tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31461553026908461432024-03-12T21:17:17.789-07:00Vagaonding My thoughts and observations as I travel the world mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-8969345819016320712018-09-12T13:06:00.002-07:002018-09-12T13:06:50.977-07:00HUGE MARKINGS AT IRISH COASTLINE DISCOVERED <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;">Irish neutrality during the Second World War involved some hasty preparations being made around the island of Ireland. One of the more unlikely measures taken was to have the word 'Eire' written into the coastal landscape at 32 points around the country. </span><br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;">In a recent newsletter I received, they had an interesting piece about Ireland during WWII.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;">I1938 the Irish Coast Watching Service set up 82 look-out posts (LOPs) that were permanently manned stations. In realit,y they were little more than concrete sheds (akin to pill-box structures) but served a vital purpose. From these modest buildings, all activity around the coast of Ireland was carefully noted and reported to the Dublin authorities. </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;">Often the installation of a LOP would be accompanied by creation of a huge 'EIRE' sign, etched into the landscape. </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium; font-weight: 700;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Éire</i>is the Gaelic word for Ireland.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;"> The signs were constructed so as to be visible from the air. Allied aircraft would recognize them as indicating Irish soil and be aware that they were over a neutral country. Of course, the signs were also very useful land markers for the pilots who could use them to pinpoint their exact location. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.ireland-information.com/aug18.html" target="_blank"><br /></a></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.ireland-information.com/aug18.html" target="_blank">Continue reading this and other news here</a></span></div>
mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-44123188183398331552017-02-06T03:44:00.000-08:002017-02-06T04:51:16.221-08:00A Travel-Adventure-History-Education web series <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Yes, we're going to launch a travel-adventure web series and we want <a href="https://www.patreon.com/expatinindia" target="_blank">you to participate</a> for as little as $2 a month. Friends see me traveling around the world and tell me "Your life is like a movie," so we decided to turn it into one. I've been a vagabonder since 2014 when I met and befriended a Colombian photojournalist. She'd been traveling solo -- or rather backpacking (they're different things I was to discover) -- since the age of sixteen. When she and I traveled to northern Argentina, we traveled by bus, hitchhiked, and walked. It was amazing.<br />
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I've been in India now for four years and traveled a bit. I've seen some very cool places, and had some fun adventures, some of which I've posted photos of and talked about here. We've traveled through mountain and forest road <a href="http://india-reflections.blogspot.in/2015/12/motorcycle-diary-to-palolem-beach-goa.html" target="_blank">to Goa</a> from Bangalore, been to the mountains of Munnar, the ruins of Hampi, (You can click on my profile and check out the Collections).<br />
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Now we're going to get more serious about it.<br />
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In 2015 I met Jordan, just by chance while he and friends were having coffee at my daily lunch spot. I felt inclined to play host to my American countrymen while they were in town, and arranged to take them by <a href="http://india-reflections.blogspot.in/2012/11/the-road-to-mysore.html" target="_blank">motorcycle to Mysore</a>. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrwP1IA0eMc" target="_blank">Jordan filmed the excursion</a>.<br />
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I've since taken many trips around India, from ocean to mountains, waterfalls to tours of palaces and temples. History is dripping here.<br />
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February 27th I turn 60 years old. So this year I wanted a life challenge, and found it. In August I and my merry band of friends will ride to Dehli by motorcycle, and then endure a week's long ride to the highest and most dangerous road ion the planet on the roof of the world in the Himalayas.<br />
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Here are some photos of the area, a ride that draws bikers from around the world to pilgrimage the enduring ride to the top of the world. It is only reachable three months a year, as they are impassable the rest of the year due to snow. <br />
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This will be part documentary, part reality show, part history and educational video, and part journalism log. In short, it will be fantastic, and you can vicariously tag along.<br />
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mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0Ladakh 31.317955709799342 76.5019425000000415.4952557097993413 35.193348500000042 57.140655709799347 117.81053650000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-83517611284876938332016-03-20T06:18:00.001-07:002016-03-20T06:18:05.763-07:00The Moment the World Stopped <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It’s been a while since I posted my adventures in India. So I thought I’d share a lovely experience I had today. It was the most contradictory thing I've experienced thus far.<br />
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The streets were quiet as I traveled from Paldi Cross, through Ellisbridge en route to the Himalaya Mall. Tranquil even. The heat of summer floated on a soft breeze generated by the auto-rick ( a 3-wheeler with a roof and no sides) I was traveling in.<br />
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There were very few cars on the road; a motorcycle calmly passed by us, an elegant woman in a vivid<br />
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colored sari perched side-saddle on back; a man leisurely pushed a vendor cart along the side of the road, while another man on a bicycle peddled around him.<br />
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There were no sounds; most of the shops were closed. It was Sunday. <br />
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The whole scene was something that Norman Rockwell would have painted – if he painted about Indian culture. But this wasn’t typical Indian culture as I’ve come to know it during my three years living in Bangalore. Or for that matter,nothing was a still in any of the places I’ve visited in India – <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bruce.dugan/media_set?set=a.523279417685523.140483.100000104096563&type=3" target="_blank">Hampi</a>, Pondicherry, Madurai, Kerala -- <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bruce.dugan/media_set?set=a.567643366582461.149107.100000104096563&type=3" target="_blank">Cochin and Moonaar</a>, Delhi, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bruce.dugan/media_set?set=a.1161146947232097.1073741840.100000104096563&type=3" target="_blank">Jaipur</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bruce.dugan/media_set?set=a.1162266800453445.1073741841.100000104096563&type=3" target="_blank">Udipur</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bruce.dugan/media_set?set=a.575052369174894.150113.100000104096563&type=3" target="_blank">Mysore</a> and others. Not even <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bruce.dugan/media_set?set=a.1209413782405413.100000104096563&type=3" target="_blank">Goa</a> was a peaceful as this day, at this moment. Perhaps when I <a href="https://www.facebook.com/brie.austin/media_set?set=a.10152392483740133.943572.596895132&type=3" target="_blank">was in the jungle</a> it was this peaceful, but that was a few years ago so hard to compare. The only place I an recall giving me that sense of tranquility was <a href="https://www.facebook.com/brie.austin/media_set?set=a.246628590132.292225.596895132&type=3" target="_blank">Cafayate Argentina</a>. <br />
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Like days of old, time had slowed. The mind and body had time to absorb the world around them, uninterrupted by sounds and turbulence. <br />
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It reminded me of my youth, growing up in the suburbs of Brooklyn, New York. Our tree-lined street in the Midwood section of town was quiet like that, especially on Sunday, during an era when the shops there were closed too. So quiet was it on these days you’d never know you were in the heart of one of the most vibrant cities of the world: New York City.<br />
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The heat today was that urban heat kind of heat you’d find in New York City in June. But I was a long way from New York City. Ahmedabad is in the state of Gujarat located in the northwestern part of India. <br />
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What struck me first, I soon realized, was that there was no driving chaos. In fact, for a city that drives more chaotic <a href="http://india-reflections.blogspot.com/2014/06/driving-rules-well-more-like-guidelines.html" target="_blank">than driving in Bangalore</a>, it was alien to sit there and see people stopping at traffic signals, not weaving and trying to pass each other to gain a 5-meter advantage. There were no dog packs barking -- perhaps even they enjoyed slumbering on this Sunday. But most amazingly was that I hadn’t heard a horn in almost 10 minutes. That is not something most in India can claim experiencing. <br />
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Nothing lasts forever, and so was the case today as we traveled closer to the mall. It all seemed to change at one intersection: suddenly all vehicles from all directions were pushing their way through, horns were blaring, and the world returned to normal.<br />
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But, if only for ten minutes I was given a break from the madness of the world, and enjoyed it immensely. <br />
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mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India23.022505 72.57136209999998822.7886785 72.248638599999992 23.256331499999998 72.894085599999983tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-79395125661210989432015-12-26T03:52:00.000-08:002015-12-27T14:20:42.852-08:00Motorcycle Diary -- to Palolem Beach Goa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">At 6am the city of Bangalore India is still quiet and sleepy -- all except for the dogs that bark incessantly; they never seem to sleep. The air was crisp, and with our backpacks strapped on we boarded our motorcycles and set out to beat the soon-to-emerge morning rush hour. </span><br />
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we were well outside the city -- streaking west on highway AH43 at 100 kph.<br />
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With 400 highway kilometers ahead of us, and no traffic to speak of, all we could do was sit, and wait -- periodically passing one another to take up the lead to abate the boredom of highway travel. <br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">That same boredom did not exist on the same stretch of the highway on the way back (seven days later) however. With lots of cars, trucks and buses bustling between lanes, we were like players of the game Frogger -- as we’d dodge around the slow-moving vehicles that were traveling at 50-70 kph -- to be found in either lane --, while doing our best not to get run over by the cars that would suddenly appear -- seemingly out of nowhere -- baring down on us as they raced past at 140 -- horns blaring and high beams all but blinding us from behind. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After leaving yet another village the road led us into a two hour-long ride through a forest; single lane, where we encountered no more than fours cars the entire time. It was an adventure, peaceful and energizing. The trees keep the air cool, and my new helmet with it’s built-in sun visor [that I moved down over my eyes] proved most helpful as the sun was now easing in front of us in the afternoon sky, tossing sun rays at our eyes like arrows that we had to defect. We thundered ahead, like road warriors on a quest. </span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qLNcPLvrPVw/Vn526R92iCI/AAAAAAAACM0/Tu8H_Wks-pQ/s1600/goa3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="156" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qLNcPLvrPVw/Vn526R92iCI/AAAAAAAACM0/Tu8H_Wks-pQ/s320/goa3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If the forest road was exciting and peaceful, the mountain roads we traversed next were dangerous but exhilarating. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We raced through one “S” curve after another with no end in sight. Up the one side, down the next it continued for another two hours, Then we felt the air begin to heat up and I knew the beach was not too terrible far off. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At 80-100 kms we raced on, but always vigilant: you never knew when you’d come out of a turn and be faced with a meandering cow (or many), or an oncoming car, truck or bus headed towards us as they passed slower-moving vehicles. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On a separate trip to Om Beach [in Golkarna] with Rajeev by car, we traveled through a mountain road where five cows lingered -- one laying in the middle, the others standing about --, who didn’t give us a second thought: they simply refused to move despite him leaning on the horn. In fact, at one point the sitting cow looked back at us, then away as if to say “go fuck yourself, I was here first!” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As for those oncoming vehicles, I’ve long come to understand a basic driving rule in India: he who gets there first has the right of way. Once a vehicle commits to pass, it doesn’t matter that they’re in your lane. They got there first, and the oncoming traffic beware: move or get leveled!</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wPEd8KPT5LQ/Vn54JABAVtI/AAAAAAAACNA/UrhEf2VkRio/s1600/goa4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="148" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wPEd8KPT5LQ/Vn54JABAVtI/AAAAAAAACNA/UrhEf2VkRio/s320/goa4.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the United States multiple motorcycles traveling together will usually travel side-by-side, moving in</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"> tandem; for example, when passing, the motorcycle closest to the passing lane would lead, the other would follow, and then re-position themselves again side by side.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Though the guys I ride with here in India will from time to time ride side by side on the highway, they don’t seem to be familiar with the concept of how to move in tandem; on the country roads it’s all for the best anyway, as we’ve many times been driven to the shoulder of road by oncoming vehicles. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fortunately, on this trip that was rarely the case, Instead, it was the cars going in our direction that would continuously race with us -- passing us in any straight stretch they could find --, only to have us speed past them as soon as they got jammed behind the next slow moving vehicle ahead. </span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5l5dIu6Acks/Vn54kjoooiI/AAAAAAAACNI/e8BwKLrHnSk/s1600/goa5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5l5dIu6Acks/Vn54kjoooiI/AAAAAAAACNI/e8BwKLrHnSk/s200/goa5.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Royal Enfield Thunderbirds (known as “bullets”) that Kiran and I drove were made for this type of riding; their engines torqued for mountain roads; the Duke that Nihanth was riding, with it’s off-road frame was equally up to the task as he navigated through the turns effortlessly and as smooth as the bounding of a gazelle. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For a foreigner, traveling the back roads of India is equally enjoyable and educational. As you make your way through villages you experience a place that time forgot; people going about their rural lives as though it was still the early 1900s, or for that matter, the 1800s --, with pushcarts or ox (or horse) pulled carts full of flowers, fresh vegetables or farm gear. The only visible signs that they were connected to the modern world is small scooters and motorcycles, and cell phones: it seems everyone has a cell phone. On one country road we passed a monastery (grand and impressive). At the gate was two Buddhist monks in full robes, on a scooter. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We pressed on, eventually exiting the mountain roads as we passed a commercial seaport, the smell of fish ever present in the air. Another 30 kms on small roads and we saw the sign: Palolem Beach. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is a little town there with local food, pharmacy and incidental shops, none of which suggested </span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P81jP9KkZyw/Vn5-FxpZG-I/AAAAAAAACNg/BdZa2DZs3fo/s1600/goa8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P81jP9KkZyw/Vn5-FxpZG-I/AAAAAAAACNg/BdZa2DZs3fo/s1600/goa8.jpg" /></a></div>
to us that we were at the beach. But as we turned into the beach hut resort we’d be staying at, the sight of the surf and sand were inviting.<br />
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<a href="http://beingexpat.com/blogs/palolem-beach-in-goa-india" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My Palolem Beach experience </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">was everything I had hoped for: quiet, spacious and comfortable. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After a few days of sun, surf and Margarita’s, we were restless and decided to explore Agonda Beach just 10 kms north. Dressed in shorts and T-shirts for the short ride we were met with yet another fabulous day: plenty of sunshine and moderate temperatures. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then, quite spontaneously our adventurism kicked into higher gear and we turned northeast as we decided to ride 60 kms to the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.333333333333332px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/bruce.dugan/media_set?set=a.1209445322402259.1073741849.100000104096563&type=3" target="_blank">Dudhsagar Falls </a>instead.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OnRj07qU4fs/Vn58j_kNdUI/AAAAAAAACNU/bf61ILu-zTo/s1600/goa6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OnRj07qU4fs/Vn58j_kNdUI/AAAAAAAACNU/bf61ILu-zTo/s1600/goa6.jpg" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For motorcycle enthusiasts this too was a great ride; again winding country roads that went through a few villages, and again “S” curved hilly roads. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The closest town is 10 kms from the falls, and as we then learned -- to our disappointment -- you couldn’t actually ride to the falls, or so we were told. There is a 4x4 jeep service that will take you the 45 minutes up the mountain for about Rs. 500 per head (it holds seven people), plus a mandatory Rs. 30 for a life jacket.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But we were road warriors; so we streaked past those telling us “you can’t go there” up a dirt road. We came face to face with a section of the road submerged in about 3 feet (1 meter) or so of water. We watched as a few jeeps were traversing through it on their way back down. Were the bikes high enough to wade through? We weren’t sure; the Duke would make it for sure, but my Thunderbird Bullet, which sat lower than Kiran’s was a question. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After a few minutes contemplation I decided not to try. The trip had been great thus far, so why push the matter. Kiran really wanted to see the falls, so we opted for the jeep trip. With he in the first seat and Nihanth and I in the rear two bench seats we ploughed through the water onto the roughest, rockiest dirt road you can imagine -- as if the rocks were actually placed by a sadist with the intent to jostle your insides into nothingness. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I cursed him every bump, “Agh” I’d grunt with every bump. Finally the jeep stopped, Kiran got out and insisted that I take his place up front. It was noticeably better, but not enough that I didn’t continue to curse him under my breath for the next 40 minutes. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">As it turned out, had we pushed ahead on motorcycles we would have only gotten about 15 minutes</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jlg6_eGpEsY/Vn5_Qa2keiI/AAAAAAAACNs/rHoTsYehv60/s1600/Goa9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jlg6_eGpEsY/Vn5_Qa2keiI/AAAAAAAACNs/rHoTsYehv60/s320/Goa9.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
ahead until reaching a guard gate, which would have turned us away anyway. So the jeep was at least the right choice.<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">At our destination we exited the vehicles and began a short trek through a mountain trail that ended at the base of the falls. There was a large natural pool at its base, which after the rough ride was inviting. We dove in, and the cool mountain water was refreshing to the point it was “maybe” worth the trip. Wild monkeys provided entertainment as we watched them sprinting about the trails and trees. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Two days later we checked out of our beach hut and began the long ride home. It was only an hour into the ride that we were once again in the “S” curves headed up the mountain road, which was packed with cars and trucks. Nihanth and I in single file sweep around the right to pass, first one, then the other, swoosh, swoosh, then swung left back into the lane and immediately had to bank right into a right curve. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.38; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Without warning my </span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">rear tire slipped out to the left from under me, sending me and the bike and flying: we both skidded about 20 </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 20.24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">meters</span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (60 feet). I'm still not sure if it was due to a wet or oil spot in the road. I didn't have to think about as I heard my helmet Bang! the road. For the first time in three years I was grateful to have been wearing a sturdy helmet or my brains would have painted the ground. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How the car behind me (we were moving at 80 kph) didn’t hit me is still unclear, though I am grateful with no explanation required. I was a bit stunned, dazed, as I lay on the side of the road. I think what held my mind momentarily captive was that nothing on my body seemed to be damaged. I got a scrape on my left shoulder, and another on my right knee -- even though the shirt nor pants ripped. My right ankle got twisted, but from all my athletic injuries through the years I could tell right away that nothing was broken; no muscles, ligaments nor tendons were ripped. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I looked at my bullet lying on its side like a wounded animal, and merely asked Kiran -- who was hovering over me asking if I was alright -- to “pick up the bike, will ya?”</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The bullet righted, and me on my feet, I mounted it and we were off again. My right ankle pained, no doubt less so because I had been wearing riding boots, but made using the foot brake difficult nonetheless. But we still had 11 hours of riding ahead of us, so I endured. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We’ve been home now for week and I was pleasantly surprised that this old body held up; no after effects. So, next week we’re planning to do it all again, only this time no beach time, just moving from place to place. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ll let you know how it goes. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/bruce.dugan/photos_albums" target="_blank">See more India travel photos here</a></span></div>
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mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-13753433851823955002015-12-01T03:48:00.003-08:002015-12-01T03:50:35.250-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VRZqsKKZpt4/Vl2JQiIxwXI/AAAAAAAACMA/HzYJqSUzDyw/s1600/India%2Bsolar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VRZqsKKZpt4/Vl2JQiIxwXI/AAAAAAAACMA/HzYJqSUzDyw/s400/India%2Bsolar.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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According to the NY Times article Mr. Modi recently stated that climate change is not India's fault, but that India is suffering the consequences of it. What can he do?<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Since arriving in India in 2012, seeing the a drastic lack of good infrastructure,like roads, and vast open spaces, it struck me early on that India had a very interesting opportunity. Unlike the United States and other first wold nations -- that has billions invested in aging infrastructure that is too expensive to rebuild --, India, at a time of rising economic stability could, if properly managed -- emerge as a world leader in areas like solar and other renewable energies. </div>
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Can India Reinvent Itself?</div>
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When you travel around India there are tens of thousands villages prime sources to build out solar <br />
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energy resources. Roads and city planning based on the newest most available technologies give them an edge, if they seize that opportunity. India is deep in engineering and technology talent, so why not use it for their own benefit and rebuild the nation, rather than just sourcing it out for a fee?</div>
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In his e-Book "Convenient Action: Gujarat's Response to Challenges of Climate Change" Prime Minister Modi positions himself as a forward-thinking champion on climate change. Whether he is or not is yet to be seen.</div>
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He has many detractors, such as Jairam Ramesh -- who served as minister of the environment of the former government (Indian National Congress party) before Modi took power, who said that “I think Obama got carried away with Modi, frankly” He notes that Modi made one breakthrough with Obama“against the advice of everyone in the system” to limit the use of hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, a component in refrigerators and air-conditioners.</div>
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According to Mr. Ramesh “India is not an easy country to negotiate with"; "We are moralistic, we are<br />
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argumentative, we are regressive. </div>
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From the little bit that I have gleaned of this subcontinent nation, their potential is almost unlimited --with the right government and support of the people. They have the youngest educated workforce in the world, highly accomplished in engineering, technology and medicine. But they are also marred with an archaic, top-heavy and burdensome bureaucracy, that makes it at times very difficult for foreigners to do business here. I can only imagine that it can be difficult for locals as well.</div>
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Setting up a business here, for example, takes a lot of time, money and energy: just filing a document requires a notary to use no less than seven stamps on every page of the document. Taxes are assessed on wholly-owned India companies whether the company has profits or not, This means that in the first year you're paying taxes based on an average of your local competitors profit margins -- even if all the funds brought into the company were used to build the company infrastructure. </div>
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This is highly counterproductive. Foreign companies are not motivated to invest -- as the more you invest, the higher the taxes on that investment, which in part is why foreign companies opt to set up subsidiaries solely as cost plus scenarios, rather than build those companies into higher profit entities.</div>
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Whether Prime Minister Modi can be the force of will to break the old way of doing things in India is yet to be seen. History will record him as the man who changed India, or just another politician who tried, and failed to tame a nation that could have been. </div>
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mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-59527625958347575962015-02-07T11:01:00.001-08:002015-02-07T11:01:12.938-08:00A Journey To Nowhere In Particular<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Sitting at my regular cafe in Bangalore, I happened upon a group of expats traveling India. When I suggested to Jordan that I thought he would like the book Vagabonding by Rolph Potts, He responded that he knew it well. I was intrigued.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>As it turned out, he was a Vagabond-er in the true sense. He explained that he raised a small amount of funds to travel and was shooting footage for a documentary loosely wrapped around the practice of Yoga. He had recently been to Bali and Nepal, now India. <br />
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When I suggested a motorcycle trip to Mysore in search of some villages for his documentary, he leap at the opportunity. With three of his friends and collaborators (Adam, Lukas and Eve) in tow, I rounded up three of my own friends (Rajeev, Dilip and Vinod) and the eight of us set off.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eve, Rajeev, Adam and Bruce</td></tr>
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The early morning was brisk, even cold -- especially at 100 kilometers an hour. Eve was effortlessly at home riding the backseat of whichever motorcycle she was on; others were curious and unsure. <br />
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The day meandered without an agenda. A 30 minute lunch stop turned into several hours in a resort restaurant built around a large tree. While Rajeev and others enjoyed playing Snooker in the game room, others stayed about and conversed. <br />
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We traveled the highway and back roads, ending the 12 hour ride <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: freight, Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">on the summit of Chamundi Hill where we viewed the Sri Chamundeswari Temple , dominated by a towering 40m-high gopuram (entrance gateway) and peered at the shimmering lights of Mysore below. One of our guests even experienced Ghandi's revenge -- not the experience he wanted, but an experience all the same. </span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mysore below from the summit of Chamundi Hills</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: freight, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Much as we tried we just didn't find the village shots envisioned. We drove on. And then, the next day, it appeared, off to our left, an entrance to a small town. As we entered</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: freight, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> we traveled through time. When asked how far we'd traveled, I suggested "a century." </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: freight, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Through the back streets we found ourselves on dirt roads in a place that had not likely seen white people in some time, if at all -- this was not a tourist destination. The kids and adults alike waved as we slowly passed, and I suspect Jordan got some of the footage he desired: we'll have to wait for the edits and see. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: freight, Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">We traveled as travel was meant to be, moving from place to place without an agenda or any expectations. Again, that proved to be the recipe for a great experience. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: freight, Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Judging by the unwavering smile across Eve's face for two days, i'd say we found an experience to remember. </span></span></span><br />
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And so it goes, the road of the traveler, a journey to nowhere in particular.<br /><div>
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mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0Mysore division, Karnataka, India12.2958104 76.63938050000001612.1717019 76.478019000000018 12.4199189 76.800742000000014tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-58609144460448950752014-08-31T04:22:00.001-07:002014-08-31T04:22:35.083-07:00Lord Ganesha Festival <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Ever year in India they celebrate Lord Ganesha with a festival, and the symbolic floating statues of him in the river, known as Ganesha Visarjan.<br />
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There are many stories about Ganesha (also know as Ganapati) and how he came to have the elephant head. According to Wikipedia devotion to Ganesha is widely diffused and extends to Jains, Buddhists, and beyond India.<br />
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He is widely revered as the remover of obstacles, the patron of arts and sciences and the deva of intellect and wisdom. As the god of beginnings, he is honored at the start of rituals and ceremonies, and also invoked as patron of letters and learning during writing sessions.<br />
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Although he inherited traits from Vedic and pre-Vedic precursors, he emerged during the Gupta Period in the 4th and 5th centuries. There is a sect of devotees called the known as the Ganapatya that reveres him as the supreme deity, with the principal scriptures dedicated to Ganesha the Ganesha Purana, the Mudgala Purana, and the Ganapati Atharvashirsa.<br />
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Life-Style/People/Now-Ganesha-finds-a-home-in-Lucknow/articleshow/41335127.cms</div>
mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0Bengaluru, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-858682064097769732014-07-05T06:32:00.003-07:002015-04-16T07:28:20.056-07:00Traveling In Goa, India<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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If you like the beach, beach culture – including open hut
bars on the beach --, restaurants, nightclubs, streets lined with craft shops,
then odds are you’ll like Goa.It’s a melting pot of Indian, expat and traveler culture
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<a name='more'></a>Although I looked, I couldn't find the street depicted int he opening scenes of the Bourne Supremacy film, but the trip was relaxing and adventure-filled none the less.<br />
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Rajeev and I rented some motorcycles and traveled between many of the beaches along the coast, stopping for a great fish lunch along the way. I got to see another side of the multi-faceted India. Although I always say that the best way to travel is without an agenda or expectation, I had expectations anyway of whatq I thought Goa would be, and it didn't appoint. </div>
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Mostly we hung out and relaxed. Oh yeah!<br />
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I write about it all in my <a href="https://zaang.org/blogs/25-travel/my-trip-to-goa">blog on Zaang.org here</a>.</div>
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See the photo gallery on my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bruce.dugan/media_set?set=a.861608287185966.1073741834.100000104096563&type=3">Facebook page here</a></div>
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mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-41647157067296830322014-06-29T03:05:00.000-07:002015-04-16T07:22:32.340-07:00Driving Rules .. Well, More Like Guidelines Really<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In a country where they went from virtually no cars to more cars and bikes than the road infrastructure can handle, it happened so fast that they never really incorporated a general driving protocol.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>So while a cop will stop you if a motorcycle 'driver' is not wearing a helmet, it's ok to have 4 on a bike with no one else wearing one; in fact it is common place to see an entire family -- father, mother and several kids -- all jammed on a scooter. <br />
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Weaving in and out of traffic doesn't get a second look either, nor does speeding: I've buzzed by many a motorcycle cop without them caring.<br />
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There are really only rules when driving a motorcycle here: don't get caught without a helmet, and try your best not to get killed by a driver doing something stupid, and stupid drivers doing stupid things are everywhere. What do I consider stupid? Stopping in the middle of a four lane road because the driver sees a friend and wants to chat; diagonally crossing the road while driving against traffic; making a K turn in the middle of a busy intersection, for example. Its semi-organized chaos driving here, which I why I love it so -- after all, crazy is right in my comfort zone.<br />
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I spoke about <a href="http://india-reflections.blogspot.in/2012/08/driving-in-bangalore.html">driving in Bangalore</a> before, but now having been here for two years I've come to understand the flow of madness a little better. The trick is to never stop: you have to move and merge. If you come to a corner and stop, finding an opening to get going again is a huge task, Instead, you slow down as you approach an intersection, assess the spacing and speed of those in the cross road and just merge in.<br />
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There is basically no 'right of way' rules here, so as you're traveling a main thoroughfare you can't assume an approaching vehicle on a side-road will stop; if they feel they are going to hit the intersection first they'll just keep going. <br />
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Secondly, you have to always be alert on city and country roads alike for oncoming vehicles, especially buses; they will come head-on at you in YOUR LANE as though they have a right to be there. Rickshaws and motorcycles will cut across in the wrong direction WITH THEIR LIGHTS OFF! Suddenly you feel the wind of someone who just cut in front of you and realize it was vehicle you never saw. <br />
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Welcome to driving in Bangalore, India<br />
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mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0Bangalore, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-44423648228706432802014-05-12T04:38:00.002-07:002015-04-16T07:30:11.235-07:00A Jazzy Night in Bangalore -- Zaang Style <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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My friend Vinil had launched Zaang.org some months back. It is a social group whose aim is to host events for fun people. They've had several events that I've attended these past months, and always had a good time. However, this event at the terrace bar at the <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/preview?ie=UTF-8&q=Hyatt+Bangalore+MG+Road&fb=1&hq=hyatt+hotel+bangalore+mg+road&cid=10828659612845145719&ei=GLFwU9fLJMS-sQSAxILACQ&ved=0CKwBEPwSKAAwCQ" target="_blank">Hyatt Hotel</a> was something new for them, and it was a hit. The focus was not on a huge crowd, but rather a good crowd. And they got it.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>When I arrived the atmosphere was calm, and understated upscale elegance. The crowd came dressed up, most men in suits or dress shirts and slacks, and the girls in dresses long and short. At R800 for all you can drink, it was nice not to have the place overcrowded: I was able to get to the bar with ease for refills :)<br />
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Terrific night, and something I hope to see Zaang.org do more often. <a href="http://www.brieaustin.com/2014/05/jazz-in-bangalore-zaang-style/" target="_blank">Read the review and see more photos here. </a></div>
mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0Bangalore, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-74698987745680136522014-03-01T12:32:00.000-08:002014-05-04T02:52:17.251-07:00What a Difference an Election Makes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've been in Bangalore for 1 and a half years now, and not to offend any of my friends here, there are aspects of it (even though its the 6th largest economy on the planet) that is still somewhat third world.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>I've been confronted with an ongoing <a href="http://india-reflections.blogspot.in/2013/08/the-garbage-dilemma.html">garbage problem</a>, a sort of down-trodden border-town feel to it -- in <br />
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some cases -- and a serious road infrastructure problem. <br />
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But hey, this an election year! So in the time span of about 2 weeks the city (or at least that part of it that I travel) has been magically upgraded seemingly overnight.<br />
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My commute to work is now a joy, as I don't have to be so alert to watch out for pot holes that could swallow an entire car.<br />
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I don;t think I've ever lived anywhere that I have seen such an amazing 180 turn or events.<br />
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I'm not complaining, in fact I am celebrating it. Just imagine how far this city could go if every year was an election year. </div>
mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0Bangalore, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-28596116310223764102013-11-03T11:26:00.001-08:002013-11-03T11:28:04.752-08:00Diwali 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It may be technically the Celebration of Lights in theory, but in reality it is really loud! This is my second Diwali celebration. Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, we enjoyed fireworks every 4th of July. In addition to the grand fireworks display over the East River, which were spectacular, every neighborhood had their own local bottle rockets, fire crackers, and sparklers. This is a whole other dimension.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The Diwali festival in Bangalore is a sort of free for all on firecrackers, and never in my life have I experienced such a deafening event. <a href="http://india-reflections.blogspot.in/2012_10_01_archive.html">Last year I experienced it on my terrace</a> when a group of friends came over to drink the night away. <br />
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Everywhere you go there are hundred of crackers bursting in the streets. Tonight I drove near UB City to meet friends, and even on the main roads traffic had to zig-zag to avoid the firecrackers going off in the middle of the streets. <br />
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We spent the night enjoying Margaritas and some good food at Tiga Tiga on MG Road. Good freinds, good food, good drinks, good time.<br />
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Happy Diwali!</div>
mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0Bangalore, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-65565109723790369322013-10-06T05:58:00.001-07:002013-10-06T05:58:05.109-07:00A Touch of the Old Days <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">After a few months of living here (and even now a year later) I still double-take women wearing Sari’s on the back of motorbikes, some in their sixties, cows meandering about the streets, and a chaotic energy that I began to be drawn too by my </span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap;">third</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> month. Anyway, it was sometime in October 2012 that was the day to get out of the neighborhood and explore. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few days before I was taking with my friend Uzma. She was headed to Indiranagar, and I asked where that was. “Right next to Koramangala” she said. I didn't know that neighborhood either. So I decided to start learning the neighborhoods. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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The little voice in my ear -- with my satellite tracking enabled -- directed me right to the front door. <br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I ordered a bacon-cheese omelette, toast (which was like white bread but thick like a french toast), fresh-squeezed orange juice, a liter of bottled water, and a coffee. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the ride to and from there, the neighborhoods changed drastically; some neighborhoods were dirty, dusty and obviously low-income, while other areas were more upscale. Nevertheless, those cows were everywhere. And at times, for reasons I can't quite put my finger on, I felt like I was traveling through something akin to an old wild west border town. </span></div>
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mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-80058870799725511072013-09-28T02:52:00.001-07:002014-01-19T04:51:06.001-08:00Vagabonding -- Remember Rule 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I had no expectations of India. But I did have an agenda, and most importantly in doing so, forgot the first rule of travel: never set a firm agenda. From the moment I landed I was counting the days until I would depart. That was my first error. </div>
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My arrival here was always centered around work; to draft an outline for a project I'd conceived, and present it to my friend's tech team in Bangalore. After a month of relaying my thoughts to them, answering questions, I had expected we could finalize a blueprint and I could depart on a three-month travel while they were coding; Thailand was on my short-list. </div>
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<b>Error two: don't have expectations when traveling</b>. During that first month I devoured the newspaper each day, as if trying to inhale the mentality and heartbeat of the country before before leaving for Thailand. </div>
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It was daunting, really, as they're are many states here; over a billion people; 88 native languages; 200 dialects, and over 3 million Gods. It was an overwhelming assault on the senses. Yet the mix of its ancient traditions in a modernized city in expansion, well, made for an intoxicating elixir. </div>
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The first day I arrived at my hotel I thought "I don't know that I will like this." It seemed down-trodden to me; dusty and dirty. In a way like an old wild-west border town. </div>
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By the third month however, I had fallen into a daily routine: I'd wake up each day and start the day by going </div>
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through the marketplace in my neighborhood to get the paper, and found myself energized and inspired by the activity and strangeness of it all. <br />
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I reminded myself after the initial culture shock that to know a place you have to live there and absorb it organically; interact with the merchants, do regular local things, like laundry and such. You can't simply view it and move on; I had momentarily become a tourist: looking without seeing, being without evolving. Then I returned to my Vagabond traveler sensibility: just be and become a part of where ever you are, without opinion or pretense. </div>
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My project development had stalled as the company here kept delaying me, when all of a sudden -- absent an agenda -- serendipity stepped in. I befriended some locals. We took some motorcycle trips; they took me out and showed me the nightlife. We'd become friends. </div>
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Moreover, as would turn out, they were software engineers. In that moment I decided to settle into an apartment and started a business operation with these young kids I hardly knew. </div>
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It's been a year now and we've secured 3,000 square feet of office space with our team of 17, with plans to expand rapidly along with our expanding client base. Moreover, our in-house project list has a Google-esque model for a suite of interactive frameworks and components. </div>
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Thailand will be there when I get around to getting there, but right I'm in India, and will experience this for the foreseeable future. </div>
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Hopefully I can leave a legacy here with the youth team I'm building, and then ... well, that is yet to be seen. </div>
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I've remembered and clearly understand Rule 1 -- don't plan, just make choices based on the options that present themselves. </div>
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mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-26673334438688909192013-09-01T02:47:00.001-07:002014-01-19T05:04:47.712-08:00The Places We Love and The Places We Find <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Having been lucky and adventurous enough to live in several countries, I've had many people ask me "What is your favorite home," "Why did you love it"? There are some places that I loved from the moment I arrived; an energy immediately pulsed through me and connected me to the heart of the place. Other places I had to discover over the course of time. <br />
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There are never really favorites for me, as each place is unique unto itself. Nor can I call anyplace home per se, as I am a vagabond; I go where the wind takes me. Sometimes I just pass through a place, and others times I enjoy an extended stay, but always knowing that none -- yet -- are my final resting place.<br />
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It was the spring of 2003 when Harriet and I traveled to Buensos Aires (Argentina) for a two week vacation. Oddly I never had any interest in going. But since I was helping her <a href="http://www.brieaustin.com/id-do-it-again/" target="_blank">co-write her memoirs</a>, I agreed to accompany her on her 20th trip there. Within two days I felt a connection to the place. <i>I could live here! </i>I thought, for reasons I could neither comprehend nor explain.<br />
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Back in NYC (a city that I love) I couldn't get the idea of an adventure to Buenos Aires out of my head. So on a not-so-special day I packed up my life, put it in storage and returned there-- I stayed for six and half years. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me with friends in Northern Argentina</td></tr>
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I felt that same connection to the French Quarter of New Orleans, which though I had only visited for a week, felt that organic connection to.</div>
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Once, when I was in Israel to visit my brother, he had a small BBQ party out back. A Parisian woman explained to me that she had come to Israel as a child, but knew then that this was "home!" </div>
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On her 18 birthday she packed her bags, and has lived here ever since. "How do you feel about the place you reside?" she asked me. </div>
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At the time I had a place in New Jersey. It never had an impact on me, but that was the first time I had ever considered the question. </div>
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She continued, "if you don't FEEL a connection there, then you need to travel, and <i>find </i>home."<br />
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She was right, and Buenos Aires was the first time I actually understood what she was saying. I had also read a great book by Rolf Potts (<a href="http://www.brieaustin.com/2012/08/vagabonding-a-review/" target="_blank">here is my review</a> of it) that also clarified feelings I'd experienced over the years but could never articulate into words. <br />
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Now in Bangalore, India for a year, I still feel the connections to those cities I've mentioned. This isn't to say that I haven't enjoyed other cities. I have, but those other places provided the connection I speak of.</div>
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Cannes France was lovely, as was San Francisco, and even Miami in it's own way. When I stayed with my<br />
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buddy Jim in San Pedro Mexico that was a really nice place, but nothing held my attention or connection.<br />
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The first day I arrived in Bangalore, I stepped off to the auto-rick and thought "I don't think I'm going to like this." <br />
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There are some places that seep slowly into your consciousness. I didn't love California when I first moved there in the late 1970s. Hollywood was a bore, the "Valley" pretentious, every waitress a would-be actress, and anyone with a business card was a movie producer.<br />
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Status -- cars, addresses, clothes, friends -- was everything. Ugh. But when I shifted down to Venice Beach, something changed within me. I fell into routines, like Sunday brunch near the marina and an afternoon sail each weekend, regardless of how much money my roommate and I had left at that moment.<br />
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It truly was the Hotel California, where you can check-in but never really leave. When I returned east I felt a pang of home-sickness for Venice Beach for 5-6 years; and it still lingers within me. <br />
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Bangalore may become like that. For quite a while it was just a place. But with some great friends that have become like family to me, great weather, and a new sensory adventure everyday -- it's loud, untamed, colorful, and at times simply outrageous --, I find myself [without warning] feeling an attachment here, roots that have begun to tether me to this place.<br />
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They say home is where the heart it. That may be true, and friends are a huge part of that sentiment. But its <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sanjeev, me and Rajeev in Mysore, India</td></tr>
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also the place that you feel most alive, vibrant, comfortable and safe on any given day. It's the place you can dream. The place you can relax. The place you can have adventures.<br />
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So welcome Bangalore, you've made the short list of special places that I call home. <br />
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Oh, and if you're wondering about the header beach photo, that's Malaysia, which along with Thailand, Morocco and Spain is on my short list of places to experience ... eventually. <br />
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mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com2Jayanagar, Bangalore, Karnataka, India12.9301397 77.58773180000002912.8991877 77.547391300000029 12.961091699999999 77.628072300000028tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-72924463959039217222013-08-09T07:30:00.001-07:002016-09-04T03:29:53.748-07:00Shivansamudra on Two Wheels<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SuI8TAexRxE/V8vyvDEm2kI/AAAAAAAACUg/dSpVOAN8-qUjA8vPRhyc4ZbBUUeUr6LvgCLcB/s1600/falls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SuI8TAexRxE/V8vyvDEm2kI/AAAAAAAACUg/dSpVOAN8-qUjA8vPRhyc4ZbBUUeUr6LvgCLcB/s640/falls.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our little adventure began at 5:00AM – then again, waking up at 5:00 AM was more of a nightmare for me than an adventure, and we had a 3 hour drive ahead of us. I had only fallen asleep at 4:30 AM. But I awoke, bathed, got dressed and met with others from our small motorcycle group out in front of the house. Rajeev emerged from the house last, big surprise, and we left by 6:00 AM. </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-325882d8-6360-b180-b615-1846d8cf4d0b" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We followed Rajeev-- the Kamikaze biker -- as we snaked our way through the back streets, shooting between and around the few cars and trucks we encountered, en route to the prearranged spot on Kanakputra Road where we would meet up with Kiran and Nishanth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">The road, like many in India, became sort of a country highway that wound through small villages and then opened up into long stretches of semi-empty 4-lane blacktop – well, sem-cement-top anyway -- with patches of broken road. Of course it </span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap;">wasn't</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the broken road or occasional speed bumps that caused a high-speed rider concern as much as it was bearing down on an Oxcart .. or oncoming bus in your lane. </span></span><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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more often at 80 – 100 Kilometers an hour most of the way; though I was able to take it all in and enjoy the scenery nonetheless. And the high speeds were exhilarating; I could feel my stress of the past weeks being stripped way kilometer after kilometer. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had talked about </span><a href="http://india-reflections.blogspot.in/2012/08/driving-in-bangalore.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">driving in Bangalore</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> before, and oncoming traffic is common place here, so after a while it becomes second-nature to navigate. But the first few times you see a bus passing another bus -- or row of cars -- coming straight at you head on in your lane, it’s a bit unnerving: in one instance I resorted into riding the unpaved shoulder-of-the-road at 80 KPH until it passed. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And while the death-defying style of the ride was similar to the </span><a href="http://india-reflections.blogspot.in/2012/11/the-road-to-mysore.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mysore trip</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, at least today we did it without rain!</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By 7:30 we stopped for a breakfast at what Rajeev referred to as the “best Masala Dosa” place to be found.That stretch of the road was dense with congested traffic, so it was nice to take a break.</span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vqZnnmwgDdo/V8v0bT6hRFI/AAAAAAAACU0/9IpeEAB_swgtg-JikIxv75OvXSo-IWdiACLcB/s1600/shiv4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vqZnnmwgDdo/V8v0bT6hRFI/AAAAAAAACU0/9IpeEAB_swgtg-JikIxv75OvXSo-IWdiACLcB/s320/shiv4.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few hours later the scenery changed as the road climbed in altitude and we could smell the moisture of falls in the air. The roads leading into the area however wasn't so refreshing. It was heavily rutted, mostly dirt, where we had to dodge potholes that could consume whole villages, or so it seemed. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And, we also had to avoid hitting animals from the wandering herds being led along the road that they sensed they owned. Well, they sort of did own the roads: who was going to tell them otherwise as they filled it side to side. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We had to drive slow, navigate between them without getting them excited, only to then speed away and have to brake for yet another herd shortly thereafter. </span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When we finally arrived, the Shivansamudra Falls were majestic at first site. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They were also misleading: while they were wide with multiple falls, they seemed lower in height than they really were -- from our viewing point, directly across from the top. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">We hung at the summit observation area, where – like all the other tourists – we snapped a bunch of </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">photos as we recovered from the long 3 hour drive, stretched our legs, and relaxed. </span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3g7SioNVSPU/V8v0HGBW4rI/AAAAAAAACUw/bzP-NZo4SpUDgJBW9QDgWJwjYwpV5uJuACLcB/s1600/Shiv7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3g7SioNVSPU/V8v0HGBW4rI/AAAAAAAACUw/bzP-NZo4SpUDgJBW9QDgWJwjYwpV5uJuACLcB/s320/Shiv7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then we began our <a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NwNE9m9e9hU/V8v0EYHqHsI/AAAAAAAACUs/Z0waWGLuGNwmxCNgKMZ2f5wv25O_0B5gQCEw/h120/Shiv6.jpg" target="_blank">descent down</a> the many stone steps that led to the bottom and the river’s edge. With each step down I was already dreading the climb back up. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The mist coming off the falls was delightful, refreshing, while the deafening sound was a reminder of the power called nature. We loitered around the river at the base of the falls.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few of the guys decided to get their feet wet, then Kiran decides to go </span><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BZjwQ-sBpWA/V8v1D_6_jlI/AAAAAAAACU4/tAK6MrdoYVYYX3JknuRyyeOmj5_kB2r9ACEw/h120/Shiv8.jpg" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">all the way</a><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">! </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When the ranger came and told us to clear out, it was because the water level was rising fast he said; "the area would soon be flooded". </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I envisioned some wall of water streaking towards at that very moment. But the reality was that “soon” meant many hours. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nonetheless, we hiked back up the long set of steep stone steps. The words of Anshu still clear in my memory -- “You’re old, like ancient!” -- as I scaled the steps with ease to my surprise. Anshu was panting like he's just hiked the Himalayas when he finally reached the top, the last to arrive. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was a nice sun shining, so we sat for a while and enjoyed the nature and the quiet. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We snacked on watermelon and cucumbers that we bought from vendors near the exit. Then, bikes revved, we headed out ... we thought. Only a few hundred meters down the road Rajeev’s bike stalled: it seems that someone emptied his fuel tank while it was parked. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With four kilometers of dirt and potholed road to travel to reach the nearest petrol station, all we could do was push. So I did; I extended one foot to his back foot place, and we rode side by side with my bike propelling his -- which Nishanth filmed unknowingly to us. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the village of Sattega we stopped at Rajeev’s granddad’s home. The vilalge in on land owned by the family, and Rajeev's dad has watched over it for decades. No one lived in the family home there any longer, but the house was preserved and cared for. There were rooms filled with family photos in a testament to the lives of those that passed through these doors. It was nice to see a legacy preserved in this way. </span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We relaxed in the great room, where in its day the center sunken area would have been filled with </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> water. Anshu was all but snoozing in a chair; it seems age and energy don’t always go hand in hand.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next we stopped in at the village temple (a Lord Krishna Temple) that was over a thousand years old! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">The ride back was high-paced, and Anshu -- during many stretches -- led the charge at 80- 100+ kilometers an hour, with each of the other bikes, in turn, taking the lead in a shuffle and reshuffle game of follow the leader. </span><b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
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mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0Shivanasamudra Falls, Karnataka12.294 77.168-13.2280345 35.859406000000007 37.8160345 118.476594tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-28202115441674927612013-08-03T04:09:00.002-07:002013-08-03T04:09:43.861-07:00The Garbage Dilemma<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Last year when the city garbage collection was on strike, I posted a story about the problem, when the press was calling Bangalore as <a href="http://india-reflections.blogspot.in/2012/08/garbage-city.html" target="_blank">Garbage City</a>. But the strike wasn't the problem, not really.<br />
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When I first arrived in Bangalore in July 2012, it struck me as almost a border town; a bit downtrodden, which was likely the impact of litter everywhere. Like most places you get used to things, and so I barely notice it anymore. <br />
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A week ago I was with friends outside of one of the guys apartments. They were having a smoke as we chatted, and we were eating. When I had a napkin that I wanted to throw, it struck me: there are NO trash receptacles, anywhere!<br />
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No doubt if they had some it would still take quite a while to change old habits. In NYC in the '70 there was litter everywhere, people thought nothing of opening a cigarette pack, or some other packaging and dropping the wrapping on the ground. <br />
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But in time, with trash recepticales a plenty, the perception of citizen responsibility -- to keep "their" city clean -- took hold, and today NYC is pretty litter free.<br />
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Come on Bangalore, it takes a first step to make the big leap from garbage city to clean city. </div>
mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0Bangalore, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-31704654891827026052013-06-17T04:21:00.000-07:002014-01-19T05:11:06.375-08:00Daybreak in the Jungle of Bangalore<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It is 5:30 AM and I've been up all night drinking whiskey with Rajeev -- and chatting on Facebook with Disha in Africa, Jim in Mexico, others right here in Bangalore India and talking with Steve in NYC. Then something interesting happened. <br />
<a name='more'></a>Everyone left the terrace, I hung up my phone call and it was stunningly quiet. I lay there in the hammock, swinging slightly to a lovely breeze. I closed my eyes and suddenly heard a chorus of noises from the morning birds, which here in Bangalore really do sound like the sounds of the inner jungles. <br />
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Where ever I reside around the world, I tend to adapt rather easily to my surroundings and fall into a homey comfort. Even here in Bangalore, my first day I thought "I don't think I am going to like it here." It's almost a year later. I've exchanged my six-month tourist visa for a five-year business one, and have fallen into a comfortable slumber here. I have no idea how long I'll stay, but neither am I in any hurry to leave. <br />
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I've gotten comfortable. My eyes still closed, a shrill of birds wakes me from momentary slumber, and it reminds me, "Oh, yeah, I'm in INDIA." </div>
mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0Bangalore, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-18400774118110671672013-03-12T15:06:00.000-07:002013-03-12T15:06:02.408-07:0080 Million At the Ganges<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Though I am temporarily back in New York City, I'm still tethered to India in some way; suddenly I notice things, or take interest in things about India or its culture that would have previously not grabbed my interest. Living there has somehow connected my spiritually to this exotic land. my soul, as I prepare to head back there at the end of the month. <br />
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I had never before heard of the Kumbh Mela festival in Allahabad [in northern India], and was fascinated by <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/03/10/magazine/look-india.html?hpw&_r=0http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/03/10/magazine/look-india.html?hpw&_r=0" target="_blank">the article in New York Times Magazine</a> that reported 80 million people came to experience the experience by a mystical river called the Saraswati.<br />
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Unfortunately I won't be able to check it out next year, because the event only happens once every 12 years. I guess I'll have to search out other adventures to explore. <br />
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More to come from India in a few weeks!<br />
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mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0New York, NY 10022, USA40.7593941 -73.96977950000001640.7353386 -74.010120000000015 40.783449600000004 -73.929439000000016tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-34218112811009967942013-02-09T01:01:00.001-08:002013-02-09T01:09:20.208-08:00The Magic of Snow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've been in India for six months, and its been an interesting and enjoyable stay.<br />
<a name='more'></a>Part of my India journey has been my visit back to New York City; I returned so that I can apply for a five year visa back to India. Its been a wild trip to India. I arrived to outsource a project to a friend's company, but when his staff was back up an unable to take on the project timely, I found myself hanging out at a local cafe where I met a group of you ng software developers and ultimately started a company with them. We started withe the 5 of us, and in five months expanded to 10. <br />
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When my visa expired i had to return to to New York to reapply for a long-term business visa.<br />
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being back in NYC was great, but I found myself on the run everyday in meetings promoting this new business venture.<br />
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Tonight was the most perfect day since my return. There were snowstorm warning, but I tool no heed. My friend Daylle. who I was staying with, called to tell me "the weather is really bad, you should come back to the apartment. i don't think I have ever allowed weather to alter my plans, and so I stayed at the cafe working online. <br />
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After, I headed to a local pub to have diner and watch the Knicks beat the Timer-wolves in basketball. I've lived in countries where the locals were crazy for their local team -- Buenos Aires where the sun rose and set on the the Boca Juniors soccer team, and in India where Cricket is all the rave -- but I have never been emotionally attached to any sports team except the NY Knicks. Well, the Jets too, but they break my heart every season. Even while living overseas I felt an emotional connection reading about the Knicks wins and losses. <br />
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Tonight they won, while I watched; drinking a few Margaritas -- Chris makes them splendidly -- and a<br />
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The snow continued to fall all night. After I stopped in at the Cigar bar for a smoke, I then headed to the piano bar where my friend Rick played piano. Nice night. Relaxing, something I needed desperately!</div>
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An hour or so later, walking back to the apartment on 52nd street, i stopped to take a pee -- India has a residual effect, what can I say. </div>
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There is something quite unexplained about New York snow-laden late at night. The world seems to slow down, the moments seem to linger, and there is a freshness to life in that moment. </div>
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I know that this is my India blog, but hey, my trip back here is part of my India experience. I had an amazing trip through southern India in late December and early January, and will post that soon. Bu I've been working my ass off, so cut me some slack. </div>
mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0New York, NY 10022, USA40.7593941 -73.96977950000001640.7353386 -74.010120000000015 40.783449600000004 -73.929439000000016tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-75760074148038976952012-12-17T05:18:00.003-08:002012-12-18T10:04:48.293-08:00The Unexpected Can be The Adventure <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the road to nowhere</td></tr>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.6616458084899932" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Often as a traveler, you stumble onto interesting little mini-adventures when en route to some</span></b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">where </span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6616458084899932" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">else. And thus was the case when my friend Jacqueline </span></b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6616458084899932" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">wh</span></b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">o is</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6616458084899932" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> </b>here in India for a visit) and I decided to go to the Bannerghatta National Park on my motorcycle. We planned on also stopping off at the Bannerghatta Zoo. No problem; I’d set the navigator with the destination and it would talk me there. Well, no....</span></b><br />
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.6616458084899932" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6616458084899932" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first 3/4 of the trip was a straight shot with one road running into the other; it went off without a hitch -- other than navigating the </span><b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">currents of the turbulent sea of motorcycles, scooters, Auto Rickshaws, cars, buses, trucks and the occasional push-cart and meandering cows, which in total they (the locals) look upon as normal traffic<b> </b></span></b></b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://india-reflections.blogspot.in/2012/08/driving-in-bangalore.html">read more about Bangalore traffic here</a>)</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6616458084899932" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>. </b></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3146155302690846143"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></a></b><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then, driving along a rural two-lane road-- that served as a road-race track for most of the motorists to see who could pass whom the most, or first </span></b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in the</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6616458084899932" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> </b>congestion<b> </b></span></b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of the</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6616458084899932" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> </b>roadside towns --, the little voice in my ear said “in 100 meters turn left onto whah whah whah” -- I couldn’t understand the name. </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But no matter, because there weren’t many cross roads to choose from -- how many roads could there be in 100 meters? None! Well, except for a dirt path. We kept going until it provided another option; but that was into a private community. We pushed on. The next option my little ear<b>-</b>genie spoke was “In 100 meters turn right onto whah whah whah.” The road looked like it might actually go somewhere, so we followed it. With each kilometer we traveled the road narrowed until we were on a dirt and stone road (if you can call it that) that seemed almost impassable (see the video below). </span></b><br />
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.6616458084899932" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We stopped to consult the map: it showed that the navigator was taking us in a big circle leading us back to the main road we had just gotten off of; really? Couldn't it just say “you missed your turn, make a U-turn?” We turned around despite the navigator instructions. </span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Back on the main road I was getting insecure even though the genie seemed to know what it was talking about at this point as </span></b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">we</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6616458084899932" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> </b>proceeded on the main road. I pulled to the side<b> </b></span></b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6616458084899932" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> </b>again stopped to reconsult the visual map. Suddenly an Oxen -- or something with horns, anyway -- took chase after a women walking. Such drama!</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When it was over, all the men on the roadside that were watching that unfold, suddenly redirected their attention on </span></b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jacqueline</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6616458084899932" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, all standing there, in a row, staring, as if somehow be instructed by a singular </span></b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">consciousness</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6616458084899932" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Weird-ed</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6616458084899932" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> me out a<b> </b></span></b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">little; s</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6616458084899932" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">he saw it as a photo op<b>!</b></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A mile farther we veered left off the main road into a village following the Genie’s directions; until we opted to ignore it and continue further into the village to capture photos of some very cool temples. </span></b><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--wG_IcRlreM/UM8bMaoNJkI/AAAAAAAAAmk/VIIA6jTSTD8/s1600/Jacquline+020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--wG_IcRlreM/UM8bMaoNJkI/AAAAAAAAAmk/VIIA6jTSTD8/s1600/Jacquline+020.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.6616458084899932" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Turns out we were only minutes from the National Park, which we found easily from there. <a href="http://www.brieaustin.com/2012/12/bannerghatta-national-park-and-safari-of-southern-india/" target="_blank">Read the review </a></span></b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.brieaustin.com/2012/12/bannerghatta-national-park-and-safari-of-southern-india/" target="_blank">of the Safari here</a>. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152342564320133.936617.596895132&type=3" target="_blank">See more photo here</a>.</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6616458084899932" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I caught a cold while driving back -- </span></b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">which</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6616458084899932" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I did </span></b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">without</span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6616458084899932" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> th</span></b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">e ear-genie, due to a drained battery --; perhaps that is the reason the ride back was absent any drama. I guess next trip we'll use the Navigator again and see where it takes us. </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0Bannerghatta National Park, Bangalore, Karnataka 560001, India12.7810001 77.55982879999999112.7190546 77.479147799999993 12.8429456 77.64050979999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-2548723538378085182012-12-08T12:23:00.000-08:002012-12-08T12:30:05.103-08:00Four Months of Contradictions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">With her pending visit, Jacqueline was asking me "what's it like," in India. After four months on the ground I still can't answer that question.</span></h2>
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">According to Wikipedia t<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">he </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">history of India</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> begins with evidence of human activity of </span><i style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatomically_modern_humans" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: initial;" title="Anatomically modern humans">Homo sapiens</a></i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including </span><i style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_erectus" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: initial;" title="Homo erectus">Homo erectus</a></i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">from about 500,000 years ago.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_India#cite_note-1" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: initial; white-space: nowrap;">[1]</a></sup><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> </span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">The </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Valley_Civilization" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-decoration: initial;" title="Indus Valley Civilization">Indus Valley Civilization</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_subcontinent" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-decoration: initial;" title="Indian subcontinent">Indian subcontinent</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE in present-day Pakistan and northwest India, was the first major civilization in South Asia: </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Sorry Christians, despite what you've been taught, the world is older than 6,000 years. </span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">India is a place of contradictions; it's an ancient culture with traditions that have remained in tack for centuries; it has pockets of contemporary lifestyle; it has more bare-foot people in a city than I've witnessed anywhere else; it has one of the lowest divorce rates in the world; it has more violence incidents against women as anywhere else in the world, and more than most. </span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">The day I arrived I thought "I don't know that I will like it here." But four months later I've become comfortable here: in part because I have an apartment that I like, made some great friends, and get somewhat energized every time I go to the marketplace in 9th block, Jayanagar, Bangalore. </span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">It's a convergence of unorganized chaos, modern advances, and unexpected culture-shock, all happening within the span of a day. </span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">My travels in have been limited to two excursion to <a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152145225525133.909632.596895132&type=3" target="_blank">Hampi</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.422094484515153.93956.250370531687550&type=3" target="_blank">Mysore</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">last weekend I went to the Leela Palace Hotel for brunch, and I could have been in any 1st world country. On the way home I passed through the equivalent of any 3rd-world country; all within the span of 15 kilometers. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leela Palace for brunch<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The place remains a mystery to me. I can go for lunch and spend $1, or at night, like tonight, hit a club and spend $100.00. The </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">contradictions</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> continue, confusing and intriguing me at the same time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Tonight I am on my terrace with Fahim and his friend smoking a Hookah</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">More adventures fro India, later. </span></div>
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<br />mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0Jayanagar, Bangalore, Karnataka, India12.9274529 77.59059712.8965004 77.551115 12.9584054 77.630079000000009tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-87076189369515002082012-12-06T20:51:00.000-08:002012-12-06T20:51:22.153-08:00The Sound of Diwali <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It thundered all around me. As I sat on my terrace watching fireworks light up the sky, more omnipresent was the sound of what could be compared to cannon and musket fire up close and in your ears in the street. This is just a part of Diwali, the celebration of lights.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>My terrace was filled with little clay saucers (referred to as lanterns) filled with oil that kept lit the cotton strips. It is part of the tradition, unlike some festivals that occur in only parts of the country, Diwali occurs countrywide. Some houses will also hang strips of electric lights outside. <br />
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Diwali lasts three days; the Indians celebrate it with fireworks; but extend their traditions to also worship one of their 3 million deity for ten, and leave the lanterns lit for thirty.<br />
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Tonight reminds me a bit of July 4th during the 1960s in the Brooklyn, NY of my childhood, when we'd all fill the streets and our parents would set up bottle rockets, fire crackers, Roman candles while we all lit sparklers. As I look off the balcony into the street, it is alive with fireworks. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting a few bottles chilled</td></tr>
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My gang and I will reconvene at my place shortly, and drink Rum and watch the show in the distance.<br />
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According to Wikipedia, <i>Deepavali (also spelled Devali in certain regions) or Diwali,[note 1] popularly known as the "festival of lights," is primarily a five day Hindu festival[1] which starts on Dhanteras, celebrated on thirteenth lunar day of Krishna paksha (dark fortnight) of the Hindu calendar month Ashwin and ends on Bhaubeej, celebrated on second lunar day of Shukla paksha (bright fortnight) of the Hindu calendar month Kartik. In the Gregorian calendar, Diwali falls between mid-October and mid-November. Diwali is an official holiday in India,[2] Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, Malaysia, Singapore and Fiji.<br /><br />For Hindus, Diwali is one of the most important festivals of the year and is celebrated in families by performing traditional activities together in their homes. For Jains, Diwali marks the attainment of moksha or nirvana by Mahavira in 527 BCE.[3][4] Arya Samajists, celebrate this day as Death Anniversary of Swami Dayanand Saraswati. They also celebrate this day as Shardiya Nav-Shasyeshti.<br /><br />The name "Diwali" or "Divali" is a contraction of "Deepavali" (Sanskrit: दीपावली Dīpāvalī), which translates into "row of lamps".[5] Diwali involves the lighting of small clay lamps (dīpa in Sanskrit: दीप) filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil.[6] These lamps are kept on during the night and one's house is cleaned, both done in order to make the goddess Lakshmi feel welcome.[7] Firecrackers are burst because it is believed that it drives away evil spirits.[8][9][10] During Diwali, all the celebrants wear new clothes and share sweets and snacks with family members and friends.<br /><br />The festival starts with Dhanteras on which most Indian business communities begin their financial year. The second day of the festival is called the Naraka Chaturdasi. Amavasya, the third day of Diwali, marks the worship of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. The fourth day of Diwali is known as Kartika Shudda Padyami. The fifth day is referred to as Yama Dvitiya (also called Bhai Dooj), and on this day sisters invite their brothers to their homes.</i>mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0Bangalore, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.594562712.724026199999999 77.2787057 13.2191712 77.910419699999991tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-24018376597651143612012-11-23T12:22:00.001-08:002017-02-06T04:16:42.362-08:00The Road to MYSORE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I felt tense; my mind racing, my adrenaline flowing. I was being assaulted by the rain as we streaked along the Bangalore-Mysore Highway at speeds up to 100-120 kilometers an hour, swerving in and out of traffic. Our three motorcycles in a row (with two riders each), only feet apart, trailed the vehicles before us waiting for a crack of opportunity. Then without warning, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, one closely followed by the other shot through the sliver of opening as we raced towards Mysore. Had I lost my mind? Welcome to yet another India experience.<br />
<a name='more'></a>We left Bangalore in the early afternoon for what have should have been a leisurely three hour ride to Mysore; reminds me of Gilligan, the Skipper and guests out for a three-hour cruise.<br />
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This was to be my first trip outside of Bangalore; I bought my Yamaha motorcycle for the trip only the night before<br />
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The traffic in south Bangalore was without reason; a chaotic free-for-all. With Rajeev driving my bike, me on back, we weaved, jerked, turned and shot between vehicles working our way out of the city traffic headed for the Bangalore-Mysore
highway. The small side streets were interwoven like a maze; there were small shops, a clutter of vendors selling things from carts, the smell of spice in the air, and an energy I can't quite explain. And though it wasn't pretty -- the roads were very dusty, like a 1800s town in an old western movie --, but it was authentic. At least it seemed that way to me; as if the bustle on the street had been buzzing like this for a century, with the cars, scooters, motorcycles and modernity simply a new addition without altering the day-to-day culture.<br />
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South Bangalore</div>
Only an hour up the highway the rain was intermittent, torrential at times, though we unlike the Skipper and crew we didn't get knocked off course. We were, however, forced to stop and wait it out -- twice, each time for about an hour. Together with all the cigarette smoking stops, night was fast-approaching so we decided to push on, rain or not.<br />
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We periodically switched drivers and bikes, and I was again back in control of my Yamaha. The 6-8 lane highway would often be reduced to a two or four lane road with light after traffic light, or worse, speed bumps that were neither colored nor marked, as we approached roadside towns. Worse than that was on the highway itself where we would be flying along at 100 and then bear down on one of these speed bumps, or worse, a slow-moving ox-cart with no reflectors, wandering cows or herds of goats. Oh yeah, it was just like that!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Same Mysore Ride Different Day WITHOUT Rain</td></tr>
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The rain was only teeming as we entered yet another small town, but traffic on the four-lane had turned into a parking lot due to the preceding flooding the rain had caused. We moved at a snails pace, trying to avoid stopping and having to put a foot down into the pond-like road we were traveling through. I wasn't even sure that the engines would keep humming at some points were the water was highest.<br />
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When I spotted a make-shift sidewalk I pulled up onto it and began making better time. I quickly caught and passed the two bikes that were previously way ahead of me (they drive like lunatics, so I was way behind them on the highway). <br />
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We were all soaked thoroughly. A chill was taking root in my bones. The other two bikes saw me and quickly followed as we worked our way passed the traffic jam, left the town limits and were flying again. <br />
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It was somewhere in the forth hour, still 40 kilometers from our destination, night set upon us, that the rain mercilessly hit us again; we pushed on.<br />
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It had dawned on me -- more than once that day -- that I had lost my mind; I was for a time sitting on the back of a motorcycle, helmet-less (only the driver wears a helmet in India) traveling at 100-120 kilometers an hour through traffic. I'm not ashamed to say my heart had all but bored a hole in my chest cavity from the intense and accelerated beating. <br />
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Later at the fuel stop it was discovered that my key was missing; we couldn't unlock the fuel cap; Rajeev and I spent the entire next morning -- on a Sunday -- which we actually found, and the cost was only $10.<br />
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After we met up with a friend, Kiran, and headed to the Sweet Palace for breakfast. If you get up here, stop by, great place.<br />
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The Shardha Resort grounds that we stopped at that afternoon provided a wide-variety of family fun: families were relaxing in the picnic area, with exotic and non birds wandering about. The resort also had in-door and outdoor restaurants, a bar wrapped around a tree; a billiards room, volleyball, tennis, basket ball, football (soccer), a swimming pool, a small boat pool, ping-pong and more. After a drink to get out of the hot sun, it was time to push off for the Mysore Palace: a big tourist attraction.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pH96_r9xBIA/WJhoNFCcdaI/AAAAAAAACdo/wYbvGoMyAi0cff0pOOH-4IcgB6psSiNMACLcB/s1600/Mysore%2Bpalace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pH96_r9xBIA/WJhoNFCcdaI/AAAAAAAACdo/wYbvGoMyAi0cff0pOOH-4IcgB6psSiNMACLcB/s400/Mysore%2Bpalace.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The weather was still being stubborn though as the rain came again and we raced back to the house, where we were holed up for four or five hours.<br />
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That night we went for dinner, and then on to <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=422095091181759&set=a.422094484515153.93956.250370531687550&type=3&theater" target="_blank">Planet X</a>; an entertainment venue -- billiards, go-cart racing, video-game arcade, hookah bar, restaurants, and bar/lounge. Hey, I was with a group of twenty-somethings, so this place was high on their list of places to go. We hung out, played billiards and then after drinks and smokes outside (I was able to buy a Dominican cigar for 800 rupees -- $16 --; the onlookers after hearing the cost when I inquired, were shocked when I bought one) planned to leave.<br />
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Well, until the keys one of the other bikes were missing. Took us an hour, but we found them, and averted another min-disaster. As we drove the thirty minutes back to the house we went through a little village called Metagalli, where I now realized was my first experience smelling the real India: it was so powerful with the smell of spices. <br />
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Because the guys had a midnight urge to pack and hit the road back to Bangalore, I didn't get to see much of Mysore; I only saw <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=422095067848428&set=a.422094484515153.93956.250370531687550&type=3&theater" target="_blank">the palace</a> at night on the way back to the house. But when we traveled through another small town called, Metagalli, I now realized it was my first experience smelling the real India: it was so powerful with the smell of spices.<br />
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Like I have written about before, it is the journey that is the experience, not the destination(s). And thus far, I have experiences galore. <br />
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The highway driving back was wide-open. We left the house in Mysore at about 2:am, and raced back at 100 kilometers an hour without any rain. We arrived in Bangalore about 5:AM, just in time to stop for a morning tea. <br />
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Moreover, the intense ride to Mysore seemed to have desensitize me; from time to time on the way back I'd switch and let Rajeev drive as I sat on back. And even without a helmet my heart-rate was constant; I was no longer nervous. Regardless of my apparent stupidity riding at those speeds without a helmet, I was nonetheless relaxed, as if I was sitting on the couch on my terrace. <br />
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<a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.422094484515153.93956.250370531687550&type=3" target="_blank">More photos here</a><br />
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mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0Mysore, Karnataka, India12.2958104 76.639380512.1716954 76.481452 12.4199254 76.797309tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146155302690846143.post-69812149861460540112012-10-31T00:37:00.001-07:002012-10-31T00:37:11.385-07:00My Front Row View of Diwali<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Deepawali or Diwali is certainly the biggest and the brightest of all Hindu
festivals. It's the festival of lights (<i>deep </i>= light and <i>avali</i>
= a row i.e., a row of lights) that's marked by four days of celebration, which
literally illumines the country with its brilliance, and dazzles all with its
joy. </span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Each of the four days in the festival of Diwali is separated by a different
tradition, but what remains true and constant is the celebration of life, its
enjoyment and goodness.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">According to my friend Rajeev, the fireworks are off the hook. And<span style="font-size: small;">, he says, you'll have a great view from <span style="font-size: small;">your terrace. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.bollywoodle.com/img/diwali.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="http://www.bollywoodle.com/img/diwali.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Historically, the origin of <a href="http://hinduism.about.com/od/diwalifestivaloflights/Diwali_Festival_of_Lights.htm" target="_blank">Diwali</a>
can be traced back to ancient India, when it was probably an important harvest
festival. However,
there are various legends pointing to the origin of Diwali or 'Deepawali.' Some believe it to
be the celebration of the marriage of Lakshmi with Lord Vishnu. Whereas in Bengal
the festival is dedicated to the worship of <a href="http://hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/aa051202a.htm" target="_blank">Mother Kali</a>, the dark goddess of strength. <a href="http://hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/aa083000a.htm" target="_blank">Lord Ganesha</a>, the elephant-headed God, the symbol of auspiciousness and wisdom,
is also worshiped in most Hindu homes on this day. In <a href="http://hinduism.about.com/cs/jainism/index.htm" target="_blank">Jainism</a>,
Deepawali has an added significance to the great event of Lord Mahavira attaining
the eternal bliss of <i>nirvana</i>. Diwali also commemorates the return of <a href="http://hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/aa033101a.htm" target="_blank">Lord Rama</a> along with Sita and Lakshman from his fourteen year long exile and vanquishing
the demon-king Ravana. In joyous celebration of the return of their king, the
people of Ayodhya, the Capital of Rama, illuminated the kingdom with earthen <i>diyas</i>
(oil lamps) and burst crackers.
<i><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://hinduism.about.com/od/diwalifestivaloflights/a/diwali.htm" target="_blank">Read more about Diwali <span style="font-size: small;">here</span></a></span></i></span></span></span></span></div>
mymoviewpickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884751238893438701noreply@blogger.com0Bangalore, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.594562712.724026199999999 77.2787057 13.2191712 77.910419699999991