Nesting season at the Bird Sanctuary.
Couples building nests.
Lots of birds in different trees, generally segregated but with some mixing.
The big surprise: crocs!
Not really my cup of tea, but Amartya loved it.Sunday, January 31, 2010
Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary
Nesting season at the Bird Sanctuary.Couples building nests.Lots of birds in different trees, generally segregated but with some mixing.The big surprise: crocs!Not really my cup of tea, but Amartya loved it.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Visit to Mysore, part 1
I hadn't been to Mysore since my first trip to India almost 20 years ago. Much has changed in India, and Mysore has grown, but it remains relatively sleepy and charming. It reminds me of what Bangalore was like 20 years ago. Much of Bangalore's charm has been erased by the boom-related growth and sprawl, not to mention traffic and slums, while Mysore invokes images of its regal past. The roads were built to transport the maharajah, not British military families (or Italian POWs) like Bangalore. Also, lots of the old buildings remain. Let's hope they don't suffer the same fate as the old buildings of Bangalore.
Poorly organized and behaved crowds outside the palace.
The palace remains impressive, and now there is enough electricity to keep the lights on for more time than in the old days.
Sunday at the zoo. Big crowds.
More animal shots will come, but here's some of the signage, always interesting for me.
People watching the monkeys, and monkeys watching us.
The zoo store was quite sad. With all these great animals, and real monkeys around, the t-shirts were disappointing.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Harvest festivals
Last week was full of harvest festivals, celebrated in different ways. There were some other festivals/rituals at the same time -- Feast of the Infant Jesus for Christians, something about bathing in the Ganges -- but I'll focus on three festivals that I got to participate in here in our neighborhood in Bangalore. We have neighbors from all over India, so we get to see a wide range of practices, and foods.
The Punjabi harvest festival, Lohri, is a more lively affair than the southern Sankranthi (here in Karnataka and in Andhra Pradesh) and the Tamilian Pongal. A bonfire marks the end of the cold winter and heralds to the harvest of the wheat to come. More about it can be read at lohrifestival.org.
One of the things I don't like about most of the get-togethers here (except for Southern weddings) is that the men sit in one area, and the women in another, as seen below.
The women:
Hot topic: Orkut vs Facebook in terms of ease of use, coverage, and fun.
But here you can see the mix of popcorn, peanuts, and sesame treats that you throw into the fire before you walk around the fire three times. Lots of lights, drinks, music and food. Amartya had school the next day, so we went to bed at 11, before dinner was served, and long before the dancing that lasted well into the night/early morning.
The southern versions are more subdued. Our neighbor lit his house, and did very elaborate rangoli for several days.
All the women in the family, and the female servants, were part of the process.
These neighbors speak Telegu and are from Andhra, and come from a rural area, so this is a serious festival. A new thing for me was the addition of cow dung, and decorated little turds at that, as part of the presentation.
Sub decorated with colored chalk in front of our house for Pongal.
Pongal is celebrated by eating many types of rice, including a sweet one with sugar. The drawing here has the sugar cane at the far right, and on the left you can see the earthware pot that has a tumeric plant and sometimes ginger wrapped around it, and for this festival you are supposed to let it boil over. Funny, I do that all the time, generally as a mistake, but that is the ritual for Pongal. Sub made a few kinds of rice, and we offered the sweet pongal to neighbors. Some of them brought their sweets to us too -- in Karnataka it includes a chunk of sugar cane and some sesame/sugar mix.
The cow has to be in there of course too.
One thing that is common in the south is the hanging of mango leaves. First folks string them and then hang them.
I guess that now our housed is blessed.
The Punjabi harvest festival, Lohri, is a more lively affair than the southern Sankranthi (here in Karnataka and in Andhra Pradesh) and the Tamilian Pongal. A bonfire marks the end of the cold winter and heralds to the harvest of the wheat to come. More about it can be read at lohrifestival.org.
One of the things I don't like about most of the get-togethers here (except for Southern weddings) is that the men sit in one area, and the women in another, as seen below.
The women:
Hot topic: Orkut vs Facebook in terms of ease of use, coverage, and fun.
But here you can see the mix of popcorn, peanuts, and sesame treats that you throw into the fire before you walk around the fire three times. Lots of lights, drinks, music and food. Amartya had school the next day, so we went to bed at 11, before dinner was served, and long before the dancing that lasted well into the night/early morning.
The southern versions are more subdued. Our neighbor lit his house, and did very elaborate rangoli for several days.
All the women in the family, and the female servants, were part of the process.
These neighbors speak Telegu and are from Andhra, and come from a rural area, so this is a serious festival. A new thing for me was the addition of cow dung, and decorated little turds at that, as part of the presentation.
Sub decorated with colored chalk in front of our house for Pongal.
Pongal is celebrated by eating many types of rice, including a sweet one with sugar. The drawing here has the sugar cane at the far right, and on the left you can see the earthware pot that has a tumeric plant and sometimes ginger wrapped around it, and for this festival you are supposed to let it boil over. Funny, I do that all the time, generally as a mistake, but that is the ritual for Pongal. Sub made a few kinds of rice, and we offered the sweet pongal to neighbors. Some of them brought their sweets to us too -- in Karnataka it includes a chunk of sugar cane and some sesame/sugar mix.
The cow has to be in there of course too.One thing that is common in the south is the hanging of mango leaves. First folks string them and then hang them.
I guess that now our housed is blessed.
Some Winter Olympics news
I'm not sure we'll be able to see much of the upcoming Vancouver Olympics here, but I certainly will try to follow them. One piece of news the cheered me up amidst the depressing world around us is that Johnny Weir, an amazing if odd figure skater, is likely to make the US team. When he is on, there is no one who makes it look so good, and is so wonderful to watch. So, please enjoy his performance for me, as I'm not optimistic about my ability to watch it here. Watching the last summer Olympics from here was quite frustrating (and the subject of one of my first blog posts I think), as the Web coverage available on the US wasn't allowed to me because of my Indian IP address. Oh well.
Another thing that made me feel a little better was to read that so many winter athletes have exercise induced asthma, like I do. This article in the NYTimes talked about how it is probably the dry air, not the cold air, that causes the problem. I agree, it's that cold blast of dry air at the rink that causes the problem, not the moist, equally cold air outside when it's snowing -- at least for me.
Another thing that made me feel a little better was to read that so many winter athletes have exercise induced asthma, like I do. This article in the NYTimes talked about how it is probably the dry air, not the cold air, that causes the problem. I agree, it's that cold blast of dry air at the rink that causes the problem, not the moist, equally cold air outside when it's snowing -- at least for me.
Friday, January 15, 2010
National Handloom Fair in Bangalore, Early Jan 2010
The start of silk.
Silkworms emerging.
Crunching on mulberry leaves.
Products used in the production of silkworms and silk. These were shown outside the handloom fair, where a wide range of products from throughout India were shown.
Bamboo lighting.
Kashmiri embroidery.
Quilts.
Bags of all sorts.
Shawls and carpets.
More embroidered shawls.
More Kashmiri embroidery.
Cute outfits for little girls.
Jaipuri quilts.
A bag made of old saris and fabrics.
Yet another bag.
A pile of bags.If you can't tell, I LOVE these shows, even though I usually don't buy much. I used to go explore them with my Hungarian friend Betty, who is now back in Budapest. I still like going, but it's not quite as much fun alone.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Winter in Niagara Falls
We took a winter break trip back to Niagara Falls, where we experienced a range of weather patterns, baked and ate lots of holiday treats, and visited relatives and friends. A break from India for us and for readers of the blog. Going from a warm boom town in a rapidly developing country to a frigid rust belt decaying city in a country still showing strong effects of the recession.
First, the baking. Red velvet cake, which disappeared very quickly.
Before baking. Then the last piece.
Lots of cookies, but no pictures of those. In addition to baking, we made ravioli.
Kneading the dough. Then rolling it through the machine.
A trip to the mall, and photos with Santa:
An outing to the bowling alley on a Sunday afternoon: chicken wings on the bar, the Bills losing on the TV, and ads for beer.
Holiday tradition at my house: my mom doing a puzzle with the Christmas tree in the background.
Christmas lights on a house down the street:
Another of my favorite things: a trip to Wegmans, where I drooled over the assortment of apples, and bought bags of yummy honey-crisps.
More great produce:
Luscious citrus: 
Outside of the store, machines where consumers return their bottles on which deposits had been paid. 
We had snow, and then it rained, and we got out just before Niagara Falls got 3 feet of snow.
Playing in the backyard. My mom tried to make a little ice rink for Amartya, the way she made for me when I was little, but the rain destroyed it.
After a snowfall on Goat Island, near the Falls. 
Industry in Niagara Falls has shrunk, but large amounts of hydro power continues to be produced there, and then transmitted via wires supported by these huge towers.
One growing industry is the waste disposal business. This waste landfill hill is bigger every time I go home.
Shoppers take a break, with the resulting long check out line at the take out window of the Tim Horton's doughnut shop.
First, the baking. Red velvet cake, which disappeared very quickly.
Before baking. Then the last piece.
Lots of cookies, but no pictures of those. In addition to baking, we made ravioli.
Kneading the dough. Then rolling it through the machine.
A trip to the mall, and photos with Santa:
An outing to the bowling alley on a Sunday afternoon: chicken wings on the bar, the Bills losing on the TV, and ads for beer.
Holiday tradition at my house: my mom doing a puzzle with the Christmas tree in the background.
Christmas lights on a house down the street:
Another of my favorite things: a trip to Wegmans, where I drooled over the assortment of apples, and bought bags of yummy honey-crisps.
More great produce:
Luscious citrus: 
Outside of the store, machines where consumers return their bottles on which deposits had been paid. 
We had snow, and then it rained, and we got out just before Niagara Falls got 3 feet of snow.
Playing in the backyard. My mom tried to make a little ice rink for Amartya, the way she made for me when I was little, but the rain destroyed it.
After a snowfall on Goat Island, near the Falls. 
Industry in Niagara Falls has shrunk, but large amounts of hydro power continues to be produced there, and then transmitted via wires supported by these huge towers.
One growing industry is the waste disposal business. This waste landfill hill is bigger every time I go home.
Shoppers take a break, with the resulting long check out line at the take out window of the Tim Horton's doughnut shop.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Fabric and bangles
Beautiful silk and cotton pieces.
Scarves, shawls, and dupattas.
Bangles of all sorts.
All these shots are on the side streets off Commercial Street in Bangalore.
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