Rock Walk cont.

We drove a short distance from the house, parked the car and clambered up the first of many huge boulders.  At the top were a few houses, obviously no running water, or electricity but good brick built houses.  

As we walked down and around, we came to this old temple that has been built under one of the boulders, it was so well hidden and protected from the elements.  As we stood on top of the boulders if we looked one way we could see the ever expanding 'modern' Hyderabad, if we turned and to the other side of the boulder we caught a glimpse of what Hyderabad used to look like, rice paddy fields, men herding their goats and a sense of serenity.  Of course, these boulders will probably soon be blasted and developers will encroach even more upon the little greenery there is left.

I love this photo, and shows you how amazing they look, and how finely balanced they are.

At the top of the hill where the houses were, we witnessed the slaughter of two sheep (or maybe goats?).  It was the evening before Eid started and Muslims were in preparation for their main religious festival.  Pete was with us straining at the leash to get closer to what would have been heaven for him.  LOL

Hyderabad's Boulders

One of the unique features of Hyderabad is the huge boulders that dot the landscape.  I have never seen anything like it before.  You have huge boulders precariously balanced on top of other huge boulders.  Unfortunately, they are now becoming quite rare given the development of the area.  Whereas they were previously built around or on top of, they are now blasted to smithereens to make way for new buildings.  Apparently, I am told, they stem from the jurassic period!!  We joined some friends on Sunday for a 'rock walk'.  

A tight channel, have to be careful who is invited on this trail as the path through was rather tight.

Sports Day

It was school sports day last Friday.  The kids were very excited by it, more so William and Bethan.  Lawrence had a slightly different approach, odd given that he is the one who is the sportiest.  I think this is because he hates to lose, and whereas last year he swept up all the medals this year there was an added element of competition since a new boy has joined the school in Lawrence's year group.  For the first time Lawrence has some competition, and he doesn't like it!  Anyway, here they are in action...

William competing in a twist on the egg and spoon race

Egg sandwiches and a flask of coffee

Lawrence in the shot putt

Bethan trying so hard in the sack race

One man and his dog

Have not said much about Pete lately.  He is still with us (a dog is for life, blah blah blah!).  But, he is definitely John's dog.  Here he is having his first bath.  Growing well, but still only approx. half his expected adult weight.  He has a few friends on our estate, Eddie, a ridge back from Germany (language seems to be no barrier here).  Eddie is very tolerant of Pete, who is always the eager, over the top one.  And, there is Ashoka, a Heinz 57 Indian street dog.  Ashoka is slightly younger than Pete but has already taken over Pete in height.  Again, Pete is the eager 'beagle' and you can tell that Ashoka thinking "For god's sake Pete, calm down."

John tells me we are expecting too much too soon of Pete.  He is 5 months next week and as yet all furniture etc is intact.

The mornings are a lovely and cool 22 degrees at the moment and I walk Pete around the park for a few kms.  I then drop him off to John where Pete has been going to work with John for the past few weeks, only a couple of hours a few days a week.  He seems to be excepted though does run circuits like a lunatic around and under all the desks, and then collapses with exhaustion like a good boy when John is in a meeting.

He is off to the kennels again next week when we go on holidays, but Ashoka will be in the same kennels with him so hopefully he won't feel too home sick.  

Mumbai Blasts

Was woken at 6:30 this morning (27.11.08) with a call from our neighbour, Sylvette, telling me that there would be no school this morning.  Why?  Because of the blasts in Mumbai.  Given that foreign nationals were targeted, the school had taken the decision to close for the day.   This had been the case during the previous bombings that had occurred in Hyderabad.  

The first thing you think is who do I know that is in Mumbai at the moment.  It is a place that John frequently travels to, as do many of our friends.  A neighbour returned only two days ago as she and her daughter had been there to seek the vibrant life that Hyderabad is somewhat lacking.

For those of you who are not familiar with the geography of India, I have inserted a map below detailing the main cities.

As you can see, we are a fare way from Mumbai, an hour and a half by plane.

It is Thanksgiving today and I suppose we should give thanks (to who I am not sure, as I am not a follower of any religious faith), but do think, wow, we were lucky not to be involved in that.

Tonight we celebrate with our american friends Bill, Tara and their boys, with a thanksgiving dinner at their house.  I will post photos of the event.

A room for the night

Friends of ours told a very funny story over the weekend.  They have been living within a particular estate for a few months now, previously they had lived in a house that would be extremely hard to describe.... just imagine having a huge, huge boulder in the middle of your living room, the landlords living on the top floor, and a zillion servants servicing the various occupants of the house.  Well, Tara and her eldest son Liam were sitting having breakfast on Sunday morning and reflecting upon the privacy the 'new' house provided them with, when she saw some men walking down the path to the back of her house.  Confused as to why they were there and what they were up to she went outside to question them.

It turns out, they had been in earlier in the morning to clear out the unused maid's room at the back of the house and now they were in the process of depositing their suit cases in the room.   Why?  Who gave you permission? etc etc  asked Tara.  The guys pointed to the house opposite and told Tara she should speak to the 'Madam' of the house opposite.  It turns out that the lady living opposite Tara was having some work done inside her house and that these men were the tilers.  So, asked Tara, what has this got to do with them being on her property?  

The neighbour tells Tara that as her maids room is empty she has told the labourers they can sleep there.  "Absolutely Not" says Tara, "But they'll only be there in the nights" replies the neighbour.   "ABSOLUTELY NOT" says Tara.  Needless to say they were evicted before they had the chance to take root.  

Can you believe this?

To date, we can only say positive things about our fellow residents and an incident like this is surprising.

Outsourced

Watched the film 'Outsourced' over the weekend.  I had previously put off watching it because I thought it would be a bit corny, when it actually turned out to be very well done indeed.  It seemed that a lot of jokes could of been overlooked without having experienced life in India. Watch it if you get the chance as it will provide you with a glimpse of what it is like to live in India.  My favourite line of the film is when one of the characters says that I.N.D.I.A  means....

I'll

Never

Do

It 

Again

Really made laugh, as this sums up my state of mind on a regular basis.  lol

  

Children at work

It is illegal for any child under the age of 14 to be employed....  or so the notices on the back of auto rick-shaws inform us.  This is definitely not the reality of the situation.  On a daily basis I see young children being part of the Indian work force, and do realise that a practice that has been going on for centuries won't stop overnight.

The photos below are 'just' two examples of what you see.  The boy hand embroidering the sari did not look quite so happy as the handkerchief seller.

The fabric for the sari is stretched out on the wooden frame and the pattern is chalked onto the fabric.  The worker (usually male) then proceeds to hand stitch every detail and sequin onto the fabric.  The cost of a sari will depend on the fabric used and  the level of detail and adornment i.e. how long it took for someone to complete the finished item.  Each sari is about six metres long.  The speed at which the stitching is done is unbelievable, the workers hands operate like sewing machines.

The handkerchief seller was full of smiles and was very happy at being asked if I may take his photo, especially thrilled when I played back the photo to show him.  He did not ask for anything, and though I thought his smile could not get any bigger, his face was a picture of happiness, but also confusion (as to why???) when I gave him 10 Rupees and did not want any handkerchiefs in exchange.

To eat or not to eat.

Continuing on from the Charminar experience......  I mentioned that there are various food vendors about the streets.  The foods are wonderfully presented.  Mostly you will see that the sellers sell one product, or a variation on the same theme.  I rarely eat from street vendors, purely to avoid the risk of a stomach upset of some kind.  It is so tempting to buy something but when any one experiences sickness and diarrohea it can usually be traced back to something they know they should not have eaten.  

 

Tara did buy some peanuts as the smell of the hot roasted peanuts was too much to forgo.

Fresh coconuts, whole, sliced or iced.

Mental Strength!

On Tuesday morning , feeling revitalised  after my morning walk with Pete, followed by an hour of yoga  I felt mentally strong enough to undertake a visit to Charminar, the down town, old city, part of Hyderabad.  A quick phone call to my friend Tara got me a fellow shopper and off we set.  Charminar is about 45 minutes from where we live.  We timed it so that we should arrive as most shops open at about 11 am.  Watching the workforce within India is like watching a colony of ants.  It is really busy and lots of people around but it never seems like anything is being accomplished, then you take a second look and everything is set up!

The Charminar shopping experience is made up of wandering down little alley ways which are packed with locals going about their daily business, hawkers touting their wares up and down the place, snack vendors and their 'delights', beggars, motor bikes galore manoeuvring their way through the chaos and the odd car beeping it's way through the crowds as they negotiate the tiny streets, meanwhile the police men put in place as traffic calming influences do little to alleviate the grid locks that arise.  

On previous occasions when I have visited Charminar, the weather has been too hot and has contributed to the experience being an over the top sensory overload.  This time of year the daytime temperatures are a cool 26 - 30 degrees and helps make the trip a more pleasant experience.

The main purpose of the expedition was to buy a few trinkets in preparation of our Christmas travels, mainly adornments for the female friends.  Our first stop was Bangle Alley and as seen in the photos below is mainly made up of shops selling the traditional Indian bangles, worn by virtually every Indian female, young and old, that you will meet.  I love the way they are displayed.

Rubbish collection

It has been a few weeks since I last updated the blog.  Apologies.

The weeks go by so quickly and good intentions to write on the blog on a regular basis seem to fall by the wayside.

There is just 4 weeks until we break up for the Christmas break, but being in a community with quite a few Americans, we first have Thanksgiving to celebrate.  Also, when Obama was elected President there was a real 'good feel' vibe in the air.  

Whilst our children start thinking about what they would like on their Christmas list, some children in India are already part of the work force.  I took the photo below of the kid who collects the rubbish from our bin outside the house.  He is sometimes by himself and other times accompanied by a young girl of about 12 years of age.  The rubbish is thrown into the bag on the back of the bike and then taken god knows where to be recycled.  John tells me that India has one of the world's highest recycling rates.  Everything is reused, and reused, and reused a few more times.  Everything is mended.  And even when someone regards an item useless there will be an even poorer person who will find a new lease of life for the said item.

Bananas

Ring, ring.   In amongst all the rubble, and at many points along the road side you will find a phone attached to a tree or pillar.  

I have been meaning to stop and take this photo for ages.  We buy our bananas from the side of the road, on their original branch and then suspended from another tree.  There are not many things I find a beautiful site in India but this is one of them.

Halloween

Love it or hate???  The kids love it.  Any excuse for a dress up and some treats.  Halloween was celebrated with a party organised by the school and the local expat association.

1. Bethan

2. Bethan and two ghouls

3. Boo!

Picture of Bethan, Chantelle & Hannah after doing the Rangoli work outside of Jo's house.

Pete's Progress Report

God, beagles are a stubborn breed, or maybe it's just our Pete!

He can be the cutest thing but also the most infuriating.  But, he is only 16 weeks old so I suppose I can't expect too much too soon.  I am wondering how long this puppy stage lasts.

When he came to us he was 1.8kg, and now weighs 6 kg, amazing to see how much he has grown in such a short time.  John continues to put in much time and effort with him.  I am wondering whether Pete will miss John when he goes away for 2 weeks on Saturday, maybe all the past 8 weeks training will go out the window whilst he is away.  I will keep you posted.

Diwali

The previous post was bit of the background of Diwali celebrations.  At our estate all residents were in full celebratory mode, and the four day weekend only added to that mood. On Friday night John's company put on a party at a local hotel.  Lovely food and company.  Too many scary fireworks, where children are allowed to get unbelievably close them.  Growing up in the UK gives you a very different approach to fireworks, on a dark cold winters night it was always difficult to even see the men who were setting off the displays, partly because it was so dark and because you had to be so far away from the actual fireworks.

Sunday night there was a Diwali celebration evening at the Cameron's house.  Bill Cameron wound the kids into a frenzy with bangers and sparklers (again, you could tell that no safety certificate was required here).  Monday night saw another party organised for the residents kindly sponsored by a resident.  Having been very social for the previous three evenings, The Webbs decided to lie low and stay at home.

But the big Diwali celebrations were on Tuesday 28th.  Fireworks galore!  Pete seemed unperturbed by the whole event thankfully.  The main event of the evening was seeing a 200 metre trail of fire crackers go off.  The trail is laid, people gather.  Whilst waiting for the trail to be lit, sweet indian delicacies are passed around and then WOW! it starts.  It gives you an idea of what being in a war zone must be like.  It is so loud and dangerous.  After being hit a few times by flying shrapnel and uttering a few "ow's" I was advised that it was best to follow behind at a slight distance which did prove to be good advice but still got caught a few more times.   This lasted for about half an hour.  How anyone can sleep through this is unbelievable.

It was nice to be at home and see how our neighbours celebrate this, the biggest festival in their calendar.  

A couple of photos to show how the houses are decorated.  In the evening, lots of houses are lit up, which I just love as I am a sucker for some twinkly fairy lights.

Diwali - Festival of Light

Deepavali or Diwali is a major Indian festival.  It is celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs around the world and is known as the "Festival of Lights", where the lights or lamps signify victory of good over the evil within every human being.

Diwali is celebrated on a grand scale in almost all the regions of India and is looked upon mainly as the beginning of New Year.  Houses and business premises are renovated and decorated.  Entrances are made colourful with lovely traditional motifs of Rangoli designs to welcome the Goddess of wealth and prosperity.  To indicate her long-awaited arrival, small footprints are drawn with rice flour and vermillion powder all over the houses.  Lamps are kept burning all through the night.  Believing this day to be auspicious, women purchase some gold or silver, or at least two new utensils.  "Lakshmi-Puja" is performed in the evenings when tiny diyas of clay are lighted to drive away the shadows of evil spirits.  "Bhajans" - devotional songs - in praise of Goddess Lakshmi are sung and "Naivedya" of traditional sweets is offered to the Goddess.  In villages, cattle are adorned and worshipped by farmers as they form the main source of their income.  In the South, cows are offered special veneration as they are supposed to be the incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi and therefore they are adorned and worshipped on this day.

4 day holiday (yay)! notice these words rhyme...

Welcome back to the blogger's boy, with fresh news for you all!  This week, we are having a 4 day break from the 6 and half imprisonment of the school.  In India it is the festival/celebration of  Diwali.  Today is the second day of the holiday. The world is nice and comfortable.  The dog is running around. Th..... OK, thats enough delight's.  If any of you want to know, I made this blog because you may want to ask a few questions yourself.  I do not tolerate any rude or private questions.  You can ask  "Hi, what is the name of your teacher?" or, "what does your house look like?"   Some answers will have videos and some may have pictures. Well, anytime you want, send in a question and I may answer. Well, see you later, Blogga-gator!

Beep, Beep!! Bring out the dead!

Please excuse the lack of updates of late, after a very relaxing holiday in Phuket, and saying to people it is the kind of holiday that you don't need a holiday after, Beth and I made a trip to the UK for 9 days.  John and the boys stayed in India.

It is rare for us to visit the UK in the winter months, but a trip last October and again this week, where the weather is dry, crisp and sunny is just beautiful.  I love the freshness and the visible change of seasons, plus I like wrapping up in winter clothes, something that is a rarity.  Anyway, a busy but productive week.  Love being in Swansea but so nice to be back with my three boys who all survived extremely well minus the women of the house.

There is a constant source of noise in India even throughout the night.  Last night a pack of wild dogs were in situ in the empty plot behind the house.  Their constant howling and barking is a pain, I thought that Pete would be joining in but thankfully it all seemed to bypass him.   Another disturbing way of being woken up is the next door neighbour beeping his horn in order to get one of his staff to open the gate.  The gardens and outdoor space in Whisper Valley are not spacious, there is just enough room to park 1 car in the drive, so to open the gate is not a big deal and does not take too much time and effort, but our neighbour who is very polite and friendly to us is above opening his gate, instead he sits in the car and beeps, beeps, beeps, beeps, until the gate is opened.  Our bedroom window faces onto his drive and this is too much for me first thing in the morning.  Next time this happens I plan (if I have the energy) to jump out of bed (remembering to put some clothes on first! lol) and run downstairs, and open the gate for him.

I think one gets used to seeing what goes on in India and it all begins to seem 'normal', which it is in this society, but sometimes I remind myself that we are witness to a culture that most of our friends and family will only read about.  After picking the children up from school on Friday afternoon we begin our drive home to pass a funeral procession.  The body is being carried on a stretcher, covered by a white cloth and flowers.  This is the real India, which however much you read can only truly be experienced in the flesh.

Phuket Holiday

We have returned from our holiday in Phuket refreshed after a lovely week. As I have said previously, the accommodation was excellent and the facilities superb. The kids pool was complete with slide, water jets etc and this took a couple of days for them to get even slightly bored with what was on offer. As with most kids clubs these days, they are separated into a 'teens' room and a play area, where game stations are available, or even plain old paper and pencils. As could be predicted, the boys lurk around the games consoles while the girls get to know one another over the drawing table. lol

The hotel provided a circus school activity which involved trapeze training, and a few other not quite so exciting activities. Beth loved it (as you can imagine). Below is a photo of her on the trapeze.


Thailand is well known for its massage culture. On the beach you could get a proper thai massage, John made the most of this, I only tried it the once and I have to say that whilst it was nice it was also painful at times. We also partook in a family massage session when in Patong. We all had a foot massage, the kids' first! Lawrence then proceeded to ask for one on a daily basis. Spoilt or what?


On a couple of the days we hired a car and drove around the island. Very small island, and easy to get around. I have heard that the beauty of Phuket has been spoiled by the number of tourists, I am sure this is true, but it was a very enjoyable break and we will definitely visit Thailand again.

Phuket

Well, we have been in Phuket for the past four days and I have to say it is absolutely beautiful here. We are staying in the Marriott Resort and Spa which is half hour from Phuket town but is practically faultless in its surroundings. Really, truly, beautiful. But I have to say as with all other hotels they take the p#$%# with their internet charges, so I write this post quickly from an internet cafe in Phuket town. Unable to post any photos just now but will do that when we return home. Speak soon.

Nia & John

Last week our friend Tara celebrated her 40th Birthday. Here is. a photo of John and I from that party.

hooray! hooray! holi-holiday!

Tonight we are going to Thailand, The land of Thai. With suitcases ready, tickets in hand, we head off for a 10-day holiday (Hoorah!). At the moment it is a bit harder to talk about my holiday as I don't know what is going to happen. My mom says we connect from Hyderabad to someplace else, and then someplace else to Thailand. As I am typing this blog now, I am thinking, " What should I write?" Let's say that we go to a few sandy beaches, hotels, and then, after 10 days, we come back to Hyderabad. Um... In a way, I think that's all for now, and I'll see you later blog readers!

Blogger Boy's Birthday

Billy turns 10

Today, Billy celebrated his 10th Birthday.
Double digits!
After school we had his friends from school over and had a party at the house. There was a treasure hunt, pizza, ice-cream and swimming. All in all a lovely day. Billy's review of the day was "Best day ever!"

A few photos of today;

All three opening Billy's cards and presents (love the way they are so excited for each other on the birthdays)
Figuring out one of the clues to the treasure hunt
Friends on the treasure hunt

The poem I wrote, by William Webb

Hi, all you blog readers, and welcome back to the Blogger's boy's blog. A few days ago I wrote a poem that my parents said was very good. Let's have your say about the poem:

Sirens sound,
The Wind calls,
For the myths,
From the Forgotten Halls,
The Clock of Time,
Heads back,
From the pain,
It did wrack,
Facing the End for now,
Turning away,
I do not know how,
In the Dungeons of War,
It brought Peace,
That is when the battles will cease,
To the centre of Famine,
It brought Plenty,
But more to do,
So it sent Thee,
To the green sides of Pestilence,
To bring the Box of Health,
To heal,
The horrible self,
To the heart of Death,
Bringing Life in tow,
So that is the End,
Waiting for Nature to grow,
Remember this now as you lie in Peace,
You cannot avoid the idea,
That your Life must cease.

Thank you for reading my poem. I hope I see you next time.

Sign of the day - Police Outpost

In February we visited a place called Hampi, which was a national heritage site. Lots of old 'things'. Loved the Police Station.

Summer in Swansea

We have now been back in Hyderabad for five weeks, and our long summer holiday in Swansea feels like it was a lifetime ago.

Apart from a few days in Plymouth with the Hartley's, the remainder of our 8 week holiday was spent in Swansea. Lots of visitors; The Axes from France, The Burtons from South Africa, The Webbs from Birmingham, The Hartleys from Plymouth and of course, John from India.

The weather was unpredictable and mostly wet, but we decided that we would get out whatever the weather and make the most of what Swansea has to offer, the walks, the cycling, the sea etc, all of which we do not have access to in India. Full wet suits were purchased so that the kids could enjoy themselves in the sea without any limbs becoming so numb amputation may be a possibility. Boogie boarding and skim boarding were favourite activities, and if it rained it didn't really matter when you were wet anyway.

Being able to walk to the beach from the house is something that I love being able to do, even if it does mean being like a pack horse carrying the picnic, toys, chairs, and other paraphernalia required. John's view is that you only take the minimum amount of stuff and that everyone has to be responsible for carrying their own things, so when he takes the kids, they take a towel each, and wear anything else they may need. I like this idea but I also like my chair, my tea, my food, my book, and spades to keep the kids busy with digging (so we can stay for longer).



We love being in Swansea, seeing the immediate family and all the others like Aunties, Uncles and cousins. Now there are so many kids and everyone has such busy lives we do not get to see each other very often. So, when we were home in April I set a date in July when we would have a family gathering and not sit back to wait for the next wedding before everyone was in the same venue together. It was great to have everyone together. Bill, Joan, Ian and Trish were down from Birmingham to join in the festivities. Of course, the weather was terrible and we were all inside but it didn't seem to matter. There was about 60 people including loads of kids. Will definitely have to make this an annual event.

Sign of the Day

There are many amusing signs to be found in India. I will post some on a regular basis. The words are often not funny, but the manner in which the signs are often displayed, or some other quirky thing about them, sums up India.

This sign was found in the Charminar tower. The fact that it is broken, hung by an old wire, and strung to some electricity cable makes me laugh.