Too busy lately, sorry for the silence. Trips within and outside of India for research, a conference, and just normal work. Today, some shots from the street that connects our complex (and a bunch of new ones going up) with the main road. Longtime readers will have seen other pictures, but today the focus is on the trees that were planted, and then chopped down; the quantity of potholes; the buildings go up; and the workers building them.
To start, a tree that hasn't been chopped down.
And some that have been. Many of these had been planted over the course of the two + years I've been living here, but evidently they are now conflicting with the electrical lines, so a different gang of folks than those who planted the trees have come to "trim" them.
Clearly, what "trimming" means varies from person to person.
On the other side of the street, the trees are flourishing. However, there are the odd piles of building materials that go into the road here and there. You also see some of the potholes, and the vegetable man with his bike cart along with cars.
Further down the street.
More potholes, in the space between the two previous pictures.
The tea stall, an essential part of life for the workers who live in the labor camp area behind the metal sheet.
Many of the workers are building this McMansion.
Others are building new apartment complexes.
Finally, the status of the piece of land that blocks the road connecting our street with the village nearby, where many of the domestic workers live. Lots of the metal has come down, but the passage is still blocked.
Driving from the airport .... on Bellary Road converted to a lake in several sections.
Then, folks are trying to fix the road by pouring in construction garbage and trying to roll it into a road.
The informal sector like this provides needed services to all levels of the population, in this case security guards, drivers, and construction workers.
The guards from other areas come out too as an argument ensues.
Then the women give up and have to go around the long way.
On the road they pass by multiple water tanker trucks.
The water tanker filling up the tank.
Another one coming.
A side street in the making. Yet another big fancy house at the end, with the workers' huts in front.
Back to the main road, with its mini-lakes showing how much it rained earlier.
And the kids play cricket ....
With the recycling woman with her bags of recyclables working hard.
And some that have been. Many of these had been planted over the course of the two + years I've been living here, but evidently they are now conflicting with the electrical lines, so a different gang of folks than those who planted the trees have come to "trim" them.
Clearly, what "trimming" means varies from person to person.
On the other side of the street, the trees are flourishing. However, there are the odd piles of building materials that go into the road here and there. You also see some of the potholes, and the vegetable man with his bike cart along with cars.
Further down the street.
More potholes, in the space between the two previous pictures.
The tea stall, an essential part of life for the workers who live in the labor camp area behind the metal sheet.
Many of the workers are building this McMansion.
Others are building new apartment complexes.
Finally, the status of the piece of land that blocks the road connecting our street with the village nearby, where many of the domestic workers live. Lots of the metal has come down, but the passage is still blocked.
With some nice views:
The view from the top.
Some of the best signage I've seen in India:
Monkeys everywhere. Unfortunately, taps that were leaking were common too.
Some wide and fairly well-constructed stairs for going up and down the mountain to the temple.
One of the water tanks near the top of the mountain.
Boys on the top!
