (ususally it looks bizarrely red because they aren't used to lighter hair) but the cut I'm still trimming every morning. Not particularly Indian.

I met with with my friends Aditya and Manavi at this furniture farm (it's enormous and is at a farm house) to pick up my TV stand. We went a few weeks back and I found one I liked - most of their stuff is heavy old Indian Raj-looking furniture like the living room table I bought last time - but it was painted green floral. So I asked if they could make me that one in just plain wood. Aditya negotiated the price for me because my whiteness tends to increase it. I was all excited about having a place to put my TV but I forgot that in India nothing is ever ready when they say it will be. They hadn't cut the hole in the back for the electrical cords to go through. Sorta Indian.

That night a bunch of friends came over for New Years. Not too indian as we ate Pizza Hut pizza, pepsi, bacardi breeze and kingfisher (ooh that's indian). We were a bunch of pathetically over tired people but it was fun none-the-less. Not so indian.

Sunday the TV stand was delivered. Yippee.

Yesterday it rained, which surprised me. I forgot that it sometimes rains even when it's not monsoon season. Then on my way home from work we (office driver and me) hit a horrible traffic jam within view of my house. A traffic light was out and everybody just drove into the center of the intersection so NO ONE could move. Half an hour to go about 15 feet. That was pretty Indian.

My guard service started last night. My night guard is named Lal Singh, I couldn't understand what the day guard said his name was. They each sit on a chair outside my house for 12 hours. I imagine they are asleep for the majority of the time. Definitely Indian.