planet india

Perhaps this trip is difficult to chronicle because of the plethora of emotions, blurry pictures indicative of the speed of India, time required to sift through shots from 5 cameras, and multiple contrasts between what I have considered "normal" based on my short life and what we witnessed.

The pink line highlights our trip through India. The rest of my family arrived 10 days before me and therefore have cause for further commentary.

I do feel strongly about one thing (though I likely fall to the same tendency): generalizations about India shouldn't be weighted too heavily. The simultaneous collision of complexity, simplicity, and personal experience create static in both the mind and heart. Additionally, the variations in people and regions are quite considerable.

For these reasons, any two trips to India would assuredly differ, as would the experience of any two individuals on the same trip...never-the-less, I forge on.






Many things about India seemed beautiful in their simplicity or base qualities. One I like the picture of is Deepa contemplating which coconut to drink from...by the way...most of the straws in the street stands have been used before...smile....

The cow dung cakes used for starting cooking fires also interested me. Necessary childhood chore for children, I suppose...pulling weeds sounds better all the time!

And then there are the cows. Somehow they make their way home at night. Here they are helping in a form of recycling. We never saw any fat cows or fat dogs...must not be many calories to be found! Speaking of such...I had never personally witnessed the effects of overpopulation. Eye opener! Another thing: are environmental causes a luxury of richer nations or populations whose basic needs are well provided for?





To know India is to know rickshaws and traffic. Do you recall the game of Frogger where you are the frog and have to hop across traffic going multiple directions at varying speeds? Very similar for pedestrians! Imagine this at night in a rickshaw without lights...nothing like the last minute! And while we're on the rickshaw topic...do you remember the lungs in The Bodies exhibit? Anyway...grey and speckled...those people must have been rickshaw drivers in large cities in India. Air quality? Hmmm.....


BSSK (an orphanage dear to our hearts) is a beacon of kindness and love...and would likely inspire any adult who doesn't want children to earnestly desire them! Truth. A passage resonated from a book I read during the trip: "Daughter of the Ganges" by Asha Miro. She recalls staring at visitors to her orphanage in the "...same dark and profound gaze with which these girls are now watching me. There is something familiar about it, the knowingness of someone who has already seen a lot. It is not the innocent infantile gaze of a child, but one that freezes your blood and makes you think." Yes....it did...in a pleasing yet pensive way. One emotive image I hope to not forget is a tai in a dimly lit room by the window bottle-feeding a very tiny baby. Worthy investment.

This picture is testament to the respect or fascination that many had with us pale-skinned foreigners. Several asked for photos (once even on a cell phone). I was told I looked like a movie star...if only...and is that a good thing...thanks though. A cute little boy gave me Cadbury chocolate on the train because I smiled at him. In short, we were leered at with kind eyes just about everywhere we went. I suppose we stood out quite a little.







Oh the colors of the clothes...and the grace of the women...even while bearing a burden. Shop owners are eager to show their wares if you look twice and then to tailor your purchase for a very very modest fee. As a side note, I'm not real proud of the Western influence. Yet...I suppose that is what we represented in a measure.

This is a fair-sized load by our standards for a motorcycle. Yet motorcycles in India seem to have much higher capacities and many more purposes. We witnessed a family (mom, dad, and 2 kids) on the back of one....with the older girl asleep! Another with long stalks of sugar cane tied horizontally! Resourceful!

This headline and multiple others gave me cause to reflect on how the news media portrays reality. Are we U.S. citizens of slighter character and cannot handle reality? Sheltered? Weak?

Oh Renuka, how I enjoyed our laughs over the newspaper! Your amusement! Your practicality!







And so this is the Thiry clan on the move between Pune and Akola. At this juncture, I am new to the group and am very pleased to have learned several essential skills. One: the head nod...similar to a gracious lightly sprung bobble-head from left to right and back again with the face forward. Slow means "well I suppose" or "I understand". Fast means "of course!" And then there are the degrees in between. Secondarily, my sisters enlightened me on how to encourage a toilet with low water pressure. Life skills....

While having slight luggage, my mothers red blanket was quite an investment, yet served her well!


Akola was a quaint town with much character...yet was very common. School children were biked home from school, women spent their days selling (cricket seems to have the heart of many) or caring for their immediate needs. This group of men surrounded my mother and I to shake our hands. As we exited graciously to the right, I turned to take a picture of them while one yelled: "I am not a poor man!" Like that even crossed my mind. And if it did, like that would matter. How often do we see people for what they really are?

This was a curious rack in the grocery store....all the ways to fend off mosquitoes. Fending off...quite a topic! I read too much about what could befall me and listened too heartily to the health clinic's advice. In the end, I am pleased to have contracted no peculiar ailments and believe in the body's ability to right itself...to a degree. We witnessed several up-and-coming models for skin disease medical textbooks....but really...anxiety is only good for a short time as a motivator. India is witness to the fact that antibacterial soap doesn't need to be one washroom away.



Sunil traveled with our family for much of the time and was a pleasure to have along. He provided good commentary and negotiated better (and certainly faster) than we usually did...he wasn't having to divide by 36, and I suppose he is used to the system...smile! Plus he knew approximately what we should be paying...oh were we expensive to be with sometimes...skin tax abounded. And then there was his patience and care in making certain we had street skills...no money in public; don't brush up against people if you can help it; don't check the pocket your valuables are in all the time; and so on....smile...what would India have been like if I felt safe more of the time?



I would have liked to have spent a bit more time in New Delhi, yet our time there was very nice with: Ollie and Olive; Des and Sunil. Do you find it curious in countries with market places, how if you need something, you will likely come across that very thing? Yet if you were to spend your time to search it out, there might be a fair level of travail after asking this person who points you there, who points you back. Anyway, this man spent his days sewing mattress covers but was very accommodating when I showed him my torn shirt. And this is Sharad after his 25 cent haircut (including tip)!

Agra....what to say...but this: Heightened expectations are not always a good thing. Sure The Taj was grand, yet in my mind it was grander. While there, I had a hard time picturing it taking 20,000 men 20 years...or one inlaid leaf having as many as 30 stones in it. That man must have loved his wife a LOT! Smile. Or had delusions of grandeur. Another smile.

As a side note, while standing in line (a few of those India...sarcastic smile) at The Taj, I began to wonder if expression of annoyance is always a selfish act. It seems to be a way of life for many.

Another wandering cow...this time in a train station...


These guards at the City Palace in Jaipur amused me. They seemed a relaxed bunch.

This is a picture of my dear parents at Jantar Mantar in Jaipur. Dad was a bit concerned and perhaps at times secretly yearned for Douglas County and rolling wheat fields...but an excellent sport! Mom just took it all in with a sparkle in her eye. Great people.

The picture on the right is of construction in the same site...note the scaffolding and the women working in saris. Different world. Yet the same. Jantar Mantar hosts 14 geometric constructs that determine the time and date. At any one point in the year they are no more than 40 seconds off the world clock...how's that for precision from 1733? Makes modern techonology seem a bit silly.







Sharad is now the proud owner of multiple pairs of shoes and musical instruments. Yes...even the curly toed ones on the upper left!

We had to do it...sure it's a bit commercial...but it is an elephant. Check out the weapon! I need to learn more about these beasts, as I have a naive appreciation of them...perhaps an elephant camp would be a good start?

Oh the shrewdness of the young marketers! Reminiscent of parts of Mexico. Very slight, but not to be underestimated! Somehow he shamed me into paying 40 rupees to take his picture. I suppose this is ok, because many of the times when I most badly wanted to raise my camera to take a picture, it felt rude or inappropriate: the mother with her waif-like child which makes you think about the hope engendered in the word "tomorrow"; or the women breaking bricks on the side of the road for hours all day in the heat; or simple beggars who are earnestly needy...not just looking for a handout.


The most exceptional portion of the trip was in Bangalore with our friends...yes, even sewing the mats in the tent! Hard to express in blog format or even in words, yet of infinite value. Salomi was very special to me and lent her sari, her time, and her care. I felt in a very genuine way how becoming modesty is....good thoughts!

And now....for my personal highlight!! Laundry on the roof late into the night with the sister workers from the light of a single bare bulb. Primitive procedures...note the three phase rinse cycle...yet the time with them chattering away, skipping between dialects and between serious and jovial topics gave me great perspective and even a measure of glee. Will you misunderstand me if I say that our time on the roof also made me feel the "power of the sisterhood"? Grace. Spirit. Courage. Duty.





This assuredly isn't the most becoming picture of any of us (apologies you both)....but it is telling of the natural reaction to lack of sleep and late flights...but really...by then we were used to everything running on "India time".

And so...we survived...actually much more than that! For myself, I am very pleased to have gone and to have enjoyed (yes really enjoyed) that many days with family, though I do not know that I would choose to return were it not for the people we met or for my own lovely siblings. And that is the truth.


So, while perspective waxes and wanes, I hope these truths stay with me:

1) In some measure, though we may resist, we are a product of our experience;
2) The human spirit is far more resilient than I care to discover personally;
3) Tea is always better with warm milk and lots of sugar;
4) What pains us most is often what we have the least control over; and
5) I secretly treasure tap water, toilet paper, and garbage cans (see #1).