December 28, 2014 -- Newspaper

Where else can you get a newspaper article that mentions Beer, Hansi, and cow shelters? (Hansi is a city in Haryana, nearby; Beer is the town I would like to retire to, and cow shelters .  . . well, good luck with that!)

Rob

December 18-25, 2014 -- Christmas in India

I know I have been silent lately.  Making up exams, student exams, marking exams have taken up a fair amount of time in the Tripe household lately. Three visiting Canadian faculty during exam week (overseeing the exams) kept us busy at the school, as well birthday parties, parting faculty parties (I think we are losing three – due to weddings) and of course, the buzz over planning our Christmas party which happened last Wednesday. It doesn’t matter that these are all Sikhs with a smattering of Hindus thrown in. This nation seems to love Christmas as well as the next guy. Santa is a heavy favourite but you can buy Christmas trees from little to biggish in the markets. To the question “Do the kids have Stockings?”  Oh NO!  They don’t know about Stockings. That would be too expensive. They just have Santa.

Below are a couple of photos of the Santas I have seen.  I think maybe Mohali should ditch the Santa idea and stick to Stockings. 

Neighborhood Santa

Return travel plans

My visa was finally extended (a story for another time) so we will be leaving India as planned, on January 31.  Since Rob’s contract ended December 25^th, we are now free to travel around and see some of the India we never got to before.

I think we have the itinerary mapped out – starting this Monday morning, when our favourite driver, Jonny (the bird-watching guru) will drive us to Dehradun on the first day and then on to Jim Corbett Park (please Google it) on Tuesday.

We plan to be there for 5 days over New Years, and then will hire a driver to get us back to Delhi, from where we take a plane to Cochin (now called Kochi).

So we have a bunch of places lined up in South India, but just recently added Madurai because good old Cousin Linny – which, it turns out, is actually good old Uncle Linny – also took pictures of temples there in the 1850s.  We were going to be so close to Madurai while at Periyar National Park that we simply had to make a side-trip.

You will hear about these places as we get there. 

The weather here has been inclemently cold, with fog morning and night (not unusual for December and January) but also lower than normal night temperatures – down to 6 celsius - and lower than normal day temperatures – instead of 20s we have had below 10 degrees for many days.  We look forward to warmer temperatures in Kerala.

Work Christmas Party
The work Christmas party was for staff of CIIS only.  By Wednesday, the students had all gone home.  We met in one of the classrooms for a lunch of channa bhatura, (chick peas in masala gravy with fried roti) salad and gulab jamon – put on by the school.  All of us had brought snacks and cookies for the dessert.

Harpreet, Rob, Hansi

Ishnoor, Harpreet, Rob, Rajhujit, Harpreet's dad

Of course games were planned.  Musical chairs ( again?) and some kind of blindfolded tag were big hits with the revelers.  I am happy to report that I lost my chair almost right away playing the former, and had no intention of running around on a slippery floor blindfolded playing the latter. Everyone had brought a secret Santa gift, so the blindfold came out again when it came time to choose a gift from the table. Everyone had a good time and was happy to start the holiday. Rob and Prabjot engaged in a friendly staring contest. Oh, the merriment!

Harsimran blindfolded

Prabjot and Rob all smiles after the staring contest

Turbans
I love that men’s turbans are fashion statements (much more so than in 2004).  Turbans of every imaginable colour abound, and guys have matching kerchiefs in their breast pocket or matching shirts, or complimentary coloured bands underneath their turban which just peeks through at the widow’s peak of the turban – making a really nice effect.  Anyway, at the party, I made a turban bouquet.  Some of the “flowers” were more willing than others, but Prabjot (in the yellow) thanked me later for the idea.  He said there are 8 males in his family, and they will all be together for Christmas.  So………. I’d like to see THAT bouquet!

I have bought turban fabric to make curtains to match our bedspread (when I get home).  The fellows in the shop helped me find the right shades of each colour – from a vast wall full of every colour of turban fabric bolts.  Sort of “Joseph’s Window Treatment of Many Colours” is the effect I want – to remind me daily of this place.  Wish I had taken a picture of inside that shop.  Might go back!

Barbers
Rob went off to get his hair trimmed (Rs 60 – which is a hair over a dollar – haha) so I followed to get a picture of the teeny tiny little shop.  There were three chairs and three barbers busily at work.  Another option here is the UMT barber. Stands for Under the Mango Tree, and literally is a chair under a tree on a corner (there are MANY such places) with a mirror nailed to the tree. Some barbers have gone all hi-tech and nailed a crude wooden shelf to the tree. These haircuts are more like 10-20 rupees. In fine weather, how could this be beat?  No overhead at all – and when you leave for the day, you turn your chair upside down under the tree and go home. No counting up, sweeping up, or locking up.

Rob at barbers'

Across from the barber "saloon" is the backside (how they say it here) of Domino's Pizza.  As you can see, they have a very impessive number of delivery vehicles and this is only ONE location of many.

Domino's Pizza Fleet

Watch your step!

I took some pictures today of the sidewalk on my way to the barber – just to show you why a person CANNOT walk here without looking his feet.  I have had two serious falls here so far as a result of stuff on the sidewalk or raised concrete on a foot path, but the consequences could be far worse. I had plenty more pix of reasons to watch your feet when walking, but I hate to be a bore!  I know, I know - too late!

On the other hand, walking while looking at your feet can also be dangerous. I nearly ran full face into a metal sign mounted on goalpost-type poles right across the sidewalk. (Who would DESIGN that?)  Since I saw no poles at my feet (they were either side of the walk) I came very close to smashing my face into it.  And today, I almost walked into an oncoming car that didn’t honk (I had headphones on).  So – one must be ever vigilant.

Mystery tree
I found an interesting tree at WIICS head office.  It has odd leaves and big pods with seeds inside like maple keys.  Must search Google to see what it is.  Did - can't find it. HELP?

What tree is this?

Mongoose on the loose

This week at school the halls were quiet and empty as students had gone home for the holidays. All of a sudden there was a loud bang, thud, and yelling so we in my cabin had to rush into the hall to see what the ruckus was all about. Someone shouted, “MONGOOSE!!” just as a poor scared mongoose shot past with two hall monitors in hot pursuit – brandishing sticks. The mongoose shot up to the third floor and so did the vigilantes, then the mongoose u-turned and rocketed past again in the other direction – with the men in tow, and me bleating at the hem: “Don’t hit him!  Don’t kill him!  He is beneficial!!” throughout this ludicrous chase, as they all disappeared down another flight. This was the stuff of Fairy Tales. I am soooooo lucky. By the way, no mongeese were injured in this Fairy Tale. It was cornered downstairs by the water cooler, at which point the backdoor was opened so it could make its escape. 

Hansi

December 18, 2014 --Tuesday's Hair Appointment

I stayed home from work yesterday, in order to accomplish a whole list of errands.

One of these was to get my roots touched up and my hair trimmed at Hair Raizers. (Very prophetic name, as it turned out.)

I had had these two procedures done there very successfully, twice -- about 6 weeks apart -- by a fellow by the name of Aasif.

No sign of that guy when I arrived, but three other guys swarmed me so I told them what I wanted and that I had been there before for colour and cut.  All three disappeared right away without a word (not unusual to be left sitting for some time with no explanation).

So, I dug the little business card out of my purse while I waited, to show whomever came back that Aasif had used 60% #9 and 40% #8 colour on my roots previously.

BUT – the guy who came back had a little cart with the dye ALREADY mixed up, so I said, “What colour is that?  This on the card is what you need to use!”

He said, “Same (pointing).”  So I asked, “You had me on file? (Didn’t think they did), and he repeated, “SAME!”

So he started daubing, and I started reading – and in due course, he ran out of the mix and sent a kid off to fetch more – which he squoozed into the little dish.  Only one bottle – not two – so was the the #9 or the #8?  I pointed to the card and told him, “It HAS to be THIS”. 

“Yes, yes, ma’am – same, same.”  He finished and went away.

Too soon, in my opinion, he came back to tell me I was done.  I did notice that the goo on my forehead was still WHITE and should have darkened (as dye does) so I had a bad feeling about the outcome.  Someone came along to check the intensity with a wet cloth as I was squawking, “It’s too light!  Can’t you see that????  It’s WHITE”.  Of course this technician hadn’t a clue what I was saying so fetched a manager, who nodded vigorously at me, “Yes, it’s too light.  I agree with you ma’am.  Too  light!” – as though that would be the end of it.

My roots were now stark white – whiter than before, actually, and guess what?  The swathe of white was BIGGER than before too, because the dye brush always goes beyond the roots. 

Well, I’m sure you know I wasn’t happy, because from the start I tried to tell them they had the wrong colour and they JUST  WOULDN’T  LISTEN! 

I am not going to bore you with the contents of the conversation which ensued (probably 15 minutes long) because it is a broken record of them saying, “Shall we put another colour on it?” and me saying, “I don’t think you should do that, because the roots will break and I will be bald!”

“Oh.  So do you want me to put another colour on it?”  I kid you not. On and on this went.  I was literally red in the face (but not raising my voice – well, I WAS squawking.

FINALLY, I was asked to go get rinsed out, so I figured they had finally got my message.  Wet, and now back in the chair, the technician approached and said to me, “Shall we put on another colour?”

This was when a nice customer intervened who realized there was a communication problem and at last explained to these guys what I was saying. 

Long story long – they telephoned Aasif who will be at the salon today and will fix me, one way or the other. No money has changed hands so far.

I was blow-dried in a manner which defied every request I had made, and left to go on the rest of my errands looking like a character from Dr. Seuess

Hansi

UPDATE:
On December 24th, the blog editor received the photo below of the corrected hair color and two happy people--Hansi and her Indian salon technician Aasif. 

December 17, 2014 -- This and That

From time to time I see a little pedal school bus picking up students.  These were around ten years ago too.  I think they are charming.  This guy pedaled past me last evening as I made my way home from Phase 5.  Inside the canopy are bench seats either side of the “bus.”  Probably holds 10 kids minimum.

Another vehicle I HOPE to snap before I leave is the pink auto rickshaw (there is a fleet of them, for women passengers only).  It makes me think of the Indian version of the Mary Kay Gift Cadillac promotion – “Ask Me How I won It.”

The other attachment today is a small video clip of a chapatti-maker in phase 3B1.  This guy amazes me with the speed with which he cranks out the rotis, and I just HAD to show you.  I had videoed him Monday evening, but the clarity was poor. Happily, I saw him cooking up a storm again yesterday afternoon, and got a much better example. Watch the video here on YouTube: http://youtu.be/qTl97v23SGE

Hansi

December 17, 2014 -- YouTube clip, "Roti Maker"

We were out shopping the other evening and Hansi paused to film the roti maker outside a "fast food" place along our way. The film clip doesn't really seem convey the speed at which they're cranking out the rotis - believe me, faster than a speeding bullet!

http://youtu.be/qTl97v23SGE

Rob

December 15, 2014--Our Outing with Harpreet

Saturday,  Harpreet picked us up at 8:30 a.m. for a trip to a gurudwara,  an archaeological dig of ancient civilization very near here, and to a museum. 

Harpreet and her husband

Harpreet

The museum, called Virasat –E- Khalsa, maybe half an hour the other side of Ropar, is a huge, magnificent building which was only finished a few years ago and traces Sikhism back to its beginnings.

Khalsa

Khalsa

This next bit I quote from Wikipedia

"The Khalsa is the collective body of all initiated Sikhs represented by the five beloved-ones and can be called the Guru Panth, the embodiment of the Guru.

"The Khalsa is also the pinnacle of Sikhism. Once an individual becomes a member of the Khalsa they overcome the inside-evils and the shred weakness of the body, mind, and heart, and become brave as tigers.[9] The Khalsa is expected to perform no ritual and to believe no superstition of any kind but believe in only one God who is the Master and the Protector of all the only Creator and Destroyer.

"A Sikh male at being initiated into the Khalsa is titled Singh meaning “Lion” and a female is entitled Kaur meaning “Princess.” From then on they are commonly referred to as Amritdhari (having taken Amrit)."

Litter for the Holy Book

Back to me

Unfortunately, no photography was allowed inside the building.  We walked in a spiral up a long, long ramp – and surrounding us on the walls was depicted the geography of the region, the history and culture of the Punjabis in a wonderful continuous mural  maybe thirty meters high.  As you walk up the ramp, day changes to night, monsoons come, Diwali firecrackers explode, seasons change – all with clever use of lights and sound.  Very very NEAT, and so many details in the mural that you just can’t take it all in.  I hoped for some very good postcards of it at the gift shop, but that was not to be.  

Once at the top, there was the history of Sikhism , depicted in many rooms using a combination of audio-visual  effects, and we were given headsets for an audio tour (in English, fortunately). Turned out to be very interesting, but I could never keep straight the names of the various Gurus which have come and gone since the first one – Guru NanakDev Ji – (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539), the founder of Sikhism and the first of the Sikh Gurus.

From there, we went to a nearby, very large gurudwara – Anandpur Sahib Complex – which Rob and I have previously been to.   I believe we have sent many pictures of it, so I won’t go on about it. However, Harpreet  suggested we have langar there (we were all HUNGRY by this time).  I have mentioned that the Golden Temple feeds 80,000 people a day for free, but I always assumed that it was the needy or homeless who took advantage of this. Not so. I guess it is sort of sacred to eat there, and to volunteer there as well, serving food, washing dishes, etc. I might add that you can donate money for the food (which we did).

So, we all sat cross-legged, like all the other devotees, on carpet runners laid out for that purpose.  Just like the meal we were served by students in the Fall, a metal divided plate was placed in front of us and promptly filled with mixed veg., dal ( lentils), chapattis (also called roti) and kir (rice pudding).  These were replenished as many times as we wanted.  Picture attached. Cross-legged is a highly overrated position for 68 year-olds, by the way.  But, one is NOT supposed to put one’s legs out in front of them, so what the heck else can you do with them!

Our Last stop was in the town of Ropar to the Archaeological Museum.   Again I quote from Wikipedia, since our brochure was entirely in Hindi:

"Ropar is one of the major Indus Valley civilization sites. It is situated on a high ancient mound overlaying the Shiwalik (also spelt Sivalik) deposition[1] on the left bank of the river Satluj where it emerges into the plains. It has yielded a sequence of six cultural periods or phases with some breaks from Harappan times to the present day. The excavations were carried out by Dr. Y.D. Sharma of the Archaeological Survey of India.

"Lying on the left bank of the Sutlej, the excavations yielded a sequence of six Periods: I (Harappa, c. 2100 to 14OOB.C,); II (PGW, c. 1000 to 600 B.C.); III (NBPW or early historical, c. 600 to 200B.C.); IV (middle to late historical, c. 200 B.C. to A.D. 700); V (late historical, c. 700-1200); and VI (medieval, c.l200-1700). Some of these Periods are divided into-Sub Periods. There are three mounds at Ropar, n., S., and w. The s. mound is occupied by the present-day town. Excavations were confined to the n. and w. mounds, the latter concealing a Harappa cemetery. Ropar has the distinction of being the site where the remains of the Harappa civilization were excavated for the first time in post-partition India."

From archaelogical museum in Ropar

The drive home was fraught with teeming rain, and  bad gridlock (rush hour and weather) but we were dropped at home to get cosy, and to make dinner, around 7 pm.  A VERY enjoyable day!

December 15, 2014 -- Land of the Mongoose & Monsoon

Here I am in the land of Mongoose.  Anyone whose Father ever read them Rikki Tikki Tavi (Kipling) would be expecting to see cobras and mongeese at every turn in the Indian road.  So far, we’ve seen no cobras, and until this trip, no mongeese either. 

I can report that in September, we did spot a mongoose rushing across the road and into the tall grass so fast that we could hardly get a look at him. But, this week, we hit paydirt, Mongoose-wise. As we were getting into our vehicle for the ride home from work, a mongoose crossed our road, and sauntered across the lawn in no particular hurry – finally going into the bushes. Aha!  And as that were not enough, it now seems to be Mongoose week, as we spot one or two at the railway crossing area (that we get stuck at every morning and evening for three or four trains). Double aha!  I would have hated to leave here without seeing a mongoose. 

The weather –

The monsoon here in the summer was a bust, according to the locals.  We had so little rain, that areas which should be swamps are dry, reservoirs are low and farmers have suffered.

However, Friday things clouded over, the wind came up, we had showers and a forecast of nothing but rain all weekend.  That is how it was. In fact, we have had heavy rain with thunder and lightning most of Saturday, Saturday night and all day today (Sunday) until mid-afternoon.  The deluge has been accompanied by huge cracks of thunder from time to time and we lost power briefly several times before it went off for good – probably for 7 hours straight today. (It’s off again, BTW)  There is a UPS (uninterrupted power supply unit) here at the house, which works a few lights and plugs, but not the fridge, nor the microwave. Furthermore, it has limited capacity, so it behooves one to conserve the UPS charge as much as possible, because once that thing runs out of juice, one is totally in the dark until power to the house is returned. So, we skulked around in the dark until the sun came up, and then had to think of things we could eat for breakfast that only required heating on a griddle. We do have gas burners (obviously not affected by power outages) and thank goodness for them! 

Perhaps our little pond (almost dry as of Friday) by the railroad tracks will be full of water tomorrow morning and sporting several migrating storks or cranes. Well, it COULD happen.

Along with the wet is the COLD.  It has been getting cooler here – especially at night.  Low of 8 degrees Celsius and high of around 20C during the day. With no sun peeking out yesterday or today, I have to say that it felt bloody COLD, to the point that my crop pants just were not cutting it on our outing yesterday with Harpreet. (More about that later).  So, we stopped at a market so that I could get some woolen tights like Harpreet’s.  Wanted black, which would go with everything, but they were out of black, so I settled for dark brown and appointed them my new pajamas. They are cosy. I hope to get black ones sometime this week.  

Once the rain stopped late this afternoon, Rob and I set out to do some shopping as we seemed to be out of important stuff like  cereal, oatmeal, eggs and Kleenex. While out, I bought a pair of sports socks, bag of rice and a pair of shoe laces to make Milo two SNOCKS, to keep her warm day or night. Carolynn has made herself one – basically a sock filled with rice and tied up, which can be heated up in the microwave and used as a heating pad. I have the commercial equivalent from Shopper’s Drugmart at home which I could not live without in winter. Anyhow, Milo was delighted – and left here a while ago with both of them stuffed under her sweatshirt. 

Snock

Hansi