Simplicity is bliss

I spent a few hours today consolidating posts from all of my blogs into one. All the posts in one place. How lovely! Can you feel the simplicity? I can.

I'm going to continue to maintain several of the existing blogs -- Russian Hill Article Review and Half-Desi, to name two -- where there's a clear theme and/or a finite time period where the story should be told. I'll import those posts here, to beckybowman.blogspot.com, with the appropriate labels. But for all other writings, I'll just be posting here.

That is, of course, until I dream up my next great idea for a blog.

I also worked on my website and got my Etsy shop in order today. (It's never too early to shop for Christmas, y'all!) Not too shabby for a Friday.

Extended Indian Family

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So I'm working on a post about Amritsar, which I traveled to this weekend, but I just got home from dinner and wanted to do a quick post on something I haven't written about yet: my extended Indian family.

Just before I left home to start this adventure, I got engaged to my boyfriend of three years, Vivek, who grew up in India -- born in Calcutta and raised mostly in Bombay but with stints from Kerala to Hyderabad to Uttar Pradesh. So on arrival here, I had a lot of future in-laws to meet -- and they've been an amazingly welcoming bunch, taking care of not only me but also, quite often, my co-worker Greg, who was along in Chandigarh when I was literally welcomed into the family.

Greg and I just got back from a lovely evening at my cousin-to-be's house -- playing with her two young kids, talking with her father (my father-in-law's brother) and watching her husband, a journalist, on TV -- and then having a chance to chat about politics with him when he arrived home. We were served a delicious Bengali-style meal, listened to Elton John (Greg picked, with the help of the kids) and looked at family photos -- of Holi, of a trip to Rishikesh, of ceremonies such as annaprashana.

We have a busy week ahead, but I'm super glad we took tonight to visit. Living in India for three months is bound to be an amazing experience, no matter what, I think -- but being able to meet and hang out with my new relatives -- seeing a glimpse of what truly living in India looks like -- has made mine even richer.

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Holy Water, Architecture & Organizational Wonders

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Last weekend, I ventured -- and I do mean ventured -- to Amritsar, home of the Golden Temple, Sikhism's most significant place of worship. It's a trip I'd wanted to make for a while but had considered avoiding because of some unrest a few weeks back.

Having gotten the all-clear from my fiance's parents, I decided to venture into Punjab with my co-worker, Debdutta, for a quick weekend trip -- arriving late Friday night Amritsar Shatabdi and returning by the same train to Delhi quite early (5:10 a.m. departure) Sunday morning -- leaving us just enough time to see the Golden Temple, have a rest from the sweltering heat and then head back out for the changing of the guard at the Wagah Border (see next post).

The Golden Temple, as everyone said it would be, was amazing. I've been to a number of sacred places in India -- churches in Old Goa, Hindu temples in Bombay, Jama Masjid here in Delhi, etc. -- and this was one of the most peaceful, to me.

For starters, in contrast to the streets of Amritsar -- a city with the pace, atmosphere and dusty heat of Old Delhi, but with slightly wider streets -- the Golden Temple is a beacon of shining, spotless white marble and gold accents. Everyone entering must check shoes outside the gates and walk through a running stream of water to enter -- a process that ensures everyone's feet are clean. Inside, volunteers sweep and wipe floors clean from dust, leaves, water, etc.

Next -- the temple is immaculately organized. At the langar, or community kitchen, each person grabs a tin plate and waits patiently in line for his or her food -- in a system that cycles the crowd through the kitchen, into the seating area to sit in orderly lines and back out again. They wait again, quietly, to enter the main, golden gurdwara at the center of the Pool of Nectar, or Amrit Sarovar, from which the city gets its name.

We had two excellent Sikh guides for the tour, ensuring that we saw all the crucial parts of the temple, including the bread machine and Holy Book; we enjoyed the fish in the pond and I had some chai at the langar; and we made sure to visit the gory Sikh museum on the way out to reclaim our shoes. A lovely experience overall.

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Traditional Indian Wear

I said I'd post more, so here we go.

I've been gathering quite the collection of kurtis -- traditional Indian blouses -- since I arrived in India. They're available in an incredible range of colors, styles and prices -- and I love them all, essentially -- particularly the ones that cost Rs. 230 (about $5) at Delhi's outdoor markets.

I haven't, however, taken much of a plunge into traditional Indian wear on the whole -- full salwaar and chudidar suits -- except for the outfits I wore to the wedding in Chandigarh and the suit made from the fabrics that Vivek's folks sent me.

This weekend, I decided it was time to pair some cotton chudidars and salwaars from Fab India with a few of the kurtis I now own. And today, I -- drumroll please -- wore one of my suits to work. It's a kurti from Vivek's folks, accessorized at Fab India. The photo's me with my co-worker and friend Veni, whom I've been working with now for nearly a year. She's wearing a salwaar suit, and I'm wearing a chudidar suit. Aren't we nicely color-coordinated?

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Long Overdue Update

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OK, I know I haven't written in a while. Yes, I know it's been a month. I apologize. I can't even say I was so crazy busy that I couldn't post. Work's taking up some time, to be sure -- but I could have done a better job of keeping you in the loop. So here's an update.

The contents of my desk are a good place to start in terms of getting a sense of what's been keeping me occupied since I last wrote. I'm reading a new book -- Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer, by Fred Kaplan -- than I was a month ago. In fact, I think I was probably still reading Eat Pray Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert, the last time I wrote -- and I've since also read Angels and Demons, by Dan Brown. (But no, alas, I have not yet seen the movie.)

Enough about books, however -- you wanted to hear about India, right? So the rest of the run-down of my desk:

-- the June 13th-19th Economist. After reading magazines from circa April 15 for nearly eight weeks, I caved in and bought a few new ones.

-- a chuni from my first casual salwaar kameez suit, made with material couriered to me by Vivek's parents in Bombay.

-- small gifts for Vivek's relatives in Gurgaon, given to him to deliver by his brother in Hong Kong and then passed on to me. I'm now part of the informal Indian supply chain.

-- my India tour book (the pretty picture one) -- now more of an old friend than a volume of mystical options.

-- (now dried) birthday roses! And a birthday card from home. I had a birthday last month. I spent it with Vivek, who was visiting, and his friends, in Delhi's GK2 neighborhood. In true welcoming Indian style, I was invited over to celebrate with a homecooked, amazing brunch-time meal at the hosting friend's home. The group also bought me a cake that we ate with ice cream and warm fruit topping. A truly amazing birthday abroad.

-- my copy of 'Modern Bride,' just slightly dog-eared. I'm probably going to rip out a few pages and leave the rest of the mag here for future generations of expats.

-- a beaded, quilted Rajasthani tapestry that used to cover my co-worker Megan's desk here at our guesthouse. Megan went home last month, and I inherited a number of her old items, including a flashlight, several U.S. pennies, about a dozen blank CDs and a flashlight. Megan's thriving back at the office in California -- but we're keeping up the shopping, Sunday expat brunch, guesthouse pancakes and other fabulous activities she introduced us to.

-- my camera -- full of photos from Khan Market, Faridabad, GK2, Calcutta, Hyderabad and Old Delhi.

In sum: I'm doing some more traveling and a lot more work; feeling more settled into my room, my surroundings and India in general; and getting to be a bit nostalgic as we move into the home stretch (14 days and counting). I promise to post more soon.

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Things I Will Do Upon My U.S. Return

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-- Read glossy, aspirational magazines. My lone copy of 'Modern Bride' is not filling this void.

-- Eat gummy candy. Jelly beans, orange slices, gummy worms and gummy bears, Starbursts -- all these things are lacking here.

-- Devour cheap, tasty wine. Ain't no such thing in India. Typical glasses of wine at decent restaurants run about $10.

-- Take more road-trips. My long, slow road trip experiences here have made me pine for the relatively easy, uneventful experience of driving from, say, San Francisco to Santa Monica (a typical 7-hour trip that, in this region at least, would take about 20 hours).

-- Read the Sunday paper ... on Sunday. India is 9 hours ahead of New York and Washington., D.C., and 12 hours ahead of California -- which means that, when I wake up Sunday a.m., I'm greeted with America's Saturday evening news. And you know how crazy that makes me.

-- Enjoy the quiet. I've never been so thankful for the few quiet moments I can find (pre-7 a.m. at home, evening on the balcony in Rishikesh). From car horns to diesel motors to window unit ACs to my overhead fan (one speed: fast!) to screaming kids (who are not necessarily expected to be quiet), the noise here is just about unbearable at times.

-- Breathe fresh air. You know when you're up on a peak at Sequoia or Yosemite or Mt. Diablo, and way off in the distance, you see a bank of smog, and you think, 'Oh, how awful, such smog!' -- you know that feeling, right? Now, imagine you're at, say, San Francisco Civic Center, and to the south, a few blocks away, instead of blue sky, you see only a dirty haze and dust behind the federal building. That's what my evening commute looks like most days. Lovely, huh?

-- Eat fish. It's summer, Delhi's not near any major sources of fish and refrigeration isn't dependable -- which means, no fish curry, no fried fish, no baked fish. I've had four meals with fish since I got here, v. at least 2 per week in California.

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Whitewater Rafting

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That's right, you read correctly: I went whitewater rafting this weekend. For the first time ever. In India, of all places (Rishikesh, to be exact).

As most of you know, I'm not much of the outdoor adventure type of gal. But, my co-workers were all going rafting and, before leaving home, another co-worker had pointed to the Wikipedia page for Rishikesh and said, "You must go there." So I went.

I was doing OK, Saturday morning, as we got ready to embark on our adventure down the Ganges River -- until our intrepid guide, Eddy, described what to do when the raft flips (a 60-40 chance, he said) and you're suddenly part of the rapids. Gulp. I knew for sure, however, that I did not want to ride back along the winding, cliff-side road that led from Rishikesh to our starting point -- and that helped push me toward the water. I thought I'd be better to take my chances with a life jacket and a helmet on the water.

In the end, I felt safer in the raft with Eddy than I have in many other places in India (including on the roads around Rishikesh). Eddy's company, De & Ascent Expeditions, definitely values safety: A kayaker -- Ayodhi, in our case -- rides along with each rafting expedition, just to help rescue water-bound rafters. Not bad.

Rafting turned out to be one of the best things I've done in a long time. I don't have many photos from the rafting itself -- since my camera was tucked away in an airtight bag for most of the trip -- but I have some great memories. As we went through the biggest rapid, known as The Wall, I remember looking over at my co-worker, Angela. We were crouched inside the boat, in the "get down!" (meaning, water is coming!) position, just before the second wave crashed over us -- and we were smiling and laughing and the sun was shining. It was truly amazing.

I floated down the river for a bit in my life jacket, too. Also cool.

Random facts: The Beatles visited Rishikesh in 1968 -- and, according to Wiki, composed songs for the White Album there. The ashram they stayed at is reported to be closed now, but we visited another, Parmath Ashram. Very nice -- lush gardens, peaceful.

In other news -- I know I haven't posted in a while. Kerala photos and posts to come soon. Promise.

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Ah, Saturday

I feel like sleeping in and lounging around on a Saturday might be a sure sign of assimilating to a new place -- and if so, I've accomplished that task. I got up today 9 a.m., ate breakfast and video-chatted with Vivek, did an hour or so of yoga and then headed out to go shopping.

I spent all afternoon in Janpath, a kind-of shopping district in Delhi anchored, at least for me, by the Central Cottage Industries Emporium -- a government-subsidized handicrafts shop, full of marble-working, gold-working, painted wooden elephants, rugs, art and, my favorite, cheap handmade paper crafts, including stationery and journals. This area's like the stationery-and-picture frame section of a Borders, but at 1/5 the price (about $0.50-$1.50 each for paper sets). And the prices are fixed -- no bargaining necessary. Ah.

After picking up a handful of letter-writing sets CCI, I braved the bargaining-necessary marketplace along Janpath and picked up some nesting jewelery boxes ($2.40), a pair of leather juttis ($11.50) and, at long last, two news magazines ($3.50 total).

All in all, a nice productive day of relaxing and shopping. Quite enjoyable.

Other random updates:
-- Anshuman, my devar-ji-(husband's brother)-to-be, posted some nice photos of his trip to Chandigarh and Gurgaon. (Bhabhi ji means brother's wife.)
-- I had my first Indian mango! (Or at least parts of one, over a few days this week at breakfast.)
-- As a result of my Hindi lessons, I can now say, "Main bharat mai hun" (I am in India), "Office janna hai" (I need to go to the office), and "Dos Cokes, ice nahi, aur dos dosas dijiye" (Please give me two cokes, no ice, and two dosas"). Swell, huh?

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Agra Redux

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To attempt to avoid the inevitable very hot days in May and June, Greg and I journeyed to Agra Sunday for a tour of the Taj Mahal and other monuments. It was my second trip to Agra, so the Taj wasn't quite as amazing -- and the heat at Sikandra, toward the end of the day, was nearly unbearable (by my meager Western standards). But, all in all, not a bad way to spend a Sunday. Photos here.

We opted to hire our weekday driver, Amit, to ferry us to Agra and back, rather than take the train (somewhat disappointing, since one of my chief accomplishments of last week was actually booking our train tickets, which I then exchanged for a partial refund). It was a nice way to get back and forth, I have to say, though twice as expensive as taking the train. Once my Hindi is stronger, I think I'd prefer to take the cheap way and work on bartering for a guide on arrival. (Our guide this time was included in the price of our car fare.) (Not that I'm intending to return to Agra any time soon -- two visits to the Taj seems almost too greedy for a lifetime -- but there are plenty of other places to reach by train from Delhi.)

One item that did not make it into our photos of the day, sadly, was my first trip to a McDonald's in India, where I had a fried chicken sandwich, fries and a Coke with no ice. The fries tasted the same; the chicken was fairly standard but seemed to have some Indian spices, including turmeric. I'd go it again. Maybe next time I'll be brave enough to try the "Veggie Surprise" burger.

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Reverse Tourism

I don't have a photo to prove what I'm about to say, so you're just gonna have to take my word for it.

During our stay in Chandigarh, Greg and I had a few encounters with reverse tourism -- where we became the attraction, at least for a brief moment, shaking hands with small children or posing for photos.

At the Rose Garden, the guardians -- I assume family -- of the poor little guy above brought him over to shake our hands while we sat, enjoying -- what else? -- the smell of the roses.

When the little guy was unphased by the handshake, the folks I can only assume were his parents went in for another step: They picked up him, sat him between us on our bench, put one hand on Greg's lap, one on mine, and took his photo. His photo, with the Americans. The poor guy smiled not once during the entire event. I couldn't tell if he was frightened of just annoyed.

Incidentally, I'm reading 'Eat, Pray, Love,' Elizabeth Gilbert's book about traveling through Italy, India and Indonesia. In a chapter about how she makes for a not-so-great traveler, Gilbert mentions that she dealt with this same phenomenon -- being pointed out by parents to young children -- in China. There, she said, the

"... children -- who had never seen anything quite like this pink-faced yellow-headed phantom person -- would often burst into tears at the sight of me. I really hated that about China." (Penguin Books, 2006)

I don't think my experience makes me hate India. In fact, it was sort of interesting to be, for a moment, on the other side of the lens.

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Chandigarh Photos -- Before the Wedding

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Here and here.

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Random Thoughts

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Musings, while I wait for my photos to upload (not as slow here as it could be in other households in India, but still slower than desired):

• One thing you don't get from my photos is that, most often, when I'm taking them, the air is hot, stinky and either dusty or buggy (mosquitos and flies are most common). But, that said, I always am glad I went wherever I did to take these photos, when looking back on them from the comfort of my AC'd room.
• I had my first power outage of this trip to India last night. The generators kicked in within about 10 seconds, though, which is super. Crazy thing is the cable went first (must be closer to the power source); unfortunately, the cable going out now puts me on edge, in expectation that our power is going to go out, too.
• Every day has been so crazy and different and exciting so far. I haven't been bored at all. Not even close.
• Things I forgot to pack: my brown belt; a flashlight; my cell phone charger (I'm using a mini-USB to charge it from my laptop).

Photos still uploading, but I'm tired. Ciao for now.

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Jami Masjid -- Delhi

In a continuation of our irony-in-India ways, Greg and I spent a good portion of today, Good Friday, a key date in the Christian faith, at Jami Masjid, India's biggest mosque, gathering place for the Muslim faith. Photos here.

Other highlights of today, our first public holiday in Gurgaon:
-- no work! (OK, we both did at least a little work, actually.)
-- running errands at Big Bazaar (a local chain) at Sahara Mall.
-- more working out at the tiny gym on the first floor of our building.
-- buying our return tickets from Chandigarh.
-- finding affordable bangles on Dariba Kalan in Old Delhi. I saw them on sale at the mall for five times as much as I paid (which was 150 rupees, or about $3USD).

Lastly, we rested at home, beautiful home, and had afternoon chai.

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Candrama bhara hua

On the way out of work last night, I glanced out the car window to find a big red full moon following us home. I said something like, "wow," which caught my driver, Amit's attention. He took a glance back but quickly decided it was better to keep his eyes on the road.

To let him know what I was looking at, I pulled out the Hindi-Urdu phrasebook I've been carrying (Anna, I think this once belonged to you), and looked up "moon" and "full." Amit, who speaks very little English, did his best to help me pronounce the words. (chundramah bar-uh hoo-a, from what I could gather, if you're interested.)

And then I realized that this is my life for the next three months. Very cool.

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Settling in

Just a quick post.

A very exciting thing happened last night: I slept a total of 7.5 hours and only woke up once. So I have a stuffy head today (the cold is taking its course), but I feel a bit less jet-lagged. In just 3 days, I feel like that's not bad.

Work is going well. I'm not going to blog about it, but know that it's challenging and keeping me busy. And yes, there's a cafeteria; yes, it serves delicious Indian food.

OK, off to another day.

Hong Kong Photos

Photos, as promised.

Stories to come.

No photos yet

I caught a cold and need to sleep. Photos soon.

India - Day 1

We're here! And off to a rocking start. I'm posting two photos of our wedding-attire-buying extravaganza in Karol Bagh yesterday (for a family friend's wedding next weekend in Chandigarh).

Greg and I arrived in Delhi about 2:20 a.m. Sunday, after a long layover in Hong Kong with my fiance's brother, Anshuman. After a few hours of sleep at our guesthouse in Gurgaon, we headed out with the other expats from our office for a leisurely Japanese brunch (ironic, I know, for our first full meal in India - but we also had homecooked Indian food in Hong Kong, so who knows what we'll eat next) and finished off the day shopping. At home, we had samosas and jalebis for dinner.

I'm heading out for work now, so I haven't got a ton of time to write. But I'll post some more photos tonight (Monday a.m., for most of you -- just in time to help you procrastinate the start of the work week).