The Back Story

November 18, 2014November 20, 2014 / mardysears / 3 Comments

It looks like these posts are turning into more of a travel guide and less of a personal story. For that I am sorry and I hope it hasn’t been too dry. I have wanted to share the fantastic places I have seen, but neglected to include the experiences. So read on for the back story behind my journey to India’s ancient caves!

Juice stand next to bus stand, Pune

Traveling to Aurangabad by myself was a big challenge. Although that was part of the point, to go out and navigate India on my own, it was quite nerve wracking at times. I booked the entire trip on my own, arranging bus tickets and finding a nice hotel on Booking.com. I e-mailed the hotel for help with the travel arrangements and a guide for my trips to the caves. A woman named Yvette from The Meadows Resort was very helpful. So I was prepared for my trip, or was I?

Two boys posed for me at the bus stop while I was taking pictures of autos for Ashwin

I told Venkatesh I would keep in touch by phone during the bus travel, but when I arrived in Pune with my Indian cell phone it wouldn’t work. I had three days of wedding events coming up so I wasn’t worried. Luckily, my father in law, Gopal, was able to fix the service from Bangalore and by the time I boarded the bus it was fine. Thank god, I couldn’t have done the trip without my phone! I’m sure I would have been standing on some street corner after dark, in an unknown city, and hailing an auto to a hotel I didn’t really know how to get to. Phew! Mom and Dad, please don’t panic, I am now home safe, and I didn’t tell you before hand so you wouldn’t worry!

A new kind of auto in Pune, carries many people like a small bus

I was dropped at the side of a busy road in Pune, by the Royal Orchid Hotel driver and Leah. I watched them drive off to the airport, leaving me to wait for a bus that was almost an hour away. I was pretty sure I was in the right place so I was okay, just thinking – I can relax once I’m on the bus. The bus was ten minutes early, so I gave them my reservation and found my sleeper berth. It was quite clean and I settled in for the five hour journey. At the last stop in Pune, a family came and told me I was in their berth. None of the bus personnel spoke English, but it turned out I was on the bus that comes before mine. I had to get out and wait for my bus at a stop on the edge of Pune (who knows where). Luckily there was a bus office and I could sit in a chair outside and wait for my bus. I felt uprooted and nervous, but there were some nice people helping me. A twelve year old boy wearing a green t shirt with ‘smart boy’ written on the front sat down and started talking to me. He was very curious and sweet. I think he wanted to practice his English and he had a lot of questions about my family and the U.S. He really helped me get through the half hour wait. He even showed me to a bathroom down a narrow alley and filled a bucket of water for me to use. Finally my bus came, not as clean as the last and it felt like I was travelling in a coffin, but it got me to Aurangabad feeling only slightly nauseated.

Busy street market on the way to Aurangabad

I had arranged for a hotel driver to pick me up at the bus stand, but when I texted the contact person that I was on the bus approaching Aurangabad, I got a one liner back, ‘sorry?’. This is when I began to get really nervous! Thanks to a working cell phone I was able to get the contact person to talk directly to the driver and I had someone waiting for me when I arrived. Another phew! I arrived at the hotel around 10:30 and it was a ghost town. I was worn out from the trip and had a little trouble communicating with the man at the front desk. The helpful Yvette, it turns out, works at the main office in Bombay – not the resort. Maybe things would look better in the morning, I thought, so I settled into my cottage, locked every door and window and went to sleep. In the morning, another man at the front desk pointed me to the restaurant (he spoke even less English than the one the night before). I didn’t see another guest in sight, just some men cleaning the garden. At the outdoor patio there were two men eating, they turned out to be the only other guests at the resort. Have you noticed there were quite a few men and no women? I was given a menu, and when I ordered, nothing was available. After all, how do you keep a restaurant running when there are only three guests? I was given a choice of four items, I picked one and ordered coffee…..

The coffee came out, they called it milk coffee, but it was really just milk. I said ‘where is the coffee?’. ‘This is coffee Maam.’ ‘But coffee is brown, not white’, I said. ‘Light coffee Maam’, said the waiter. They had little packets of Nescafé that had to be added if you wanted to get any kind of a buzz. Okay, a resort without good filter coffee? I would think this would be priority number one! My entire resort experience continued like this. It was advertised as a garden spa resort; with pool, massage, steam room, weight room and hot tub. They showed a wide range of eastern and western foods, and baked goods that they made on sight. I was looking for a little pampering, but this was definitely not the place for it. The room was comfortable, the staff were quite nice, but it was unsettling. Thankfully, my day trips and guide were fantastic. After all, that was the main reason I went. The worst part happened when I went to check out and none of my international cards could be processed through their machine. I didn’t have enough cash and it took two hours of negotiations. Finally, Venkatesh had to call the hotel manager to work something out. By then it was late and I was completely wound up and worried that they were going to kick me out on my last night. I had a 5 am taxi going to the airport the next morning and I was never so glad to go home, to family and Malleswaram. Adventure over!

Ashwin dressed as an auto driver for fancy dress day at school

Ellora

November 15, 2014November 17, 2014 / mardysears / Leave a comment

Buddhist caves at Ellora

Ellora is a place I have wanted to go to for such a long time, since I was studying Asain art as an undergrad. I don’t know how to describe this experience and it can’t really be explained in pictures either, but here is a taste of the great beauty I experienced. My favorite spot is the Buddhist cave with the ribbed ceiling, and the stupa with Buddha carved into the front. There were very few people when I was there and I was able to sit quietly on the floor and breathe it in. A once in a lifetime experience – the enormity was overwhelming at times. These caves were built by hand from solid rock between the 6th and 9th centuries!

Jain cave

Man from Jain cave

Man blowing into a conch shell on a post in a Jain cave

Three stories of Buddhist monk meditation quarters

Perfectly aligned posts carved from a solid mountain. This cave lacks decoration because it is for meditation. Only the two columns flanking the entrance (halfway down on the right) have carved pots with overflowing plants as a welcome.

Buddhist cave for worshipping the Buddha.

Buddha

Ceiling of cave

Looking out from behind the stupa

The largest Hindu Temple in Ellora. Carved from solid mountain from the top.

This temple is for worshipping the god Shiva. It is built in the shape of a carriage, but instead of wheels it is carried on the backs of elephants and other animals.

Elephants, lions and gryphons supporting the temple

The Hindu temple from behind

Maharashtrian Wedding + Brazilians + Leah = FUN!

November 13, 2014November 14, 2014 / mardysears / 1 Comment

I went to meet my friend Leah for a wedding in Pune. Her colleague Fabiana (originally from Brazil) was marrying Prateek (originally from Bombay) in a traditional Indian wedding (as traditional as it gets with Brazilian, American, Dutch, Argentinian, Mexican, Spanish, Italian and don’t forget Indian guests!). The day before the wedding they had both Haldi and Mehendi ceremonies. Haldi is when the bride and groom have their faces spread with a yellow turmeric based paste. It’s a natural antiseptic and is supposed to be good for the complexion and ward off evil spirits. These ceremonies often get out of hand and the turmeric ends up being thrown around, especially onto unmarried guests. In this case the groom’s friends ripped off his kurta and poured a bowl of oil over his shoulders. He was a good sport about it, but then went around hugging friends and siblings with his oily self. The kangana, or sacred thread with amulets, were tied around the wrists of the bride and groom for good luck during the wedding.

Mehendi was a much quieter ceremony in which most of the women at the wedding had their hands decorated with henna paste. The bride had the most elaborate decoration, on both hands and feet, going up to the elbows and knees. Fabiana had bride and groom images in the center of her palms. The paste must be left on as long as possible before flaking it off to get the deepest russet color. We kept it on all afternoon until it was time for the Sangeet, the big music and dance party.

Everyone showed up for Sangeet in their pre-wedding finery for a nice dinner and then the dance music started pounding in the bar. Everyone danced together and sang the words to the songs. It was a riot of lights, color, glitter and noise. Many of the old timers stayed on the quiet terrace where we ate dinner, but a few danced up a storm with the younger crowd and had a blast. One adorable older man had some great moves and we told him so. Leah said he winked at her at breakfast the next day.

Fabiana’s father and brother dancing.

The next day the women dressed in their saris (a pretty big production) and the men went to the turban tying ceremony. The men from Fabi’s family wore yellow turbans and the men from Prateek’s side wore red. I loved watching everyone have their head wrapped, it is truly an art. Prateek had a special white turban with embellishments, then he was brought downstairs for the Baraat procession in which the groom rides a white horse to the wedding. There was a band playing loud drumming music and the guests danced in the street. A string of crackers and some flower pots were lit at the front of the procession, a bar followed behind.

Following on the heels of parties and ceremonies, the wedding seemed very quiet, and of course following ‘Indian time’ everything was very late. There were many more guests, but most stayed inside at the reception while the wedding was being performed. It was held outside, under a canopy of jasmine flowers, where the bride and groom circled a fire seven times, each circle representing the seven oaths the bride and groom make to each other. After the wedding Fabi and Prateek stood at the front of the reception hall with Prateek’s family to receive everyone. They looked very tired and hungry at this point and they still had more to come after midnight when the bride is taken to the grooms home and she has to bribe her way into their home. They play games to determine who will have the upper hand in the marriage (in this case Fabi won). Unfortunately Leah and I were done around midnight and didn’t attend this part. All in all it was a lot of fun and I was happy I was able to go. Thank you Fabiana and Prateek!

Circling the fire.

I also took this opportunity to travel on to Aurangabad. It is only a five hour drive from Pune and I couldn’t get this close to Ajanta and Ellora caves and not go. I have wanted to see these ancient caves for at least a quarter of a century, since I studied Asian Art History at Tufts as an undergrad. It sounds like a long time doesn’t it? Well it is! Here is a taste of what I saw……more to follow!

Fabric Printing Workshop

November 6, 2014November 6, 2014 / mardysears / 2 Comments

Dyes on the studio wall remind me of a Cy Twombly painting.

Yesterday I took a fabric printing workshop at Tharangini in Bengaluru (the city has officially changed it’s name since the last post). It was so much fun to spend time in the studio, touching the beautiful wood blocks and printing with them. We began by practicing on a sheet of wrapping paper and a gift bag. We were then given two cushion covers to design and we could choose from the hundreds of blocks lining the walls. The printing process is quite different from block printing with a brayer and printing ink. The textile color is not as tacky. It is spread onto a flexible support and overlaid with a rough jute fabric for blocks with larger print areas. For finer blocks a fine smooth muslin is put on top of the jute and the ink is encouraged to seep up through the layers.

The owner, Padmini, told us about the history of Tharangini, then introduced us to some of the materials and the steaming process. Everything used in the dying and printing process is Eco friendly and often organic.

Gum Arabic on the upper right and pomegranate rinds on the bottom. The pomegranate makes a dull lime green color.

The steaming area for fixing silk dyes.

The container on top of the red oven in the foreground is where the water is heated, it is then piped into the tall metal cylinder behind, where the fabric is first top loaded and then steamed. The cone in the foreground goes on top.

For me one of the greatest highlights was seeing the teak wood blocks being carved. The artisan had his small chisels custom made in Calcutta. I love how he lightly outlines the pattern first, then carves with chisels and mallet to get a deep relief carving. Teak is a very hard and durable wood. I’m in awe of this craft.

Tharangini

October 28, 2014October 30, 2014 / mardysears / 1 Comment

Wood blocks drying in the sun.

Two women mixing inks in front of the drying room.

I went to visit Tharangini, (tharangini studio.com), a place on the edge of Sankey Tank in Bangalore that makes block printed fabrics using all natural materials. I had visited before around ten years ago and had forgotten how great this place is. First it is in a beautiful spot on a quiet tree lined street. It’s an enclave in Bangalore, away from the sound and air pollution. They were in the middle of a print run of furnishing fabric designed by Seema Krish. After printing the fabric design, it gets sent to a unit for underprivileged women to have hand stitching. Ten women will work on it at the same time for five hours to complete five meters of cloth.

One of these printers has worked here for decades. He worked for the mother of the current owner, Padmini Govind. Here he is in action, lining up the block for a continuous design. The numbered wood blocks line the walls of the workshop.

Sunitha, my mother in law is having two saris printed. Below, she and my sister-in-law Vinuta are discussing with Padmini to decide which block patterns will work best. I went to see if they could print my truck blocks on fabric. Padmini and her printers ran a test to see how it might work and will continue to try a few different techniques to see how well they can get them to work. My linoleum block prints are shallower than the wood blocks that they use. They also contain large print areas and detailed areas, making it difficult to get a good print using their usual technique. They proposed thickening up their printing ink to make it stickier and using a brayer instead of dipping the block in a tray of ink. I am excited to see their results! I am also going for a workshop on November 5th to learn their fabric printing technique. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Out and About – Malleshwaram

October 25, 2014October 26, 2014 / mardysears / Leave a comment

Anyone looking for a god?

Sunitha, (my mother in law), says ‘you can get anything in Malleshwaram’. This is our neighborhood in Bangalore and there are definitely many beautiful and interesting things. 8th Cross is the shopping street where the streets and alleys are full of sidewalk vendors. One alley is full of fruits and vegetables, another has silks and a third has temple and puja items.

Below is a shop where you buy kum kum. This is offered in small bowls or containers when visiting someone’s home. It took me such a long time to know what to do with this, but it’s so simple. Take a pinch of red and dot between your eyes and a pinch of yellow to smear on the hollow of your neck, the jugular notch (once called the Bosphorus in the English Patient). I’m sure there are lots of ways to do it, but the first time I was presented with red and yellow powder in bowls, I was completely clueless. Luckily I have family that can show me what to do.

Kum kum shop

Something I love in India are the painted signs. The following are some nice ones I’ve seen in the area.

Indian match boxes have great graphics (a future post) and this is a hand stenciled ad in the train station. It’s quite large and takes up most of a wall on the platform.

Malleshwaram rail station

This one is on the road leading to Ashwin’s school.

Hmmm, please don’t pee in school zone?

This appears to be hand painted on top of another sign.

Speedbumps

Stop

The Nandini milk stalls always seem to be hand painted. They are all a bit different from each other, but usually include the Nandini cow symbol. This one has pictures of the milk and lassi packets also.

Nandini milk

Gopal buying milk

Happy Diwali

October 25, 2014October 26, 2014 / mardysears / Leave a comment

Our house with diyas lit in front

India has been celebrating Diwali, the festival of light and good fortune for the past three days. According to the calendar, Wednesday was Naraka Chaturdasa and Friday was Ballipadyami. How this translates into the Diwali holiday I don’t know, but many people were shopping for new clothes on Wednesday and most businesses were closed on Thursday for Diwali. We have had fireworks, crackers and bombs going off for three nights. It rained on Wednesday and Thursday, so the blasting was light. We took a walk to see the lights and fireworks in the neighborhood when the rain let up. Families were lighting strings of crackers, M80’s, rockets and flowerpots in front of their homes. Despite a big campaign to curb the use of fireworks due to danger and air pollution, people are still not very careful when lighting. Cars, motorcycles and pedestrians have to be very careful, as the fireworks are set off in the middle of the road despite traffic. If you see a burning ember in the road, swerve around it or run! As in all things Indian, it is a noisy, chaotic experience.

Flower pot

Friday night was was the first clear night and there were many large firework displays. We were able to watch from our terrace as they went off in four different directions. It’s hard to believe these are amateur displays. The video shows one that went off right over our terrace, lit by a neighbor two houses away. We had a beautiful view on a soft warm night. We sat and watched while Ashwin slept through it peacefully.

Morning Sounds

October 25, 2014October 26, 2014 / mardysears / Leave a comment

The kite who lives in the coconut tree outside our bedroom window.

Sorry, the video is sideways, but it doesn’t matter, I’m mainly interested in posting the sounds. This is what I wake up to in the morning; the train horn, sweeping and the cuckoo bird. This is one of the things I love most about being here. The days are very noisy, but just before dawn it is quiet as a mouse and then this starts. It gives me such a peaceful feeling.

Tata taking Ashwin to school. Another peaceful moment in the morning. 🙂

Lorries and Tractors and Other Three Wheeled Thingamajigs

October 17, 2014October 25, 2014 / mardysears / Leave a comment

Even though I am winding up my book project ‘Sound Horn Okay’, I don’t seem to be done with Indian trucks. I want to keep taking pictures of all the various forms. I’m thinking my next project will be large wood cuts of truck ‘portraits’. Above is a bus that is getting a blessing for Ayudha Puja, a holiday when people bless the tools of their trade (originally weapons). There are garlands full of roses, the obligatory banana stalks and an incense stick in the grill. It looks beautiful and harmless right? Well until you realize they drive around like this for days. I don’t know how the driver can possibly see out the window properly. The public bus below was driving around Mysore Palace at night. It even has a picture of the King of Mysore smack in the middle of the windshield.

I love the lorries best. Even when the decorations are minimal, there are always some interesting details. A small Ganesha sticker or something hanging off the front (that looks like a thick coil of hair) for good luck. I’m told these often include a lime or sometimes even a shoe. Of course I like the hand painted patterns and images best, but all the layers of decoration are interesting. Most people have images of their religious figures, Hindu Gods and Sai Baba, Jesus and Mary, Islamic text and 786 (Allah number), but many also have decals of Bollywood stars. I see many cows, lotus flowers and demons. A favorite of mine is the demon, painted on the ball joint in the middle of the rear axle, on the lorries.

The header on the top of the lorrie cab is often the name of the family deity. Underneath in the oblong windows there might be names of people in the family. Many lorries are privately owned and they are tricked out in the same way you might decorate a home. If a driver takes long hauls, these trucks are second homes.

Some have messages for the road like ‘Sound Horn Okay’, ‘Stop Signal’ or ‘Horn Please’. Others have inscriptions about deeper subjects like population control ‘We Two, Ours One’, meaning couples should have only one baby. The next truck is pretty simply decorated, just a couple of gods (Ganesha and Hanuman) on the front, but I love the ‘Road King’ stenciled on the bumper.

The three wheeled goods carriers have lots of personality. This one has faces of women painted on the headlights. These are referred to as ‘Apes’.

The tractors are always fantastic. They drive on the road like any other vehicle and are used mostly in construction. Almost every one hauls a beautifully painted trailer behind it.

Gopal and Bubble in the background

This tractor below was doing some road repair in front of the Reliance Market at the corner of our street. BBMP stands for Bruhat Bangaluru Mahanagar Palike, which is the Bangalore Municipal Department. Bhoomiputra means ‘Son of the Earth’ and Lakshmi hangs on the grill above.

And the last truck is a Bangalore Fire Truck. I took this picture just for Ashwin. The guys inside the truck were looking quizzical.

Tata’s Treasures

October 12, 2014October 26, 2014 / mardysears / 3 Comments

The wood room is a place on the terrace where Ashwin’s Tata (grandfather) keeps his building materials and some treasures. It seems he is always pulling some beautiful old piece out of a corner or cabinet. The following shows a part of the world within the woodshed walls. I am channeling my friend and colleague, Chris Conniff O’Shea, who always has such a sophisticated eye for grouping beautiful and interesting things. The monochromatic selection is quite the opposite of the previous posting of my brightly colored book. I also felt if I didn’t record these photos, they would soon go away. They are in a moldy and decaying stack on a shelf. Venkatesh wants to save them and have them restored, but they may be beyond that already. Enjoy!

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