Two

Max turned two a couple of weeks ago but we have been running around so much that I haven’t had a chance to write about it. We celebrated it quietly at home and with a scraped nose. He took a nosedive off his tricycle the day before our improvised little birthday party, so he gets memorable second birthday pictures. 

He started going to daycare on the Embassy compound a few weeks ago and seems to be liking it so much he wants to go even on the weekends. He is the only boy in a group of 5. At two he is not as well spoken as his sister was at the same age but I guess that’s a girl vs. boy thing. He is saying more and more things these days. He loves being outside and always wants one of us to “ago” (go) out with him. He would put his shoes on (and yes he still loves shoes) and pull us to the door until one of us agrees to go out with him. He says “takku” (thank you) and bye. He says and gives kisses. He says “wash” and loves washing his hands. He says “bwash” (brush) when he wants to brush his teeth. He says and does push (something he learned at school).  He knows the word “apple” but he uses it loosely - in his world, an apple is an apple, but so is an orange, a tomato and a pepper. He is very interested in our garden and goes there several times a day and points to the “pashee” (parsley), “maters” (t0mat0s), and the “nanas” (bananas). Everything that’s drinkable is juice. He does know the words for poopoo and peepee but uses them just to confuse us and get attention.

He loves, loves, loves “kais” (cars) and “pish” (fish). He just can’t get enough of them. I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas and put on it a little car puzzle game for him. Let’s just say that I have not be able to use my Kindle Fire for my own purposes much since then. He loves that puzzle game.

He loves books too. Right now his favorites seem to be “How Many Fish” and “The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and The Big Hungry Bear.”

He loves to run around the house and giggle with his big sister. He also loves getting tickles by Mommy or Daddy before bed.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Max!

You bring so much joy into our world – we are so thrilled to be your Mommy, Daddy and Big Sister!

Flash Mob At Embassy New Delhi

A few days ago the Ambassador was supposed to make remarks at the Embassy about violence against women. The topic is important to the Ambassador and to all of us around the world but especially here in India and now when there’s a lot of debate in the country about women’s rights and laws to end violence against women.

A friend of ours, who works at the political section had this idea to put together a flash mob dance inspired by many others organized around the world in support of a campaign called One Billion Rising. Another colleague put together the steps and the two of them recorded a short video with instructions on when and where to gather and showing us the steps. There was a secret practice session a couple days before the Ambassador’s remarks and at the designated time, right before the Ambassador made spoke, a bunch of us, dressed in pink and red, marched in front of her and started dancing to Respect by Aretha Franklin. The Ambassador was pleasantly surprised. You can see her in the first picture behind the dancers to the left dressed in black. The Deputy Chief of Mission is dancing with us. He’s to the right in the front row in the white shirt and grey pants.

Here’s hoping that in a small way our dance and all the others performed all over the world will help elevate the cause and end violence against women.

Amritsar

A couple of weekends ago we went to Amritsar. Amritsar is in Punjab, NW India, on the border with Pakistan. It is the heart of the Sikh religion. Sikhism is the 5th largest organized religion in the world, with approximately 30 million followers. The Sikh religion is not very well known or understood outside India because most Sikhs (about 75%) live in Punjab and 60% of the Punjabi’s are Sikh. There are a lot of Sikhs in Delhi as well and we see many of them on the visa line, so learning more about them, their culture and faith has been fascinating. Most Sikh men (but not all) never cut their hair and wear it in a turban. Some have long beards, others sort of twist their facial hair (beard and mustache together) and pull it up under their turbans. I found that strange at first because I had never seen it but am used to it now. And the turbans, with their bright colors and different ways of draping are starting to really grow on me. But I digress…

Amritsar is also the home of The Golden Temple (aka known as Harmandir Sahib), the spiritual and cultural center of the Sikh faith. We had heard so much about the Golden Temple that we couldn’t wait to see it. We were told that the best times to see it were sunrise and sunset. We went at sunset and it was amazing.

The temple is in the middle of a holy pond, called Amrit Sarovar (nectar of immortality in Punjabi), which is where Amritsar gets its name. In order to get to the Golden Temple you have to go over a bridge. You also have to take your shoes off and cover your hair.

It’s a truly special place and we highly recommend visiting it, if the opportunity presents itself.

We also visited the Sri Durgiana Temple (aka Mata Sitala Mandir), which the Hindu version of the Golden Temple but on a slightly smaller scale. It’s dedicated to the Goddess Durga and is also situated in the middle of a pond. We were there at noonish and had the place almost entirely to ourselves, which was nice as we were able to talk to the priests and walk around without being surrounded by huge crowds, as was the case at the Golden Temple.

Another sight we visited was Ram Bagh, the summer residence of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, one of Punjab’s kings, known for his bravery. His residence is now a nice park with a museum holding multiple dioramas of battles he lead during his reign.

The last sight we saw in Amritsar was Jallianwala Bagh, a small walled-in park very close to the Golden Temple. Around 20,000 Indians were holding a peaceful demonstration against the brutality of the British rule in the park on April 13, 1919, when 150 British troops arrived and opened fire leaving 337 men, 41 boys and a baby dead and 1500 wounded in six minutes. Many found their death jumping into a well to avoid the bullets. In response, Gandhi started his famous campaign of civil disobedience, which ultimately lead to India’s independence in 1947.

A couple of other interesting observations about Amritsar: We saw hundreds of kites in the air while we were there. We were wondering if there was something special going on – a kite festival perhaps? We asked about that and were told there was nothing special, it’s just that the people of Amritsar love kites and fly them year round. Something else that we noticed was that there were a lot of women on scooters around Amritsar. This was kinda refreshing to see actually because you just don’t see it in Delhi. I had never thought about that in that sense but Delhi is not a safe place for women. I have personally never felt unsafe but I never go out alone after dark and when I am out alone I am careful about where I go. That said, Delhi has been declared the rape capital of the country, which is downright horrible and the city was shaken to the core by an incredibly brutal gang rape case about a month ago. There were huge protests that went on for weeks and a lot of discussions about laws, their enforcement and women safety. My only hope is that something good comes out of this tragedy because women deserve the right to be treated with dignity, feel save and go about their business without constantly worrying that someone might attack them.

Last but not least, we went shopping in Amritsar. A colleague of ours, who is Punjabi told us that Amritsar is famous for hand-made camel leather shoes and for patiala salwar (baggy pants). We didn’t get any baggy pants there but we did some hard-core shoe shopping. There are many shoe stores around the Golden Temple and all over town and they are so colorful and fun to explore. They look like this:

I had already bought three pairs of these types of shoes before and I liked them but they are a little different than normal shoes we buy in stores in the US. When you first buy them, there’s no left or right – the two shoes are the same. After you wear them a few times the shoes conform to your feet. The camel leather is soft and they become very comfortable but they feel strange those first few times you wear them. We came home with 6 pairs, which after heavy bargaining, cost us between $4 and $6 a pair.

Ours were of the less expensive variety but there were tons of different kinds with elaborate embroidery that looked really beautiful. Then there were others that were completely over the top, in my humble opinion but what do I know. I wanted to get Paul a pair with the fronts curling up but he said that was too much for him.

Finally, a few random pictures we took around Amritsar:

Singh is indeed king in Punjab. Singh is a last name given to a baptized Sikh male and it means lion. Its equivalent for a female is Kaur, which means princess. These names reflect the egalitarian nature of the Sikh faith and were initially meant to replace a new Sikh’s original name which usually reflected his/her caste. Baptized Sikhs are supposed to wear the 5 Ks (5 articles of faith, the names of which all start with the k sound in Punjabi)  at all times– uncut hair, a small comb, a small iron bracelet, a sword/dagger, and special underwear.

A man ironing clothes for people for a small fee. You see that all the time in India. They use these old coal irons. This picture also shows something else I found strange here in India at first – scarves here are not just for women, men wear them too. This man is wearing a thick winter scarf, which is almost like a blanket but men wear light scarves in the summer too.

An embroidered tunic material store - also something I find interesting. In India, you can buy ready made tunics but more often people buy the material, which already has the embroidery work done. You can see the variety of necklines and designs in this store (hanging upside down). You get the material and take it to a tailor for a custom fit.

Cargo rickshaw – I can only imagine how heavy this thing is and to think that he is moving it by his own little self seems just crazy…

The Taj Mahal

So we did go to the Taj on Christmas Day. Getting there and back was a royal pain and it took forever, so we didn’t get to see anything else but I don’t want to write about that. I want to write about the the Taj because being there was amazing. I guess it’s one of those things that you just have to see to appreciate. It is bigger and more magnificent than what I thought it would be based on pictures I had seen. And there are some terrific pictures of it out there. We took a bunch too and I thought I’d share them with you here, so let’s take a “tour,” shall we?

First, here is a nice map of the whole complex to help you follow along, courtesy of the Smithsonian Magazine:

We entered the complex through the East Gate (2 above, left below), went through the forecourt (4 above) and found ourselves in front of the Great Gate (7 above, right below), which is made of marble and red sandstone, decorated with semi-precious stone inlays and calligraphy.

Even though it’s called a “gate,” inside the Great Gate is a room which is kinda dark and as you enter it, you immediately see the Taj beautifully framed by the Mughal style arch.

Then you step out and get a full view of the Taj and the Mughal gardens around it. The gardens are said to represent heaven on earth. The view is truly breathtaking, or at least it was for me. I remember thinking, “Wow, he must have really loved her!” because it was commissioned by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, who died delivering their 14th child. Of course, he was the head of a very large empire and he could afford to do something like that but the point is, he didn’t have to. She was already gone. He chose to do it and that’s beautiful. Because the Taj is a true masterpiece, evidenced by the millions who make the trip to see it. We went on Christmas Day thinking there would be less people because Christians are a minority in India but it was packed. Go figure…

On each side the Taj is flanked by two matching buildings (pictured below, and 13 and 14 on the map up top)  constructed in the same style/materials as the Great Gate – one is a mosque and the other was a guest house.

The Taj itself is made of white marble and is also decorated with semi-precious stone inlays and calligraphy.  It is surrounded by 4 tall marble minarets. Here are some close ups:

 

It backs onto the Yamuna river, the largest tributary to the Ganges.

We did not go inside the Taj because the lines were very long. See those people on the balcony and below it - they are all waiting to get in.

We did get some nice people to take a picture of all of us in front of the Taj though.

So there you have it, a tour of the one and only Taj Mahal. Hope you liked it.

Happy Holidays!

Warmest wishes from our (temporary) home in India to yours! Hope Santa brings you everything you wished for, if you’ve been good that is, and that you have all the love, health and happiness your hearts desire.  Our holiday photo was taken by the awesome Dani from Hot Pot. Thanks so much Dani, I look forward to returning the favor!

We are doing well. I just spent most of the day preparing our holiday meal, which is not very traditional. We are having a beef tenderloin with Russian and Shopska salads and eggplant, fresh mozzarella and tomato stacks. Other than the meal, we’ll take it easy tonight because Paul and Nia were in the US for a week to visit Paul’s parents for the holidays and just got back a few hours ago. They are awfully jetlagged but we already opened our gifts and we must have been nice because we got some really cool ones.

Tomorrow, we are going to make one more attempt to go to Agra and see the Taj Mahal. It’s been 9 months since we moved to India and we still haven’t made it there, which is wrong on so many levels, so we are going to try to do something about that. So stay tuned for pictures from the Taj.

Block-printed Awesomeness

I was fascinated by this Indian craft when I fist saw it done in Jaipur back in August and have been meaning to blog about it but kept running out of time. I finally managed to carve a little time for it, so let’s get to it.

People have used blocks to print on fabrics all over the world for centuries but it’s an art/craft that has been largely replaced by machines. In case you are wondering, when I say blocks, this is what I mean:

In India block-printing it is very much alive and well. It’s not that there aren’t machine-printed fabrics here but many people do like the hand-printed ones better and that keeps the craft alive. We got a demonstration of it at a block-print fabric and craft store in Jaipur and this is how it works:

First, you get the wood blocks (stamps) and the colors ready.

You pick your design (we picked an elephant) and colors. The blocks the dude is holding below have already been inked.

The more colors you want, the more stamps you need and the more skill is required because you basically layer the colors on top of the first block-print which gives you the overall shape. You have to be careful and align the stamps just right, because if you don’t, you’ll end up with a messy design. Of course, these guys were pros and did this elephant design in a couple of minutes. When they are making a big item like a table cloth or bed cover, several people line up, each with the respective block/stamp and stamp their color/shape in succession.

After you add all the color layers, you dip the fabric in a special solution, which fixes the design and changes the colors a little.

Here are some wonderful light quilts made of block-printed silk and stuffed with wool. Those things felt so heavenly to the touch that I don’t know how I didn’t buy one right then and there. Actually, I remember now, it’s because it was ungodly hot in Jaipur when we were there in August. I am definitely going back to rectify that. The quilts come in many different colors and designs but I fell in love with the blues, made using natural indigo.

I did not leave the store empty-handed though – I did buy this cotton tablecloth and napkins set.

And have since acquired a few more cotton block-printed items from markets in Delhi: a couple of bed covers and a wrap-around skirt. If you look closely at the designs, you notice slight imperfections from where the stamps meet. And if you know me, you’ll know that I am a little bit of a nitpicker perfectionist and things like that bother me more than they should. Interestingly, now that I know how block-printing is done, I find those little imperfections special – they remind me that we are all human and thus perfectly imperfect. I’ve also got a few blocks – a paisley, an elephant and a peacock, hoping to use them to make cards one day.

Finally,  here are block-printed fabrics in a myriad of designs and colors.