File under Whacky Indian Traditions

So walking around one evening I came upon a large crowd outside a Shivite temple in Pondicherry. They had brought out the idols and were blowing horns and beating drums. A huge crowd had gathered.
In the street were 3 sheaves of dried palm fronds. The priests were saying prayers over them and shoving things into the sheaves.
Some one came out of the temple carrying a torch and after a few more prayers, lit the sheaves one by one.
They burst into flame on a very crowded street - with no police or barricades or crowd control of any kind. The stuff stuffed in by the priest turned out to be fireworks and crackers which started popping and zooming.

When it was all done the crowd rushed in to get the ash and make caste marks on their foreheads.

Run Away to Goa

Everybody has been telling me how beautiful the beaches are in Goa and how I have to go and see them. So last weekend, I went.
They are truely some of the nicest stretches of sand and sea in the world. Clean pale sand leading down to blue surf of the Arabian Sea and the stretch is for miles.

Loads of people. In Caligute, the village where I stayed, there were loads of British pensioners, who apparently come every year. I met a great Australian and we wandered around together.


The beach is lined with palm roofed open air restaurants/bars and then the padded wooden beach loungers, and then the hawkers (beads, saris, jewelry, sunglasses) and then the surf.

More Pachyderm

This elephant wasn't dressed for temple, I don't think. She was dressed for tourists in Goa.

If I'd taken the picture from the other side of the street, it probably would have cost me 50 ruppees!

Warning: REPTILE PICTURES

My apologies to Sarah and Terry and anybody else who gets the heebie-jeebies from long reptilian slitherers. Obviously they get me excited as well, only in a very different way.

I've been wanting to meet a snake charmer and over the weekend I finally did!!

The cobra is not so big and I never got up the nerve to touch its hood. He struck the charmer a couple of times, which should have made me feel better about fang removal and mouth stitching, but it didn't really. I was too excited to ask about devenom and mouth stitiching and snake root and things.

He put the python around my neck and called me Lord Shiva, which of course made me smile, even though I don't think Shiva bothers with pythons.

Skip in the record

Oh Blogger is being a pain.

I thought I'd get ahead of myself and write a couple of Blogs ahead and then post them when I was on the fly.

So I did. Only the latest one published BEFORE the previous - 'cause that's when I wrote it.

Sigh.

Anyway, fly down an extra post to see the latest bull.

PS. The guy in front is blowing a conch - symbol of victory!

More Scaffolding

So the boys were back at my window at 7 am this morning. My jobsite doesn't start until 9 - maybe that's why nothing gets done.




These shots are from the other day. I asked Kausik about my friend here with the beard.





He had been working contentedly with his lungi tied up around his waist. Then I appeared at the window with my camera and all his friends got excited about having their picture taken.





As he climbed over to join the group photo he made the deft motion that clears the knot and lets the lungi drop full length for the photo.





I asked Kausik why he would do that and it was explained to me that this is a sign of respect. To show your legs is indecent, so you lower your 'skirts' if you meet someone.





I couldn't stop laughing. The thought of 2 million guys wandering around Chennai 'indecent' was too much!





(BTW: during lunch break yesterday I went downstairs with my laptop and showed the guys their photos. Today they arrived in standard issue polo shirts and warm up pants. Maybe the boss figured he had to dress up the image!)

Some Bull

So it seems that each of the major gods have their transport or messenger or ambassador.



Ganesh has his rat,
Vishnu has his eagle: Garuda (more on THAT another time)
Shiva has Nandhi - the bull.


This Nandhi is at Thanjavur Temple (which is ANOTHER topic for another day). It's carved from a single stone, 13' high and growing (!) or so they tell me. Aparently the faithful say that there is a microorganism in the stone which in it's lifecycle leaves behind residue which solidifies into rock.



All I know is that being born under the sign of Taurus, I felt a great affinity with ol' Nandhi. I received a blessing from the guy in the doti behind me.



In Tamil when you want to say thank you you say 'nandri'



Nandri Nandhi.

The Scaffolders

With all the work and construction going on in India there are scaffolds everywhere - even at my apartment.

I woke up this morning (Sunday) to the sounds of a bunch of guys outside my window. Though I can't understand what they're saying, the patter is just the same as work crews in the States.

They're preparing to paint the outside of the building - 14 stories. This is no metal tube and plank scaffold that we're used to in NYC. This is wood pole lashed with hemp rope. The 'pole' still has bark on it, and while relatively uniform is only as straight as anything in nature.

POD - Teddy's Crushers

I woke up this morning thinking about Teddy Burkhardt, the guy from whom I inherited a large chunk of my bowtie collection. As well as a few other good qualities - I hope.

He used to disappear on marvelous adventures to exotic locals that sent us scurrying for the atlas. He'd return home with trinkets and baubles and pictures of strange machinery like the one above.

As a mining engineer it was easier to take the engineer to the mine than the other way around. Resulting in the trips and the photos. He'd go through all the photos with us and if we asked he'd explain the workings of the machinery to us: conveyers, screens, sifters, hoppers and the crusher! Then there were cement plants, and asphalt plants, and quarries, and trucks, and back hoes, and all kindsa big tonka toys!

Daryus from work took me past another jobsite near ours and couldn't figure out why I got so excited by this wierd old piece of machinery in the woods (photo above). He didn't know it looked very much like Teddy's old pictures from the jungle.

The camera I bought in September just registered it's 10,000th photo. If you're dumb enough to ask I'll explain the mechanics of each one when I get back.

Thanks Dad. For everything.

The Things They Carry I

Driving around in Chennai you see all sorts of things. When you get out to the country they get even more odd, or maybe they're just more noticable.

On the way to work I caught site of this guy on the motorcycle on the left with his fluffy white saddlebags.

Actually he zoomed past us and Ryan my driver was hard pressed to catch up with him as the cyclist wove through traffic and I scrambled for my camera.

As he had come past I saw that they were NOT saddle bags and the sign on the right might give you a clue.

They were clutches (clucks?) of chickens bound together at the foot and slung over the seat of his motorbike.


He pulled over at the chicken store to make a delivery, and as we pulled past a couple of the chickens lifted their heads to see us go by. These are LIVE chickens!!


Unfortunately the shot of them looking at me didn't come out.

Picture of the Day - Blessing

I've been SO bad about posting, that I doubt anyone even checks the blog anymore. So I've decided to not try and tell the whole story everytime, but to get into the prctice and throw up a POD - Picture of the Day. It'll probably be a picture-of-the-every-couple-a-days, but that's way too long a name.

Went with Kausik (guy from work) and his extended family on a weekend of temple-hopping. Stopped at a couple where there are elephants. Put a few ruppes in the trunk and he/she blesses you. It's a carny trick, but really very cool.

No elephant rides - yet.