Life after Death

For those of you visiting for the first time...start at the bottom (yo) !!!

Over and Out

End of the road, folks. It's been an intense but good trip, and I really enjoyed sharing it with all of you. Thanks for tuning in, and I hope you liked the pics. Also, special thanks to my Aunt and Uncle for their hospitality, and my cousins Tanveer and Gurinder for driving me around everywhere and for the unlimited internet access!

Off to the airport in a few hours. On the ground in Chicago Saturday morning. So...who's up for a beer this weekend?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a great holiday y'all. Be safe, and eat well. Best wishes to you and your families.
I've got one more day here, and I'm looking forward to getting back home!

Broken Chappal

The day before my flight back...I guess this is a good sign that it's time to go home!

Annual Fair

Went to check out a trade fair today in central Delhi. Happens once a year and draws crowds, vendors, and performance artists from all over the country.

Wildlife

Two shots taken within 5 minutes of each other in the middle of Delhi. The place is a zoo.

Guru's Home

Back in Delhi, here's some pics from the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara (Sikh Temple). This is the most prominent gurudwara in Delhi and commemorates the visit of one of the ten Sikh gurus to Delhi in 1664.

For those of you who are further interested in Sikh history and current affairs, I'd recommend checking out the following websites.

www.sikhnet.com
www.sikhcoalition.org
www.unitedsikhs.org

Commitment

The groom ties a sacred thread onto the bride's hand.

To the Nines

Me, mum and dad walking up to the marriage hall.

Get'n Hitched

The next morning, on the way to the wedding. This is called the Barrat. The groom and family arrive in a decorated car (used to be on a horse in the olden days), with a band playing bhangra drum beats and lots of people dancing around. They are then received by the bride's family (called the Milni, or meeting). Incidentally, there's a lot of money being thrown around at Indian weddings. The lady in the orange with her hand up in the air in the first pic is throwing coins onto the car as it leaves. So much for rice.

The Night Before

Finally...here's some wedding pics.
As some of you already know, Indian weddings are a long, drawn-out affair with multiple days of ceremonies. These pics are from the night before the wedding at what's called the Ladies Sangeet. Basically, all the women get together and sing traditional wedding songs, act out skits, dance, and just goof off. These are of my mom and sis jumping in. The last one is of a little plam-reading skit some of the ladies were doing.

Henna'd hand

My sister's hand as she gets ready for the wedding.

Little one

A maid we know came by to help clean up the place a bit. She had this little one with her.

Generations

Me and dad in my grandfather's courtyard.

Grandfather's Trees

Some pics of the back garden. My grandfather planted all of these trees. We had mango trees, guava trees, papaya trees and a bunch of different vegetables all over. Sitting near the entry gate was a hand-operated water pump. Memories.

Pics from my Grandfather's House

One of the things we needed to do on this trip is visit my grandfather's house. Both of my grandparents have passed away and the house has been empty and in disrepair for the last year. My dad grew up here, my mom lived here once they were married and I stayed here during most of my visits to India. If I flip through the pics of this house over the last 3 decades, I can see all the changes it's been through. There's not much to see anymore, so the pics above are supposed to caputre what's left of a once lively environment.

Yer's Truly

Indian Peapod

India's version of groceries delivered to your house. This is actually one of my fondest memories from my childhood visits (and some of my earliest). Sabzi Wallas (vegetable vendors) would shout out "fresh vegetables!" as they rode through the neighborhood. People would come out and buy what they needed for that day. Gives new (or perhaps original) meaning to "fresh and local". Obviously it still happens today and is an intrinsic part of Indian culture.

Pics from the Sticks

FYI, the people in the top pic are packed onto a rag-tag transport vehicle. I had to snap that one pretty fast, so I was stuck with what I got.

What seems to be the problem officer?

Once you enter the small towns of Punjab, the landscape definitely changes. Just like in the states, it's not just the physical landscape but the vibe and attitude of the people, as well. Basically anything goes. Here's an example.

Pit Stop

Another quick still-life of food. I promise this is the last one.

Mass Transit

Well, we hit the road for Punjab on Wednesday and once we got outside of the city limits, I was reminded about India's long-distance travel habits. Check this out. Back in the days of locomotives (about 20 years ago for India), the trains were worse!

Back on the air

Wow. The last 4 days have been innnsaaane. Wedding madness. Travel madness. Dealing with family in tight quarters madness. I'm exhausted. Sorry I couldn't post for a while. I just didn't have time to go out and find an internet connection during the wedding. But I just got back to Delhi an hour ago and there's lots of pics. More in a bit.

Lost in Transmission

Since I'll be on the road tomorrow, I won't have the luxury of reliable internet access. I should be able to find enough cafes with WiFi, but there's no gaurantee. So, hopefully, I'll be able to keep up this pace with the posting, but in case I'm absent, you know why.
Stay tuned, y'all.

Directions

We head for Punjab tomorrow. I'm excited because this is what I look forward to on my India trips. Delhi is great, but the city really gets tiring after a while. Punjab is the countryside. It's fresh air. It's small farming towns and occassional cities that represent education, progess and emerging industry.

Chandigarh serves as the capital for both Punjab and Haryana (the neighboring state). It's urban plan was designed by Le Corbusier and it sits at the feet of the Himalayas. Hands down, one of the most beautiful cities in India (yes, I'm a bit biased). My dad grew up in a small town just outside of Chandigarh and my mom from Ludhihana, also not too far away. We're staying there during the wedding.

I've attached a map for you guys. Chandigarh is on the east. Amritsar, in the northwest near the Pakistan border, is the home of Harmandir Sahib (aka, the Golden Temple), the main holy temple of the Sikh religion. We'll be heading there next week. Kashmir is the pink triangle shaped region at the top of the map. Dharamshala, where the Dalai Lama lives, is far northeast. New Delhi is off the map to the south, in the state of Uttar Pradesh. We've got a six hour drive ahead of us tomorrow. Road pics to follow!

Photo Ed

I wanted to take a quick break and provide some info for the folks that may be interested in the photography details. All the shots on this blog are being taken by a Canon digital point-and-shoot (SD-350). You may have noticed that many of the shots have this kind of grayish-white, washed out quality. That's mostly because they've been taken outdoors without a flash and the Delhi sky is so pollution-ridden that it blocks out the yellow glow of natural sunlight. It's unfortunate because the colors would really pop if the sun were truly out. You can see the difference in light quality in some of the indoors shots such as in the "Slow Food" and "Shopping for a Punjabi Suit" posts. If you guys have any suggestions, I'm all ears, but at this point I'm set to "daylight" on my camera and I'm shooting em as I see em. I'm hoping things will change tomorrow when we head out of Delhi and go up north to Punjab, which is far less affected by pollution.

If anyone is getting bored with their Nikon D200, I'd be happy to take it off your hands :)

Slow Food

We've been doing soooo much eating on this trip. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually getting tired of Indian food. The interesting thing is that I've been 100% vegetarian since I got here. It's very easy to do in India. We'll see if that lasts once I get back for the Chicago winter.

Here's us out to eat at some local snack shops. Dad and sis figuring out the menu. Mom calling the shots. Indian Nachos on a plate. Some Chole Bhature (chick peas dish served with a fried naan and salad), napkin with the name and address of one of the best loved and longest surviving snack shops in New Delhi...Nathu's.

Jai Bajrangbali

Saw this going down the highway today. It's a giant statue of Bajrangbali (also known as Hanuman). In the Hindu epic called the Ramayana, Bajrangbali was the sacred monkey that lit afire the fortress of the evil King Ravan, who was holding hostage, Seeta, the wife of Raam. Got all that? Me neither. Though, it made for great reading when I was a kid, even though I'm not Hindu.
Jokes aside, Hanuman is a key heroic figure in the Hindu religion and is regarded with great respect and reverence. And the Ramayana, much like Homer's Odyssey for the Greeks, is a key spiritual story for Hindus.

Tricycle Taxi

Can't get enough of the rickshaw shots...