even though i have decided not to write about specific people, today i got the funniest e-mail from taz, my sister. it was a series of questions that had me laughing like a madwoman in the icafe a few seconds ago... probably because i can practically hear her voice as i read them. i've decided to post it here with answers...
just when i think she's a regular girl, she surprises me with the most imaginative lingo... this post is dedicated to you babes!! miss you tonnes!
arent u glad ur chillin in the motherland?
arrrey! batchhi, you don't know how good we have it at home. food to eat, hot water on tap and none of these ridiculous macchars - no need for mosquito spray! ok ta admit, i'm loving it.
how are the eye workshops?
all's well on the eye front. day 4 or 5, and i've been retested, successfully reading the next smaller line on the eye chart! woohoo! took the cam in today to snap still photos and record video. they love me. but then again, who doesn't??
how are the men in their dhotti pants?
i know you love those natural, cultured types.
dahhhling. they are more cultured than you think! and they are called "luuungis". pretty much full length sarongs, and when they get to be a pain around the ankles, they are folded halfway up and tucked in, exposing the knees a la miniskirt! mmmm. verrrry sexxxy!!
don't you love your week of freedom from peeeps asking about your sanas and loud snoring at night?
'peeps' is referring to my parents. 'sanas' refers to regular bowel movements, and the loud snoring. well, that's my mom to be exact... sharing a room with her was so painful! yes i'm thoroughly enjoying my new found freedom. but the first day it was very noticeable that there was no one checking up with me on my 'sanas' status!!
have you met any cool people?
yes. a few really cool ones. it's like anywhere else in the world. there are some very cool people. there are some that like to dress like very cool people, but are not cool. and then there are some that are cool until they become uncool, often just when you get up close to them. i've been lucky and been mainly hanging out by myself! and i'm seriously cool. i even dress the part!
do you have the indian head wiggle when you speak?
omg yes i noticed i was doing that today! on my daily walk to the vision centre, i always get approached by the autorickshaw drivers asking me if i want a ride. today i think i did it. i didn't even know i was doing it. but afterward, i had this weird feeling because they were not persisting as per usual. i think the indian head wiggle (IHW) sealed my firm, "no thank you" with an extra bit of "and don't ask me again"!
gotta say that i love the indian head wiggle. more on that in another post...
do you say 'HAI?' with a loud, nasal, high pitchedsound if you dont hear or understand what somebody said?
(giggle) yes.
are you wiping the sweat of your brow with your dupatta?
i don't wear a dupatta!!!
are you dhasering your champals around in the dirt?
'dhasering' is dragging, 'champals are sandals, or flips... and yes. although i didn't bring any with me, i succame to the heat and picked up a pair at the fashionable store in the market. they set me back $8 and are good enough to wear home. although today they came in handy at the beach...
are you sneeking out and eating pappadams and gulabjambu from street vendors at night?
i try not to. pappadams are not readily available at night. gulabjambus either. i have taken a strong liking to the ginger and coconut cookies. the street vendor i like the best is an old lady near the vision center. she sells me banana and oranges, which are deeeeelish and cost roughly 2 cents!!
[update: i did find hot and fresh gulabjammus at a sweet shop one night and they were pure heaven and covered in sweet syruppy bliss......]
are you having a passionate love affair with a hotbodied, smelly rickshaw driver?
awwww! wouldn't that be fun!!
do you spit the paan juice as you cruise down the streets?
did you read the blog on spitting? it's requisite, babes.
have you seen hanuman?
i visited his tomb, does that count? i think he came to me in a dream one night after i parted with the parents. not for a love affair, more as a fatherly figure to remind me to be regular with my sanas...
Showing posts with label rickshaw. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rickshaw. Show all posts
1.04.2007
12.13.2006
12.12 from temple to temple
ahhh i've been a slacker. so i'm transposing what i've written (most of it by moonlight as that was the only time i had to myself) so a lot of it is useless rubbish and i'm going on memory!!
one thing that sets india apart from the rest of the world as i see it is the proliferation of devotion to god or the gods. so many religions and so many followers. down any street in any town, large or small, you will see several temples, churches, a mosque or two and even little roadside altars, complete with lights and insense burning offerings to a higher being.
our first full day in dehli we paid a visit to the akshardham temple complex. a replica of a temple built on the ganges river, this temple is a massive complex, complete with indoor shows of the srinayaran's life and a boat ride along its waterways. its so new that all the romance is overshadowed by an eerie feeling i'm in a religious version of canada's wonderland, with it's ticket booth outside, metallic wait-line railings to heard its thousands of daily visitors through, and even the look of the buildings themselves. it took us a few hours because after eagerly checking your shoes before visiting the main building, they make you walk all the way around so you encircle the temple before coming back down the steps, pick up your shoes from the "shoe-check", then walk around the long way to the exit, past the amphitheatre, library, research centre, gardens, at which time you are so thirsty you could drink spit, so you gotta stop in the cafeteria and have something to drink and eat, then finally see yourself out. kharak was waiting at the ambassador with a knowing smile.
our next visit was my introduction to the mughal empire. kharak gets us onto two bicycle rickshaws (a carrier that is driven by a cyclist in the front) we hit jama-masjid. now in a state of utter downtrod, akber (grandson of babur if i got this correctly), built this mosque several hundred meters from the red fort (where the family had taken up residence after leaving fathepur sikri because the land was drying up), had built this mosque where the family would come for daily prayers each day on horseback, to be carried by servants up and down the dizzying stairway ascent. as we approach the mosque, the stench of urine permeates the place and my throat stings. all form of decay is on display out front leading to the main building. local beggars are asking for food or money. merchants are yelling out their wares in the labyrinth of stalls that surround the place, all the way to the infamous chandi chowk lane. to rabid dogs are trying hard to breathe and not get hit by motorcycles that beep and zig zag through the crowds. hippie tourists and us are the ones climbing up the stairs to once again take off our shoes and go inside the vererable mosque. once through the massive archway, it is true to me that this is india's largest mosque. there is a huge massive square, with buildings on either side, and in front the main prayer space. i pay my respects and sneak photos from the camera phone. no cameras are allowed inside. this layout, with its huge archways, tall and steep steps, quadrangle symmetry and the tallest of stone archways inlaid with quranic ayats, i am to learn, is the foundation of mughal architecture...
back outside, we are cycled 'across the street' to lal q'ilah, the red fort of dehli. this place is huge; a complex of several buildings, this was the mughals' residence housing at least three generations. going from buildng to building, it was amazing to imagine the place in its heyday. there must have been hundreds of servants for a handful of family members and nobility. along with the residences themselves, there was Khaubat Khana (the drum house - that would have been where I'd hung out), Diwan-I-Am (a congress), library, Rang-Mahal (residences of the wives), Mumtaz Mahal, Tosh Khana (the robe room), Diwan-I-Khas (another congress), to the Hammams and the Moti Masjid (Akbar's private prayer hall). akber built it, along with other major mughal architectural masterpieces like the tomb of his father, humayun, and the capital city of fathepur sikri, another mughal residence.
our last pilgrimmage of the day was the tomb of humayun. he was babur's son, the second in the line of great mughals. upon entering the place there are two buildings, one down a long lane directly in front, another behind a half-demolished and ancient wall. this place was built as a tomb for humayun, although i believe his actual grave is in what used to be persia. i'm happy to see that the premises are under restoration by the aga khan development network. for example, a main facet of mughal architecture is an advanced system of water irrigation. so far, all the places we've visited have had no water in what would be beautiful waterway channels. there is so much of intersest in the mughal family that i cannot explain it all here, but check the wiki entry if you are interested. a really fascinating family story.
somehow in the tomb of humayun, i felt the most peaceful i have since we arrived. i felt as though we were not even in a bustling city, but had escaped to a farway place and back in time.
all in all, a good day. it took a handful of temples, but i am finally feeling at peace.
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one thing that sets india apart from the rest of the world as i see it is the proliferation of devotion to god or the gods. so many religions and so many followers. down any street in any town, large or small, you will see several temples, churches, a mosque or two and even little roadside altars, complete with lights and insense burning offerings to a higher being.
our first full day in dehli we paid a visit to the akshardham temple complex. a replica of a temple built on the ganges river, this temple is a massive complex, complete with indoor shows of the srinayaran's life and a boat ride along its waterways. its so new that all the romance is overshadowed by an eerie feeling i'm in a religious version of canada's wonderland, with it's ticket booth outside, metallic wait-line railings to heard its thousands of daily visitors through, and even the look of the buildings themselves. it took us a few hours because after eagerly checking your shoes before visiting the main building, they make you walk all the way around so you encircle the temple before coming back down the steps, pick up your shoes from the "shoe-check", then walk around the long way to the exit, past the amphitheatre, library, research centre, gardens, at which time you are so thirsty you could drink spit, so you gotta stop in the cafeteria and have something to drink and eat, then finally see yourself out. kharak was waiting at the ambassador with a knowing smile.
our next visit was my introduction to the mughal empire. kharak gets us onto two bicycle rickshaws (a carrier that is driven by a cyclist in the front) we hit jama-masjid. now in a state of utter downtrod, akber (grandson of babur if i got this correctly), built this mosque several hundred meters from the red fort (where the family had taken up residence after leaving fathepur sikri because the land was drying up), had built this mosque where the family would come for daily prayers each day on horseback, to be carried by servants up and down the dizzying stairway ascent. as we approach the mosque, the stench of urine permeates the place and my throat stings. all form of decay is on display out front leading to the main building. local beggars are asking for food or money. merchants are yelling out their wares in the labyrinth of stalls that surround the place, all the way to the infamous chandi chowk lane. to rabid dogs are trying hard to breathe and not get hit by motorcycles that beep and zig zag through the crowds. hippie tourists and us are the ones climbing up the stairs to once again take off our shoes and go inside the vererable mosque. once through the massive archway, it is true to me that this is india's largest mosque. there is a huge massive square, with buildings on either side, and in front the main prayer space. i pay my respects and sneak photos from the camera phone. no cameras are allowed inside. this layout, with its huge archways, tall and steep steps, quadrangle symmetry and the tallest of stone archways inlaid with quranic ayats, i am to learn, is the foundation of mughal architecture...
back outside, we are cycled 'across the street' to lal q'ilah, the red fort of dehli. this place is huge; a complex of several buildings, this was the mughals' residence housing at least three generations. going from buildng to building, it was amazing to imagine the place in its heyday. there must have been hundreds of servants for a handful of family members and nobility. along with the residences themselves, there was Khaubat Khana (the drum house - that would have been where I'd hung out), Diwan-I-Am (a congress), library, Rang-Mahal (residences of the wives), Mumtaz Mahal, Tosh Khana (the robe room), Diwan-I-Khas (another congress), to the Hammams and the Moti Masjid (Akbar's private prayer hall). akber built it, along with other major mughal architectural masterpieces like the tomb of his father, humayun, and the capital city of fathepur sikri, another mughal residence.
our last pilgrimmage of the day was the tomb of humayun. he was babur's son, the second in the line of great mughals. upon entering the place there are two buildings, one down a long lane directly in front, another behind a half-demolished and ancient wall. this place was built as a tomb for humayun, although i believe his actual grave is in what used to be persia. i'm happy to see that the premises are under restoration by the aga khan development network. for example, a main facet of mughal architecture is an advanced system of water irrigation. so far, all the places we've visited have had no water in what would be beautiful waterway channels. there is so much of intersest in the mughal family that i cannot explain it all here, but check the wiki entry if you are interested. a really fascinating family story.
somehow in the tomb of humayun, i felt the most peaceful i have since we arrived. i felt as though we were not even in a bustling city, but had escaped to a farway place and back in time.
all in all, a good day. it took a handful of temples, but i am finally feeling at peace.
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