INDIA and the Rest of the World

Paharganj is not Paris

2012-01-24T14:02:00.001+01:00

No, indeed, and people who end up in Paharganj are not interested in the Champs Elysees. So there. Many Delhi travelers, the so-called backpacker crowd, hang out in Delhi's cheap hotel district Paharganj near New Delhi railway station. I wonder what the locals think about these Rastafari Europeans who wear torn clothes, Arabic fluffy pants, skimpy tshirts, or see guys with long hair and earrings. Observing it all, it seems the Westerners dress what they consider to be "ethnic" style, while the locals probably think we have a screw loose and not all our cups in the cupboard. Talk about cultures clashing.

SAM'S CAFE roof top terrace of the V.... Hotel

For people like us, who live in Delhi, Paharganj is a great place to visit one of the many rooftop terrace restaurants, usually part of a hotel. The food is mostly pretty shitty, but if you like the January and February sunshine and enjoy simple ginger tea, it's a great place to hang out.
To me, the best part about Paharganj are the side streets and alleys where you can find many old Havelis, crumbling and decaying, but still beautiful. Middle-class Delhites wouldn't come to this part of Delhi if the devil chased them, they consider it too sleezy and beneath them. But that is where all the photo opportunities are!!!! Get dirty, people!

How come on photos everything
always looks so romantic, clean and quiet?
Roof top view over main bazar

Lots of bull traffic here too

You can buy everything under the sun in Paharganj, but always be careful not to step into a pile of cow dung. And of course be prepared for all the hustling business man. It's part of the fun. Smile and keep moving. They are used to it. But definately buy some of the beautiful deities out of wood, brass, marble, or glass. Or at least a door knob, come on.

Pay attention when you stumble around!

When you come by metro , you must stop at the Rama Krishna mission, a beautiful place of worship for those who are seeking higher grounds, espcially VIVEKENANDA fans, There is a nice book shop on the premises with super cheap material that will keep your minds and souls spinning for many months to come. Check it out!

It is worth a visit. Even though one cannot walk in the
garden surrounding the prayer hall.

Remember to take your shoes off in the prayer hall

This cafe is right around the corner from the mission,
and though it is tiny, it is a favorite hang out
with tourists.

Politics and Religion , that is India.

Soccer Game Bayern Muenchen- INDIA

2012-01-13T08:33:00.000+01:00

First of all: if you didn't make it to this game (10 Jan), do not despair. OK you missed 4 goals by the Bavarians in the first half, but so what? We only reached in time for the second half ( I could swear the online ticket seller said 7 pm not 6 pm for the start of the game) and thought many more goals would come, but by then those Bazis looked a bit tired. Many people were leaving while we were entering, but many more wanted in. Since the ticket office was already unmanned, the cops standing around the main gate all claimed "SOLD OUT!".

The soccer field looked much smaller in real life than on TV

Of course it wasn't sold out. I mean come on, this was a soccer match, not cricket. The scalpers who had all the tickets were in fact the policemen , and we managed to get two VIP Tickets for 1/8th of the price. Quite frankly , I don't think anyone in the VIP section paid for their tickets. You know how it works in Delhi: Everyone here thinks he's important enough to deserve a pass, a free ride. Suckers! And sure enough, when we finally found our seating area, we realized that most people were busy eating free food in the VIP lounge. Hey, I came here to watch a good game.
The posh Indian fans were not aware of shouting and drumming and all that, so I was the only fool screaming "GO INDIA GO" in the rare moments they ever got close to the goal. In any case, the Indian team stoically defended in the second half and the Bavarians didn't seem to be trying to hard anymore either. So off to the free food lounge it was. Scampis, fried sausages, mutton meat, momos and desert were the left-overs from the half-time break, and we tried to stuff our faces to offset the cost of the tickets. What can one do?

Some idiotic Western people thought it is more important
to score at the buffet than on the soccer field.

At the end of the game, when the Munich men went into the showers rooms, most of those overpaid wankers didn't even bother to look up and wave, let alone smile. Spoiled brats. Why come to India when you never care who is in the Stadium anyway? Many young boys surely spent more than they can afford on one of those bloody tickets and they were excited to see overseas players. I tried Basti Schweinsteiger to see me by yelling, but these darn TV men were in the way, otherwise I am sure he would have looked!
Life goes on. It's just soccer after all, right? Right!

Finding the exit after the game was not as easy
as it looks. The full moon helped.

Indian Teaching Experience

2012-01-07T15:32:00.001+01:00

I had the great opportunity and pleasure to teach writing to a group of over 40 employees in a Tech company who have to churn out Google Ads. It was an awesome experience and I can only recommend it to all my fellow ESL teachers out there: make India your career destination. Indian students are polite, dedicated and hard-working!

You may have to drive to some godforsaken outskirt neighborhood across the most abominable roads, and you may end up like me: finding yourself in a call-center-like setting among rows of cubicles instead of a classroom, but don't worry, they will make sure you get what you need to make teaching a worthwhile and fun experience. Everyone tries to accommodate you. And I got lucky to have worked for a company that pays in time. So spot-on all the way for me and again I cannot praise my lovely students enough. I think the all have a bright future, and it was tough saying Good-Bye to them today.
(Sorry for the bad picture quality. DON'T BUY KODAK!)

46 students best work in smaller groups:
here the self-appointed CHALLENGERS

The LIONS , only girl missing is Shubum

another great looking bunch:
THE STRIKERS

The smallest group with the most number of girls:
THE SKY RAIDERS

A small group in the back row called themselves
RED BULL

Letting the students teach,
competitive group work on the white board

Not easy trying to reach everyone while talking,
never mind remembering names in such a big class

more stand in front of the class work here

The biggest challenge for Western teachers in India will be NAME LEARNING: to us Indian names do not indicate male or female and our ears simply are not used to the sound of them, so it is imperative to do a lot of games in the beginning. Unfortunately in my cubicle setting this was not possible. I apologize to all my students for only remembering a few names, or the English ones :-) Good luck to you all and to me!

Matches Made in Heaven

2012-01-05T09:37:00.000+01:00

Every once in a while we stumble upon something amazing, but see it only if we are conscious enough to notice instead of sleepwalking our way around town.
Catching this old man selling boxes of matches right in front of a fire station was one of those heavenly moments.

Delhi's Connaught Place Fire Station

See him there crouching on the left?
May be the fire fighters set him up for it thinking somebody will eventually misuse these matches and finally light a nice fire to put out. Who knows why this old man chose just this spot ?
And sometimes you just have to look elsewhere for a great view? Can you read what it says on the top floor of this deserted building?

COME UP!

It's also good to go off the beaten path and check out some back alleys, they occasionally offer a grand view, too!

Highs and Lows: new underground parking
in the making, and badly needed in Delhi, too

And lastly: pets always make for excellent photo opportunities.

WHO SHOT THIS DOG?

No, this is not a canine crime scene,
just some chillin' in the chilly city.

Allright folks, KEEP YOUR SLEEPY EYES OPEN and life might be a lot less dull. And have your cameras ready at all times. SNAP! GOT YA!

Fuck it: Swearing Abroad

2011-12-28T07:48:00.009+01:00

Every country has its swear or curse words and learning those is usually the easy and fun part when travelling abroad. While you hear a lot of "Bollocks" and "Blimey" and "Blast!" in the UK ( personally I like to say "wanker" a lot), the Americans keep it simple with an ongoing stream of "fuck this" and "fuck that", fuck yourself, or 'fucking awesome' etc And then of course there is the ever endearing "mother fucker". Interestingly in India the person who is upset accuses you of having fucked someone's sister, obviously considered a worse act than fucking the mother! Hence you will hear the occasional "behain chod", sister fucker. Not so in Germany, there you are an Arschloch. That means asshole and is the favorite German swear word. Strangely Germans don't do a lot of fucking in a linguistic sense. At least I have rarely heard it (ficken) and most definitely never uttered these words in my mother tongue. We are more into the loo realm of ass and shit (Scheisse).

I always thought of Graffiti
as swearing and cursing in public

I love to curse myself, but we do have to have self-discipline and nothing is effective if over-used.
Since we are still enjoying a bit of holiday spirits and some of you might be on leave, why not check out a good book or a great song. HAVE A LOOK (they are fucking awesome)
Cee Lo Green's awesome song that we can all relate to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc0mxOXbWIU

For some new perspective, check out this excellent book by John Parkin. It will really lighten your load. FUCK IT, friends!

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4837266-fuck-it

Oh and for anyone thinking that you will become enlightened when you come to India, because everyone is so goddamn spiritual here, let me tell you, before that happens there will be a whole lot of cursing going on in your head, you know, that inner monologue we keep ourselves busy with. This place tends to give us white faces a lot of reasons to curse. Once you have overcome that urge, yeah, then consider yourselves enlightened, brothers and sisters.
:-)

Final thoughts: cursing is a democratic act that can and is practiced by people from all walks of life, rich or poor. After all, life does present us with many occasions where a good swear word is more effective than diplomacy, no matter where we live
May be if someone had told Hitler "FUCK YOU!" we wouldn't have gotten into that mess, you know which one. Never know.... In the end we all have to decide whether we let things go with a shrug and a "Fuck it!", or if we should stand up for our principles with a loud and clear "FUCK YOU!" (I'm not going to pay you a bribe/ I'm not going to vote for you/ You cannot cut in front of me/ Don't touch me/ etc etc).
To know when each has its time and place is the whole crux of life I suppose.
HAPPY NEW YEAR, possums!

Rickshaws R Us

2011-12-21T07:48:00.003+01:00

Many Western tourists, when they come to India, are too shy or afraid to get a ride on a rickshaw thinking it is dangerous or at least a cruel way to be driven around. Me included, but I have managed to control my pity for the rickshaw man and myself for that matter. First-timers who do take the risk often wish they hadn't as soon as the rickshaw ventures out into real traffic. Here is only one advice: Close your eyes, believe in a higher power and HOLD ON...somehwere!

This is one of this "can't -hold -on- nowhere" rickshaws,
in this case in Chandigarh

There are rickshaws in Kolkata that are actually pulled by men (think "City of Joy"), but I heard they have just been prohibited . In Delhi you have the with-roof rickshaws and the without-roof rickshaws which can be seen in Old Delhi mostly. Those are more scary, because there really isn't a place to hold on to. But rickshaws are also used for transporting huge, bulky stuff like fridges or goats for slaughter, 10 school children, sacks of dead chicken, and anything under the sun and moon. And of course they can be used for snoozing.

One potatoe , two potatoe

WARNING: only to by copied by those who never stir in their sleep!

It is an exhausting occupation after all

Many people fantasize about riding a rickshaw themselves, but most of us learn that those suckers are hard as hell to steer, always swerving off to one side and hard to pedal. Some of us have made this dream come true, and failed in their attempt to go more than 5 meters straight. But no pain , no gain.

This is what happens when outsiders
think they can just hop on and go:
a true traffic nuisance

Most rickshaw drivers have to stand up when they pedal, either because they are too short or because they have no gears and therefore less power. I never understand why the rickshaw was never fine-tuned in this country.

I think having hemorrhoids is a common ailment
of rickshaw wallahs: those bike seats
are hard as concrete

The newest models of rickshaws in the meantime can be spotted in the West.

Here a couple samples seen in Berlin. Those I have yet to try.

This driver is sitting way too high to get good
motion going, but then tourists like it slow.

In front of the Bundestag in Berlin you can find these sleek
3-wheelers, of course covered in case it rains.
They should send a few over to Delhi!

So, for all you who haven't tried this green mode of transportation, please do.And tell us about it.

Indian Oddities

2011-12-02T09:11:00.000+01:00

Should we ever be walking around with our eyes and ears open instead of daydreaming or leading the umptieth inner monologue practicing what we're going to say to so-and-so about such-and-such amazing things might happen. You could SEE the world around you and snicker at it.
Here are some fine examples of what I mean:

Nothing goes out of style in India
including the word PEON !
I should have applied for this job
at Bahri Booksellers in Khan Market, Delhi.

It's the last paradise for smokers:
do light one for me, too!

This poor peon is completely exhausted from selling
UNICEF cards for Christmas 2011

This here little photos series was witnessed by us one fine day on the roof tops of Indian Coffee Home in Delhi's Connaught Place. A rhesus monkey ,almost dying of thirst obviously, demanded his drink PRONTO and took his place. The other guests were not amused but quickly made way for the king of the jungle-- no wait that is the lion-- but anyway, he came, drank, smashed his glass for good luck and left. A true free spirit!

Life in the big city can be a tad bit overwhelming
especially for security guards who sometimes do nothing
but open doors all day. OH did I mention, this is the 21st century?

It must be 4 o'clock in INDIA.
Everyone MUST have his cuppa tea,
even people holding loaded weapons.
You do understand that, don't you?

Have you had any good fast furt lately? No?
Just come to Goa where you'll have some
delicious Goan furt!

And lastly
you will see cats with no noses in India , too, at least not
ones most of us are accustomed to. Meeouw!

In GOA you either love JESUS or marry a basil plant

2011-11-15T06:57:00.005+01:00

JESUS rocks, is the overall sentiment in Goa.
These reused swimming pool tiles
bear witness to it.

Yes, we just returned from a small holiday in Goa, a tiny state on the West Coast of India, famous for its wide beaches, coconuts, cashews and hippie activities, whatever that means. Smoking pot? Yes, we did see people smoking big fat marijuana cigarettes, but they were deeply inhaled by Indian kids in Tommy Hilfiger T-shirts. I don't know, the world is just not what it used to be. Anyhow.

Our Lady of Hope near Candolim

As a former Portuguese colony , Goa is foremost Christian (though the BJP is trying to built temples like crazy to make sure Jesus does not become too powerful!), so you see a lot of crosses and white churches and ladies in Portuguese-looking house frocks.

These white churches often date back to the 17th and 18th century and though they tend to look unused, all the gold and glitter is shining for the Catholic believers. You just need to find an open door to enter.

I could swear the name was Angelo, but AGNELO?
Sure! Why Not, Father Brown!

But aside from the magnificent plant life in Goa, you also see a lot of old houses in ruins (left by the former colonials in a hurry, and now called "enemy properties" by the locals!) and colorful containers where locals plant their TULSI, an Indian type of basil which is holy and considered a GODDESS according to Hindu mythology. DON'T ASK!
Read more here http://www.tulsiherbaltea.com/Tulsi-Krishna.aspx
http://hinduism.about.com/od/ayurveda/p/tulsi_holybasil.htm

This is not a bad way for a plant to live.
Garden Centers pay attention!

A rather pompous way for basil to grow
but if the lady likes it, then by all means!

Someone is not watering
this goddess properly!

Since Tulsi is considered a woman, some families have ceremonies during which the plant is dressed up and married off. You better google it yourself, if you need to know how to date a basil plant.

Graffiti Grouse- Death to the Shitter

2011-11-03T08:03:00.003+01:00

No, this has nothing to do with India, but the graffiti depicted on the walls here is certainly not an unfamiliar site for people travelling through India, especially when you enter a city by train during morning hours: tons of squatters are sitting near the tracks doing their morning "business". Some face the tracks to watch the trains go by while doing you-know-what ,others prefer to show the window gawkers their back side. Not always amusing.
Well, but this story takes place in Bremen, Northern Germany, witnessed by yours truly this summer when I noticed some interesting wall decorations throughout one of the quarters called the Ostertor. Suddenly I put one heap of crap next to another, and figured out what was going on. See for yourselves:

Someone had started the "Shitting"

Someone did not like this pile of crap everywhere

Fantasies of stabbing the shitter spring up

Alas, it's obvious:
the shitter must die.
SHOOT!

So you see, there are many a tale in a city. Call it urban creativity or mental decay, I call it a damn good crap!
For more poop art and other graffiti see this blog http://mindshit.de/art/streetart-berlin-nur-einer-minute/ or see Flickr for more on Bremen street art http://www.flickr.com/groups/beckstown/

Sexy Religion

2011-10-19T07:18:00.002+02:00

You know about the yin and yang and all that, right? Well, in India there is linga (male= creator of life) and yoni (female= source of life). So which came first then, the hen or the egg? Geez, it's that age old question again. No creation without a source, or no source with a creation? I leave the answer up to you.

The linga in the yoni

In India, Shiva is the creator, but many temples just use the linga symbol as a roof top. So much more effective, don't you think? But why black, my devotess, why black? As soon as I find the picture, I'll show it to you. Here now only this:

I don't know about you, but the chest of this
plastic Shiva ( in front of a wedding hall)
reminds me a bit of Lex Barker's ( as Tarzan) no?

Now, come on, if couples Yoga isn't sexy, I don't know what is.

This here , my friends, is Baby Krishna, and only the
gods on Mount Kailash know, why Indians like to turn
this little pumpkin into an Eros figure.

Call me a Voyer, but I do love to stare at that
giant chest of "what's her name" goddess.

You see what I mean now. Hinduism is pretty sensual . I won't get into the Karma Sutra and all, because that's been chewed to death. And whoever has actually read it, knows why everyone just looks at the pictures. However, if you do ever come to India, do NOT, repeat, do not expect to find a lot of sexy stuff going on. It may well be called the Country of Prudes. Believe or not. So stick to the statues!

Occupy Together against Corporate Greed and Corrupt Governments

2011-10-10T06:56:00.006+02:00

It's a good time to be pissed off . Much is happening these days, so get involved.

UPDATE: next action will be on 29 October 2011
"Adbusters proposes an Oct. 29 "#RobinHood Global March" — and a candidate for the group's unifying demand: "On October 29, on the eve of the G20 Leaders Summit in France, let's the people of the world rise up and demand that our G20 leaders immediately impose a 1% #ROBINHOOD tax on all financial transactions and currency trades." (from NPR)
http://www.adbusters.org/ 17 September, 15 October... the people will not remain quiet.

YES, ladies and gents, GRIEVE PUBLICALLY PLEASE!

The average Joes, the Toms, Dicks, and Harrys, and the plain Janes have awoken and risen and are SHOUTING "enough is enough". Global revolution against the few who posses all the money, power, property and arms is possible when we all speak out against them together. What do you think? Fat chance? Well, doesn't matter, saying it out loud is such a relief. So

Wherever you are in the world, please, sign this petition and be heard
http://www.avaaz.org/en/the_world_vs_wall_st/?cl=1310290084&v=10614

and remember the GLOBAL REVOLUTION DAY on 15 Oct

Find where events are held http://15october.net/ and http://www.meetup.com/occupytogether/

Graffiti in Berlin

See all the OCCUPY action on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/occupytv

Lots of protest happening everywhere around the world,
don't miss this chance to stand together and be heard!
INDIA
http://www.indiaagainstcorruption.org/
USA
http://www.democracynow.org/
England
http://www.ukuncut.org.uk/
Germany
http://eurodemostuttgart.wordpress.com/
www.echte-demokratie-jetzt.de

Feminine Issues the World Over

2011-09-29T09:49:00.007+02:00

In India ""Carefree" has developed this amazing belly belt to hook your feminine napkin onto. I have not tried this myself, not only because my belly is way to huge to be circumvented by anything less than a cruise line rope in harbor, but also because I believe we have clearly gone beyond such methods in the rest of the world. However,....
READ ON

(Yes, boys, this might interest you too). Ladies, do you know how many periods you'll have over your ovulating life time? Let's say you started menstruating at 12, not unusual these days. And let's say, you remain on fertile grounds until you are 50. That is 38 years of having a period every month. Though of course it does vary, let's say we have 12 periods a year (even with some pregnancies, there are usually 13 cycles, so it all evens out). That means you run to the shop for panty shields or tampons round about 450 times . And since a period lasts an average of 3 days and we use about 5 of whatever-kind a day (moderately speaking), that makes for a total of 7000 "carefrees always ultras extras thin/medium/overnight" or whatever. Costing us gals around 1500 Euros. Most likely much more.

Bloody hell!

Now that is nothing to sneeze at.
But WHO TAKES CARE OF OUR VAGINAS during these messy times? Obviously people who don't know a darn thing about a vagina. I mean, pray do tell, why are these pantyliners nowadays 25 cm long reaching half way round our whole rumps???? I always cut them to half their size. What a waste!

During some earlier (more idealistic) years, I used to sew my own cotton panty pieces. But for this hectic life we all do lead (with the exception being me, of course), it is not so easy.
However, if you want to save 1500 Euros (2000 US $), stay allergy free and do something for the environment, that's the way to go, ladies.
Got that, all you penny pinching lovers and hubbies out there?

PS: "Pleasure Puss" quotes women using almost 17.000 tampons or pads over a life time, so you so how urgent this topic was!
Why make Kimberly Clark (= Kotex), Proctor & Gamble ( =Always) , Johnson & Johnson or whoever the big guns are richer than they are already. Whole forests are cut, by the way, to make diapers and pads and all that. So stick to cotton and self-made.....Cheers

http://www.pleasurepuss.com/
See also some nifty things to order here
http://mikknits.blogspot.com/2008/03/reusable-cloth-panty-liners.html
http://mypads.wordpress.com/

Kill Your Inner Bourgeois

2011-09-24T08:29:00.003+02:00

Unfortunately I missed a great French man who was visiting Delhi the other day to talk about his book "An Attempt to Kill My Inner Bourgeois". His name is Yann Kerninon (weird name, eh? Ask his parents) It had only recently been translated into English by the Indian book publisher Full Circle Books http://fullcirclebooks.in/
(they also run a book shop and a cafe that's called Turtle). Something drew me to this book, and it wasn't the cover design, that's for sure, so it must have been the title. I have been trying to kill certain "bad things" within in me for the past 49 years, so it seemed this would help. And did it! Ok, let's be honest, it will be killed bit by bit, future tense. No one is a saint.

The French book cover is not much better ( a pig digging
at something), but oh well. I would have put a dandy,
a blue color worker and a guru-ji on the cover, or...
well, something a little more interesting anyway.

I will quote here from the first page:

"A battle is now being waged between life, in all its forms, and death in all its forms. It is being waged everywhere, in every country on the planet, but more than anywhere, in the minds and bodies of each one of us. What could be worse or more cowardly than to flee the battle and pretend life itself was not an immense battlefield? This book is a tribute to the DADAISTS, who, at the dawn of a ruinous century, had the temerity to celebrate life. This books is a tribute to all those human beings who, at the dawn of the 21st century, see the deadly deserts that lie ahead, and yet against all odds, are determined to prove that they are equal to life."

The reader learns what DADA stood for. Thought it was just an art movement? Think again.... S-he also learns the difference between bourgeois and anti-bourgeois (according to Yann, there are both crazy) and what the middle-way means: to become non-bourgeois. If you thought you were anti-bourgeois, then this book will wake you up and rattle your bones. The mirror in your face will not be glorious, but keep reading!

Pretty cute for a philosopher, eh?
And what's best, he also
does magic tricks! See him on YouTube!

I particularly love these lines from the Second Part, ch.3, p.124

"...the penguin is the animal closest to man! Like it, we work, lay eggs, we slide, we fall, we struggle grotesquely while the icy wind of death blows in our ears. We are all penguins in a freezer." HAHA, anyone who saw the movie "March of the Penguins" (2005) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0428803/ has to agree. It was the most grueling spectacle I ever witnessed in a mother nature film, maybe because it reminded me so much of our own lives. Futile struggles against all odds.

To give you an idea, but it is best to dive right
into it and ABSORB!

Yann gives us JUMPING EXERCISES to practice becoming NON-bourgeois, so we can stop behaving like assholes all the time, stop pretending, being true to ourselves, and not be afraid to be a child again. How about exercise number 6 (p.130)
"Every morning, dare to repeat to yourself and to others that all that you do is meaningless and absolutely absurd....." ABSURD< ABSURD>ABSURD.............DADADADADA :-))
He also introduces each chapter with a quote by the original Dada thinkers and "music for this thought". How about a little "ANAL CUNT" . Head spinning! YEAH!

Read all the original DADA stuff on this site http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/dada/collection.html

Sunday Guardian from 11 September 2011
I had thrown this paper away already when I went through it
again only to discover this AFTER I had bought the book.
LIFE!!!

You can go to his web site http://www.yannkerninon.com/

or visit him in Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yann-Kerninon/110820218956389

or ask me to send you the book from India, and I will be glad to buy it for you and send it to you.

BEST wishes from this new DADA and KERNINON fan. It's been a long while since a book has blown me away so much and it feels good, damn good. ALIVE!

Women in India

2011-09-19T11:36:00.001+02:00

Life for the majority of women in India is tough if not dreadful, but the middle-class and upper cruste Indian ladies lead a pretty good life. They usually have a maid/cook and tend not to lift a finger in their own house. Groceries are delivered, clean shirts are ironed outside by the dhobi caste and walking is usually done by getting carried around in a rickshaw. Some have a nanny and a driver when money is really good. If the maid gets sick, chaos breaks out, as suddenly no one is even able to make a cup of tea anymore. I see a lot of those middle-class women here bored and totally cooped up in the house. Hanging out in the mall seems to be their only fun. I could be wrong.
Any kind of "enjoyment" is usually connected with a religious activity. Going to temple, pilgrimage or just praying. I have seen huge shrines in bedrooms here, Lord Shiva only knows how to make love under so much godly supervision......
Anyway, this is a big subject, so I'll leave it to the image world again to stir a few thoughts....

I don't know if Indian housewives take Prozac
like their American counterparts do sometimes,
but this model woman sure looks high to me.
She also has a gigantic BINDI on her forehead.
They are going out of style I heard. Gee, I wonder
why, they sort of say "Shoot me, please!" No?

This declaration was spotted in the Delhi metro (click on it to see the whole text) , in the

ladies' compartment. It is still common procedure for many families to make the pregnant
woman get an abortion if the unborn baby happens to be a girl. There are areas where for every 1000 boys, only 850 girls are born,
and we all know that mother nature does not allow for such disharmony.

This nice looking older lady is working for Indian Oil.
She sure was into her book keeping,
A bureaucrat to the T.

Time to get another sari made. Having your clothes
stitched by a tailor is still very affordable here.

TV YOGA for those who don't want to venture to
a park at 6 in the morning. In many small parks you can
see women engaging in yoga, while their husbands
join the laughing club and just get together to laugh.
Many ladies here could use a little humor in their lives, too.

Indian Girls- At Your Own Risk

2011-09-02T09:52:00.004+02:00

Different strokes for different folks, right? Right! But some facts you just won't find in "Lonely Planet" travel guides, so if you were planning on getting more than cozy with a nice lady while you are in India: two things I can tell you.
1) Feel lucky if you ever do get "cozy", since that part is most often reserved for AFTER the wedding bells, even today and even for modern, educated girls.
2) If you are about to "score" (sorry, feminist friends, but let's call a spade a spade, to men doing you- know-what still feels like "scoring") then just be aware of the TOE NAILS. Yes, the toe nails. (Many) Indian women keep them LONG! Don't ask me why, I'm just telling. Keep some bandages around just in case!

And NO, these are not my feet I took a picture of, thank you very much. And of course not all Indian ladies have toenails such as these depicted here. Maybe these long nails are somehow related to the oriental shoe fashion, which meant that the more the tip was curved upwards, the more hoity-toity you were :- ) Cheers, mates!

Oh and by the way: were you aware that women here like to be raped in their saris?????

NOT FUNNY? Yeah, tell me about it. This fabric shop owner should leave the PR work to somone with an English degree. Language is nothing to be taken lightly. Now go and wrap and drape yourself, but NO RAPING, you hear!!!!!

Indian Imports in Germany

2011-08-24T16:13:00.003+02:00

Yes, it's a global world, but before you travel far away for your next adventure, check out the latest Indian imports which delight us right at home.

One of the most current Indian imports is a lovely TV character named RAJAN on the daily soap "Red Roses" (Rote Rosen, ARD). He is a student, adopted by a German couple, who wants to study medicine. He brings a lot of wisdom to the show (and Clichees) and cooks curries for his friends, eating while sitting on the floor (There are no chairs in India, right? :-) . He has the most peculiar hair-do, never ever seen in India, I can assure you. Not worn by the modern young men in Delhi anyway.
The cute fellow is actually called Daniel Popat (20) and if you want to know more about him, click here
http://www.fernsehen-life.de/359-das-erste-neuer-darsteller-in-der-telenovela-rote-rosen-daniel-popat-ab-folge-1056-in-der-rolle-von-rajan/

http://goldbaum-management.de/Daniel_Popat-daten.html

if you ever see someone wearing open long hair AND a tied bun in the back
let me know, please.

The conflict: promised to a girl back home, Rajan is tempted by
the German girl who fell in love with him and his
Bollywood moves :-)

But there is more to savor apart from a TV hunk. Food is the most important thing for any Indian, and overfed Germans can try their luck with these exotic dishes:

This actually tastes pretty Indian :-)

BREAD, ready to eat without the hastles of
trying to make it thin and flat yourself :-)

Why they call it Chai Latte (milk) is beyond me,
after all CHAI the Indian way is always made
with milk

Freizeitmacher: free time maker?
What this has to do with a chicken dish-
only Lord Ganesh will know.

This is a spiritual import, the healer Guruji Mohan,
supposedly a well-known teacher in India.
Germans like to believe that all
Indians are very spiritual:-)

This rickshaw service in the northern city of Bremen
helps people who arrive at the train station

Animals in the City

2011-06-13T08:42:00.000+02:00

Everyone expects cows roaming India's cities, and they are!
But it's fun to see some other wildlife on the roads and on trees.

During a storm these rhesus monkeys (at least 50 of them) suddenly
came out of the trees and crossed the British Council building
in downtown New Delhi

On the Yamuna River bridge,
elephants are often used for good luck
in weddings, but have a hard life
on hot asphalt drinking polluted river water

This captured langur is supposed to chase away
the rhesus monkeys, here is is peaking into
a classroom at the British Council

Dog taking it easy on higher grounds

Donkeys are used to carry sand and bricks for construction sites

A proud bull promenading in East Delhi

The sad life of chickens

White horses are also used in weddings,
the groom arrives on it on his big day

the glass eyed water buffalo,
they are commonly used for milk

Tolstoy in Delhi

2011-05-25T15:12:00.002+02:00

India, formely with Socialist leanings, at least after partitian in 1947 until the early 1990s, was very fond of Leo Tolstoy and they made sure their love was visible. Many places in Delhi remind us of that love:

Tolstoy statue in front of the Cottage Emporium,
a large Government run shopping haven

Tolstoy Lane right off Tolstoy Marg, the larger sister to the lane, in the heart of New Delhi

The right place for an Aeroflot office: Tolstoy House in Tolstoy Marg

During the Cold War India, though part of an independent Block, was friendly towards Russia and the two countries do have close ties. Until very recently two major Indian states were Communist run for 30 years and the Communist Party has survived here so far, unlike in Europe. There is a large Russian cultural centre in Delhi which is quite active. Many Russians love Bollywood movies, so somehow in their hearts they are close to India. See the "Russian Centre of Science and Culture in New Delhi:
http://www.russiancentre.org.in/eng/aboutus.html
Here is a little clip by a Russian tourist who sounds quite happy to have found his hero author worshipped so far away in India
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqzqMmMA0M4
And some more inside info on Russian literature and India for those of you who care.
http://scarlet.unl.edu/?p=1672

Indian Summer

2011-05-09T06:17:00.002+02:00

A little poetry by yours truly appropriate for the season

Indian Summer …

…starts around March,

that’s right, when it quickly

climbs to over 30, Celsius that is.

At first the nights

are still your friend, but one day

you open the cold water tab

and get wet without

the slightest shiver.

In fact you can cut

the air with a knife,

they were right, you know.

And the only place left

to sleep is the marble floor,

you won’t mind your back

aching one bit. No need

to worry about mosquitoes:

by May they’re too exhausted

to bite. It’s 42 now. Believe it.

At this time you don’t leave

the house anymore except

to quickly hang the laundry:

clean sheets on your bed again

ten minutes later.

If you think ice cream or ice cubes

will help, you tongue is too slow

to agree.

But so far you haven’t even

sweated that much, dry air

has crinkled your skin, thirst

bouts come like attacks.

In July when it changes

to ninety percent humidity,

you know you can’t take

another hour of this:

the drenched shirts, sticky pants,

that warm wall hitting your face

when you open the doors at six

in the morning, and the stink

of fungus growing in corners

of your house you can’t reach.

No, not another minute without losing

your mind, and you promise yourself

never again an Indian summer.

A summer in India that is.

This Poem was written in Delhi on 3 May 2011

What is Devanagari?

2011-05-02T06:44:00.001+02:00

This is the Hindi Alphabet

It starts with 13 vowel sounds , first on the A and then goes on:

Line 3: K/KH/G/GH and an N like sound

Line 4: CH/CH-h/ J/ JH/ and another funny sound

Line 5: T/ TH/D/Dh and another funny sound

Line 6: another T/ TH/D/DH/ and N

Line 7: P/PH/B/BH/ and M

Line 8: S/ R/ L/V and ???

then it gets complicated with dipthongs etc

Good Luck learning HINDI

See my post from 2 Feb "How come they don't speak Indian in India?"

Cross-Cultural Differences: India-Germany

2011-04-25T05:20:00.002+02:00

This clip is hillarious. For anyone from Europe coming to India, especially to Delhi for the first time, this is a must see "document". WARNING: could cause serious belly cramps from too much laughing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPdlkNzbL3k

from ZURMAT.com

Learning English Teaching

2011-04-23T17:35:00.004+02:00

Well, I just finished a course learning how to become an English teacher. In only 4 weeks! Isn't that amazing? Yes, I am talking about the CELTA course. Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults. English as a second or foreign language that is. You can do this around the world, and it is a certificate recognized around the world, because it is designed and accredited by the University of Cambridge. Quite useful.

http://www.cambridgeesol.org/exams/teaching-awards/celta.html

In New Delhi, you can complete it with the BRITISH COUNCIL. (It costs 110.000 rupees).
http://www.britishcouncil.org/india-education-course-details-celta-link.htm
BUT! If you want to do this course, be prepared for a nightmarish amount of work, no private life for 4 weeks, no friends, nothing. Basically you eat, dream, sleep and talk CELTA: 24/7. It is THAT intensive. If you ever had one, forget about your sex life now, your house cleaning, too, your children, forget it all, you will be neck deep in studies and preparations.

PAYING ATTENTION ALL the TIME!

In the morning YOU are the student; in the afternoon, you become the teacher. And while you are learning you not only have to pick up the content of the lesson, you have to get HOW the tutors are teaching you, because in the afternoon, you have to (TRY and) include that procedure when facing your own learners. You will teach 8 times, either 40 or 60 minutes each, but if you are slow like me, it will take you 3-4 hours to prepare your lesson: write the lesson plan and get the whole script into your little brain basically. Usually you only have a couple of days to prepare. You are in school from 9 am to 6 pm, sometimes earlier or later to observe real classroom lessons, and after school you rush home, throw something edible down your throat - you won't care what - and keep on studying til midnight. And from day 1 you will have students, too. SCARY!.
You get bombarded with paperwork, so you better learn how to manage this in your folder,and find the right paper when the time comes. Plus you are expected to write 4 assignments, too. Hallelujah, my friends.
If you haven't suffered from nervous stomach syndrome before, you will during the CELTA course. Get "Peptobismo" or whatever to soothe all that acid, or get may be VALIUM, too, but then you don't wanna fall asleep during your own class, right?
Whenever you teach, you only have to remember a few things:

Your lesson script
Not to talk too much (that is called high TTT=teacher talk time and is a big NO NO)
To give clear and proper instructions
To show, not tell (NO EXPLAINING)
To elicit most things from the students themselves (who unfortunately are free thinking spirits, and don't always do what you want them to)
To remember the time, the clock is ticking, my friend!
Not to move about the classroom like a rabbit on speed
To teach meaning, pronunciation, and form (grammar)... so tempting to ignore, but really the important part of the lesson . YIKES!
To start off with a nice lead-in (arouse interest, come on now) and to end in a good way too
To mark all the copies you hand out with a copyright symbol and information (PLAGIARISM is a CRIME!)
Not to talk unnecessarily, this is called run-on-comments and also punishable by death ( I died many times over, be assured!)
To use technology to show you were not born before 1998, which you probably were
To create lots of variety for the learner who paid a lot of money to be entertained

.....

See, not much at all, right? And while you are doing this, your tutor and your peers sit there with a sly grin on their faces, poised with red pens, ready to shred you to pieces as soon as it is all over. Get ready for an x-ray session of your lesson, but keep smiling throughout this process of "feedback". Don't worry: you get a chance to do the same to them! :-))
(No, serioulsy, everybody is very supportive and tries to help you :-)
Easy as pie, easy as taking candy from a baby?
Sure!And if you thought you really knew English before you started this course (after all, they accepted you into this programme, right, so you must be good), think again, mon ami, think again. Once you stand in front of that class, not only will stage fright eat your inners, but the words out of your mouth will suddenly sound a lot less like proper English to you.
THAT IS the CELTA syndrome.
So, go ahead and try it, and don't expect more than a meager PASS. Only 2% of all trainees get an A. But who needs it , when you just survived the ordeal of a life time!!!!
Cheers, mates! Greetings to all my fellow survivors!!!!

All your sweat and tears are in these folders!

Indian Food

2011-03-24T08:48:00.001+01:00

You can love it or hate it, cry from the spices or laugh when you bite on that one chili in the meal. Everybody has an opinion about Indian food. I for one not only find it too spicy, but actually a bit boring at the same time. I prefer the variety of stews, soups, salads, casseroles, roast, pasta, etc etc. Here it seems to be rice and daal (lentils), daal and rice and daal in a variety of colors. Bas. Or roti and daal, chapati and daal or parantha and daal. WOW!

What you can expect from eating Indian food: to get your hands dirty.

So DIG IN, and don't forget to wash your hands FIRST! BON APETIT!

A nice thali is a big platter of assorted goodies
that keeps on getting refilled endlessly

BATTLEFIELD for heartburn and indigestion or flatulence

South Indian left overs, probably a dosa (the green stuff is just
a banana leaf on which all food is being served

Street food SAMOSAS

Train food

PULSES

Melon time!

Tibetan Refugee Colony in Delhi

2011-03-17T04:41:00.000+01:00

We took a drive to Aruna Nagar in North Delhi (ie.: north of Kashmiri Gate) to see how this minority lives here.It is only a small area between the ring road and the Yamuna river, but with such narrow alley ways (even smaller than in Old Delhi's lanes, it seems), they could squeeze in as much living space as possible. It was like stepping into another world. It was lovely. The Indian-Tibetans were encountered were open and friendly, relaxed and as many girls as boys chilling out in the streets. It was a welcome change from the gruffy, traditional North Indian way. Everywhere colorful houses (many painted green) and sunny roof top terraces with the Tibetan/Buddhist flags. The only thing a bit disturbing where the many, not so friendly dogs. Certainly this is a paradise for shoppers, if only the Hot Yak Cafe had been open. Go see it all yourself!

Entrance

Temple

Don't wake sleeping monks

Actually a BJP sign, I photoshopped this

Roof top havens

Beautiful door poster to a shack

Taylor's paradise

Colorful Tibetan style house

SOUVENIRS

Old Tibetan, tipsy and toothless, but delightful

Hot Yak Cafe near the entrance to the camp

Yamuna river behind the camp

Handsome Tibetans all around

beautiful temple paintings

Hitler still alive in India

2011-03-07T13:26:00.002+01:00

There is probably nothing stranger for a European, and especially a German, while visiting India for the first time, to see Hitler's MEIN KAMPF displayed in most bookstores, a book not allowed to be published and sold in Germany. We asked ourselves immediately: what on earth is happening here? Upon further inquiry, we might be told that since Hitler tried to conquer the Brits, Indians chose to love him, or because he was such a great "leader", they adore him. Well, anyone who kills 6 million Jews and more millions of Russians, not to mention everyone else he did not like, cannot be considered merely a "great leader" in the West. Bad taste, and all that. But when you visit the SUNDAY morning book bazaar in Daryaganj (Old Delhi), you can find Jane Austen, Gandhi and Adolf peacefully side by side. Incredible India!

Also notice "Hitler's Mistakes" above,
you mean World War II could have been "won"?