Homesick :-(

I must give Delhi a chance – but it definitely has a different feel than Bangalore. I’m in the Connaught Place area – a major business/retail district in central Delhi. It’s a busy hub of activity, from street vendors to major brand stores like Pepe Jeans and Nike. I miss The Grand Ashok, my drivers, my work buddies, and the guys who brought my Diet Coke on the hour. This is where the “real challenge” of travel begins, and I’m confident the adventures will be worth the minor inconveniences of dirty hotel rooms in noisy business districts.

The morning started off on a sweet note: my driver brought me flowers. Now granted, they were flowers plucked from a tree… but they had the most indescribable fragrance. He said that these trees grow native to South India and nowhere else. He knew that if I had grown so fond of jasmine over the last week that I’d surely enjoy the blooms he brought. Just to tell you how good the people are in Bangalore – he got me to the airport, fought off the “airport helpers” who were insistent on getting into the car and putting their hands on my luggage, got all my luggage to the gate, told me to be “very” careful, and told me to call him if I had any trouble in Delhi since he has family here. I have been oh-so-very spoiled. And blessed. (and the flowers rest tonight in water in the ONLY glass in room 217 here in Delhi)

The flight was great – I was quite impressed with Jet Airways. First time in six years I’ve enjoyed a full-service meal with REAL silverware on a plane… :-)

Upon arrival, I checked in straight away to my hotel (oh, my gracious… I’m not going to discuss further because I know my Mom is reading this…) (I have my luggage, Mom… everything is GREAT!) and then headed to Janpath Road where there’s a large market. Now remember – I had intended for Jaipur on Sunday to be my “market trip”… Geeeeeeez - I need to quit my day-job and just go be a buyer... I SO love to shop! And shop I did... I just couldn’t help myself – I went ahead and bought a cashmere wool rug from the nicest man. He’s part of a third generation rug family from Kashmir. We drank Kashmir green tea and talked at length about the transitions in Kashmir, the dying off of the textiles and rug trade as families want more for their children and send them away rather than have them be part of such a “poor” economy… We discussed the evolution of families – seems to be a pattern on my trip here. The rug is gorgeous – these pictures don’t do it justice. What I really appreciated was that he educated rather than pushed. There are not enough words to describe how aggressive some of these shopkeepers are. In some instances, the better their English – the more prepared they are to realllllly suck up your time… But I’m really pleased with the rug and if I find another in Jaipur, I’ll just have two... hmmn, three… oh, heck, FOUR!

After my shopping excursion (saw some beautiful textiles, pix below), I returned to my hotel and relinquished my driver for the day. From there, I took things on foot in the general area of Connaught Place – including the underground market of Palika Bazaar (which reminded me of a not-so-historic version of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar). It appears Delhi is ramping up for Dasara – with many storefronts sporting strings of jasmine and marigolds. Not surprisingly, I spent more time photographing “life” here in India than the structures that make it famous. Those great pix will come, but for now I’ll share today’s adventure and the people that made it memorable.

P.S. To add some context, Delhi is different in that people want to be paid when you take their picture. The old woman crouching with the “fried corn” over coal embers: 12 cents USD…….. the mom carrying the smorgasbord atop her head: 25 cents USD. I always ask, as it’s the respectful thing to do before I take a snap. And I never barter. And I’m always humbled at what I’m sure each of these folks believe is a “barter-able” price for an American tourist to get a good “snap” of Indian life, for I know the amount that wouldn’t even buy me a soda from a vending machine will buy their dinner… Life is so good.

Dinner for a King... or just for TJL!

I have eaten every dinner except for last night at my hotel’s restaurant – the Baluchi. The staff have kind of adopted me – they save the same table for me every night. They had promised to feed me the “King’s Meal” on my last night – and it was exceptional. I never did see the King – but who needs a King when you’ve got wonderful people like the ones pictured below to talk with each night? No matter how wiped-out I was or how late I dragged in from the office, they were always there with a smile and wanted to talk about my day. Oh – and the white wine was delivered without me even asking (after the first 2-3 nights)! Pictured below are the King’s Meal – lemon prawns – and a snap of my Baluchi-family and me.

Last day at the office...

I haven’t been here long enough – next time I’ll shoot for another week or two. It was a lovely day after last night’s rain. One of my new friends brought me a string of jasmine – as I had mentioned that I like to keep fresh flowers at my office back home. Another friend took me to lunch at a gorgeous hotel (the Oberoi) – where the gardens were just spectacular. The day before I had also had a great lunch with some of the guys from R&D at a seafood place owned by an Indian movie star. This place has definitely made an impression on me – and I shall miss the wonderful people that work here (until I return, of course). There were so many loose-ends to wrap up that I was unable to leave until about 9pm. Tomorrow is a big day. I head to Delhi and use that city as a base from which to explore the northeastern part of the country. Everyone warns that I must be very careful – that Delhi is a city of hard and difficult people. I’m up for the challenge. I’ll have a private driver the entire time, so we’ll manage the crowds as a team.

Weekend plans: I’ll land in Delhi on Friday afternoon. After checking in at the hotel, I’ll go back out into the city and shop. This is strategic timing in case I need extra time to plan shipping, etc. On Saturday morning we leave bright and early for Agra, home of the Seventh Wonder of the World – the Taj Mahal. It’s a three-hour drive to Agra, but everyone says it’s worth it and that the Taj is indescribable. I shall do my best of Saturday night to let you guys know how beautiful it was… On Sunday I’ll be taking a quick round-trip flight to Jaipur – known as “The Pink City” because of all the pink marble used to build the palaces. It’s a very traditional Indian city, with many palaces and forts. I hope to buy a rug in Jaipur, as the markets here are well known throughout the country. The flight is only about 35-40 minutes – so taking a $125 round-trip flight is certainly smarter than going by car (which takes 6hrs each way). Then on Monday I’ll sightsee around Delhi (the Red Fort, India Gate, Mahatma Gandhi Park) until it’s time to go the airport. My flight isn’t until midnight – but I understand I should leave around 8-ish to clear everything prior to my 15hr flight to Chicago. Yes – the direct flight from Delhi to Chicago is a 15hr trek. And this, folks, is where I will get some much-needed catch-up sleep.

So – a big adventure of a weekend awaits. I’ll post as often as I can. Looking forward to the journey…

Dinner over the City

On this, my next to last night in the lovely city of Bangalore, my management team took me to dinner at a charming place called Ebony on the 13th floor of the Barton Center just off MG Road. A storm blew in and I was uncharacteristically excited at seeing lightening and hearing thunder. The rain pounded the open-air balcony… so we huddled but stuck it out. It was a wonderful evening - I’m going to miss these guys. Seated left to right: Mahendra Singh, Sareen Salam (aka "Castle Boy"), and Raghavendra Pai. Standing left to right: Ankur Mahajan, me, and Mr. Bunny Ears - Rahul Toshniwal. [Seriously - we took like three pictures and Rahul just couldn't be stopped...]

I'm all in STITCHES!

Yep -- I got "stitched" as they call it here. I posted a picture on Monday of the man doing the beadwork at the Punjabi designer where I've been referred to get my skirt made. It's amazing, really... I ran over ("took a Rick") on Monday during lunch and they took my measurements. Within the span of a lunchbreak, I got fitted and then went to Bangalore's "premier" fabric store - Fazal's - and picked out a really nice sheer "motif'ed" fabric to flow over black satin. I went back Tuesday for a fitting and BOTH my skirts were done -- they just needed to hem my holiday skirt. I waited along with the designer and a couple of other ladies for the half-hour it took them to finish the pieces, and we had the most amazing conversation...

The designer was a homemaker up until about six years ago, when her husband died young and unexpectedly. She had never worked a "proper" job. She now owns two companies -- one is a partnership where they do construction project management and design (and just got a contract with Coca-Cola for new ventures in Bombay and Chennai)... And her stitching business -- run from her home -- has eight people on payroll. She has customers who call her from the US, send a pix via email, and she makes their clothing based on measurements she keeps on file and ships to them back in the States. How's THAT for a global distribution chain?! I was just so very impressed. Her creativity is endless. And the things she has done professionally since a major life event... Wow -- wish I could be that kind of woman. It was a lovely 30-45 minutes -- we had tea, we talked "women talk"... Sharing stories with "strangers" halfway around the globe makes one realize that the world is very small and our collective priorities are very very much the same.

I'm posting pictures of the ladies I enjoyed tea with. Also posting a (not so flattering) picture of me with my beautiful skirt and the wonderful designer, Vandana. The pix doesn't do the skirt justice, but you'll see it at the holidays... Not bad output for two lunch hours, huh?!




P.S. If you're ever in Bangalore and want exceptional stitching work done -- Vandana Rajnish Kohli -- vrexclusives@yahoo.co.in

Life is in the Journey, Not the Destination

Funny story from my weekend trip to Mysore. About mid-afternoon, we're motoring along and the driver slows down... and then stops. I can't figure out why - we're in the middle of nowhere. And he says - "A cow. You've been taking pictures of all the cows, so I thought I'd let you snap this one, too." Which just goes to prove -- you can take a girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl. In the spirit of sharing my journey, thought I'd share a few of the candids that I took that weren't part of the "main story"... These represent some of my favorite pictures, though they had nothing to do with palaces, temples, or magnificent history.

My first rickshaw ride

An auto-rickshaw, to be more specific. I love these! It's a small, efficient, open-air cab... and it's cheap. I took a quick trip to the "stitching place" today and it cost me the equivalent of about thirty cents US. I'm thinking about checking eBay to see if I can have one for a "fun car" at home. You know the folks who have their own golf cart and they tool around the neighborhood in it? Well, imagine me in one of these?! (And on nice days, I could even drive it to the office if this two-stroke engine is street legal in Nashville!)
So - the experience of having a skirt made (delayed by Festival) was another adventure on this journey. I have been referred to an excellent tailor - a woman who runs her shop from the fourth floor of a colony here in Bangalore. I'm pretty excited about this experience - just hope I don't get spoiled on it. Although I'm just getting a skirt (two actually), this business does exquisite hand work in beading and embroidery. They were kind enough to let me snap the picture below...

Lions and Tigers and Bears... oh my!

Changes of plans often turn out for the best. Remember how I said yesterday that I was having a princess-moment? Well today, I was the princess! My planets were all aligned. (Where the heck’s that King?!)

This morning I attended mass in a beautiful historic old cathedral here in Bangalore with a colleague of mine from the office. The church was made of the oldest of old stones and was left completely open – meaning all the towering doors at all the entrance points and several windows were open. (You can see in the picture below they’re currently working to preserve the building, and there was scaffolding all about.) Birds fluttered about freely in the narthex, resembling what I think a service might have been like in that cathedral hundreds of years ago. The message today was on thanksgiving… and I certainly had many things to be thankful for. (My luggage is still “baggage” you can tell :-).) It was a lovely way to start the day.

Now, I have mentioned this Festival thing, and aparently it's not just in Mysore - it’s a religious holiday across the country. As luck would have it, they have to spot the moon before starting the Festival. They didn’t spot the moon on Thursday night or Friday night… but they spotted the moon on Saturday, which essentially made Sunday a national holiday. It’s kinda like having a floating Christmas based on the tidal flow, I guess. But what this really meant – is that ALLLLL the shoppes were closed today. So the plans for finding fabulous fabric and an expert tailor to stitch me a holiday ensemble is delayed by a day. Never to fear, my personal tour guide (Michelle) had a backup plan. Somehow I think this woman always has a backup plan. She even has a Punjabi tailor lined up to meet me at the hotel, should we not have time to see a proper tailor in the next day or so.

So, anyway… back to the lions, tigers, bears thing. This morning Michelle meets me at the hotel lobby and I go on and on about yesterday’s Mysore adventure. And everything I was excited about involved cows, monkeys, or the little baby lamb they put in the car with me after the shepherd blocked the road and my driver told him I wanted to take the little one home. So Michelle suggests we go to the Animal Park… it’s the Bannerghata National Park, and of course I’m up for it. The park is manned by the Karnataka Forrest Department, and is a refuge for elephants, tigers, lions, bears, bison, blah, blah, blah. Since this weekend begins Dasara, the place is 3x it’s normal weekend crowd… We wait in line maybe 35 minutes before beginning to board our caged bus to begin the “Grand Safari” (all of $4USD each). I’ll digress – they used to let people drive through this park in their personal vehicles… until a tiger reached into a car and dragged out a child one day. I cannot imagine – these roads are absolutely the roughest roads I’ve ever seen (and in my part of the world, we drive through “hollers”).

Anyway… we’re in queue boarding the bus and it’s about half full (to be full+ by the time it departs) and this Indian man standing at the hood of the bus gets my attention and shouts something to me… I kind of ignored him. I sort of stand out here… :) and so I’ve pretty much become immune to random people saying things my way. As I board the bus, the same man is coming through the driver’s side door and pointing at me AND THEN POINTING AT THE JUMP SEAT ON THE FRONT OF THE BUS! You got it! He pegged me to sit shotgun – with clear photographic view front, left, and right! Yes, folks, I won the Safari Lottery. I couldn’t leave my friend Michelle behind, so we got her pulled to the front on a seat cushion above the motor – squeezed between the driver and me. But folks – it gets better!

So this is an animal park – it’s a safari… It’s kind of like Jurassic Park in that they have high fences of barbed wire and deep concrete troughs in front of those fences. To keep the lions from – God forbid – eating the bison… they keep the animals separated and we “shuttle” between areas by driving the bus into a cage that is closed in front. Guards shut the cage from behind and then open our front door into the next “section” of wild animals.

So – this driver who tagged me for the “customer throne” also likes my camera. As in, he must have taken half the pictures (the ones on his side of the bus). And he did insanely wonderful things – he put the bus in neutral and revved the engine to get the tigers to look… he opened the door and leaned out over the careless bear to get just the right shot…. he’d roll the bus backward if the lioness decided she wanted to stretch after we started to take off. The result: some amazing pictures and incredible memories of a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

On our way to a late lunch and the temple, we spent a few minutes at the Lagh Bagh park. This is Hindi for “Red Garden” because the park in known for its roses. Parks are interesting in India in that the grass is not “manicured” like parks are stateside. The grass is weedy and overgrown – and still, people camp out… families picnicking, lovers leaping, they’re all there.

As if that weren’t enough, we ended the evening with the biggest temple (or church) I’ve ever seen in my life – and I live in the buckle of the proverbial Bible-Belt! It has been a long time since I book-ended a day with church – but this was absolutely great. We visited the Hindu temple of Isckon. Now, my words can’t adequately describe the opulence of this temple. But – continuing with the Day of Tonya (DOT) – my gracious host had borrowed a “Lifetime Member Pass” from a friend of hers to get us to the front of the line. She told me this before we got there, but I didn’t quite fully appreciate what that meant until we arrived. As we pulled into the grounds of the temple, there were literally THOUUUUUSANDS of people lined up to participate in prayer services. This is Festival night… and the line cascaded through stairs and stairs and stairs… I can’t tell you how long that line was… And there were, I promise, thousands of Hindi in line awaiting the opportunity to worship. But we… we didn’t have a line. We went up… and up… and up…. Stopping occasionally at specific enclaves to pay homage to certain gods, all decked in real jewels and pure gold. When we got to the main worship hall, we continued to be shuttled along the “Special People Party” line… And then, to my solemn surprise, we were ushered directly in front of the altar (in front of the worshipers who had waited hours, who could get no more than 30 meters from the altar) for a special blessing ceremony performed by a Hari Krishna disciple. I think I’m likely the only Anglo in the building (among thousands) and here I am in the middle of the believers – some going prostrate on the ground in front of the altar. I am fed the holy water (a blessing – not communion – Michelle assures me) which we drink from our hand and then rub through our hair. I find out later that rubbing through the hair is to keep the holy water from hitting the ground. Well, I did the respectful thing and removed my hat to rub “on” my hair… but not knowing it was to keep it from hitting the ground, I’m glad I thought to rub it into my hands… :) (P.S. Temple = no shoes and no camera. Waaaah.)

Humor flash: I’m so glad I got a pedicure before this trip. Seems everywhere I went this weekend, they wanted to keep my shoes. The palace in Mysore didn’t allow shoes. At the Isckon temple, they wouldn’t even let me walk away from the car with shoes that I was going to tuck into my purse once I got to the temple. And those painted toenails attracted the attention of more than one toddler… as the fair skin (and hat, I have no doubt) attracted the attention of more than one of the Hindi faithful waiting patiently behind me in line…

To end my Day of Tonya (DOT), I came to “my” restaurant in the hotel. They have “my table” ready. Four nights here, and already they are keeping a small table in the corner for me to sit with my laptop, drink a glass of wine, and blog-away my adventures. How very lucky I am. Thanksgiving – it began the day, and it shall end it.

Mysore (it's all sore!)

I’m petitioning the local government to change the name to My___sore, so we tourists can just fill it in. Myfeetsore (from walking barefoot through the palace), Myheadsore (from all the blaring horns), Mybacksore (from a fits&jerks drive from Bangalore)… The possibilities are really endless and I hope you’ll sign the petition.

So, I’ve promised it, and I’ll start to deliver. I don’t yet have jeweled elephants – but I do have temples, palaces, and monkeys.

The morning started early with a 7am departure with my driver (Syed). It was fascinating to see Bangalore outside my 3km ride from hotel to office. It’s the best and worst of everything you hear – from cows hanging out on sidewalks (I named the first one “Mary”… I tried naming the rest, but soon gave up as they overtook me)… to the pureness of the market model where people rise and go get ingredients for the day’s meals from local farmers a few streets away… to the sea of trash that makes one wonder HOW people could just throw things into the street (THEIR street!)… Bangalore is most definitely an interesting juxtaposition of new world technology – with the booming IT industry here – mixed with third-world tendencies promulgated by a lack of public works infrastructure to manage the masses and inadequate sustenance programs to manage the poverty. (Can’t help it – sometimes my Public Policy background rears its ugly head.)

So on toward Mysore! Our first stop was at a couple of historic Sultan palaces and temples, just off Bangalore-Mysore Road. The first (former) palace had been in ruins for years and was now protected by the government. The grounds were gorgeous and the inside of this former glory made better than expected photos. This is also the place I spotted my first monkeys – aren’t these cute, hanging out at the corner over the entrance?

The next temple, though, was probably one of my favorites. And I almost didn’t let the driver stop there because it was about 2km from the other and I just had no interest in repeating what I’d just seen. This one was quite beautiful and the grounds smelled of jasmine. That’s because the main temple housed the ceremonial remains of the family responsible for that Sultan family and the gravesites remained covered in jasmine by members of the Sultan’s community (all the land around these temples were still owned the Sultan’s family and lived and worked by members of that religious community). When we left this temple to return to the main road, we had a bit of a roadblock – a flock of sheep…

Our next stop was a recommendation by one of the staff at work… Ranganathittu is a bird sanctuary managed by the Mysore Wildlife & Game Department. The setting was just gorgeous and well worth the trip.










We also went to Brindavan Gardens. To be honest, I wouldn’t recommend it. My driver was absolutely insistent that we go, but it reminded me of a defunct amusement park – complete with empty vendor stalls, empty parking lot, and general disrepair. On top of that, you had to climb a huge honkin’ hill. When you arrived at the top o’ the mountain, there was a splendid view of the valley filled with gardens. There was also what looked like a great old (think antiquity, not crumbling) hotel. Might have been nice if I had been one of the Conde Nast crowd on the hotel veranda with a few days to stroll the gardens… but for a stop-off on an already crowded day-trip, it just didn’t have the value considering what it took to get there.









The city of Mysore was teeming with excitement. The festival period of Dasara was underway. The king had taken his throne yesterday to officially kick off the festival period (a 775kg solid gold behemoth, thought to be the largest in India). The markets were full of fresh flowers – primarily marigolds and jasmine. The palace was ready for “the big show” – which unfortunately happens tomorrow night… (Oh, well. I have my luggage – nothing can possibly be wrong from here. :-) )

The Palace was just beautiful. Below are a few pictures of the outside of the palace and of the identical temples flanking the four corners of the property. Unfortunately, visitors weren’t allowed inside the palace with a camera. Not kidding – I had to give it up… check it in at a storage kiosk – so I don’t have any pix of the absolutely stunning interior of the palace. The outside, though, is nothing to be ashamed of.


By the way, the King is the king of Karnataka [pronounce: car-naught-ih-kuh] – the state in India where both Bangalore and Mysore exist. Apparently, Mysore was the original capital city of the state but that changed to Bangalore sometime in the 1950s. So Mr. King has the big palace back home in Mysore but he also maintains a little hovel here in Bangalore (creatively known as Bangalore Palace). Apparently Mr. King has no children – therefore, dreadfully, no clear heir to pass on the kingdom to. As fate would have it Mr. King also frequents The Grand Ashok (my hotel), as he likes the Indian restaurant here. Apparently he was here just last week. This could be my lottery ticket, folks! A childless king…. 13,000 miles away…. I’ve eaten here four nights in a row now – no King yet, but I’m still hopeful.


So – I’ve mentioned it’s the Dasara festival period. In my international travels, I’ve come to believe that the best real flavor of an area can be found in their local markets. Now I agree the outside of these markets are often layered with counterfeit purses and other knockoff items. But peel back the layers, climb inside, and you’ll soon see a hub of the community. Devaraja Market did not fail to impress. The locals were in full regale – out shopping for Dasara. The market was in bad shape physically (not unexpected) but still hummed with activity. There were beautiful marigolds being mounded and arranged in nearly every stall. The scent of jasmine floated through the air. And of course, there were other ethnic delights from fresh banana leaves to watercolor pigments for painting. It was definitely the shortest stop of the day (15 minutes, max) – but it very likely may have been my favorite.