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.