Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: Part One: carribean-style beaches, 6 foot monitor lizards, and tourists
Part Two: Hills, Tea, and free women.

Where to begin....

Upon arriving in Sri Lanka around 10pm on December 10th, things looked quite similar to India. At night, with all the shops already closed, we drove past clothing stores, mobile phone stores, small restaurants, and everything had a very "India" feel to it. With a plane ride that lasted no more than one hour, I didn't expect a stark difference. Just some time away from work, the apartment, and a busy city.

Oh, how wrong I was.

Sri Lanka, once day broke, is a world away from India in terms of culture, government, and society.

Let's start with the government. Everywhere in Sri Lanka are pictures of the current president. A fair skinned man, he adorns himself with a burly, yet conservative mustache and has a wide smile. In many pictures he is wearing all white with a red scarf/shawl wrapped around his neck. For whatever reason, the more I see a politician on posters, the less I trust him. But I was too quick to judge this man - he's done a lot of good, but some bad comes along with it.

Let's start with the good. If he never became president, I would never have been able to visit Sri Lanka. One picture of him, decked out in military uniform, giving a salute, explains why. He was the president that increased the Sri Lankan army's morale and fighting power and put a stop to the Tamil Tigers. Apparently he just kept pressing, shooting and bombarding the last of the Tamil Tigers' strongholds until it fell. Now Sri Lanka lives in a peace where tourists and locals alike can roam the streets without any fear. Don't let the strong military presence in the streets put a stop to you feeling safe - if it weren't for those young men standing around with AKs, a bomb could have gone off anywhere.

As for the bad though, he's not very good with the economy. Before him, the Sri Lankan rupee was about equal to the Indian Rupee. As compared to the USD, they were almost even (between Rs. 40 and Rs. 50 to the dollar). Now however, one USD equals Rs. 112. Comparatively, that's pretty bad... he s made the Sri Lankan rupee terribly weak. So why did I end up spending so much money in a country where (technically) I'm so much richer?

Prices are extravagantly higher. Here in India, I can go out onto the street and pay between Rs. 5-10 for a cup of coffee or chai. When I asked the lady who exchanged the money what the value of the Sri Lankan rupee is (using that example) she simply laughed and said "this is not India". If I want a cup of tea at a small tea joint, I pay around Rs. 60. If I want a nice espresso at an upscale coffee shop, I pay Rs. 220. Sure, compared to a dollar its still nothing - but I've stopped thinking like that ages ago. I'm making rupees, and I have to think in rupees. Therefore, I'm spending a lot more money in Sri Lanka than I would for the same things in India.

When we reached the hill town of Kandy (which we were told is dirty and overcrowded) I had no idea what to expect. Instead, to my surprise, Kandy, another hill city was exquisite and beautiful. Somewhat crowded, but extremely worth it when it comes to the bustling markets all over the city. Was it dirty? I laugh in the face of the fool that tried to fool us. Kandy is beyond clean. At least compared to India it was closer to a New York than Bangalore. Everyday in the morning garbage trucks came and picked up the trash, street sweepers moved debris off the to side, and people used the appropriate receptacles (which speaks a lot for the culture/society as well!)

And not a pothole in the ground. Traffic ran smoothly, with equal honking as India, but with an efficiency that I have yet to see in any Indian city. There were lines on the road to designate lanes, crosswalks, and stop lights. How is this different from India? Well for one, you can have stop lights all over India, but you still better look both ways even if it's green - many, or most from what I've seen, simply don't pay attention to the stop lights. What about crosswalks? I'll illustrate this with a small example:

Let's say I'm in Bangalore and I want to cross a busy Indian street. I look both ways and wait for the first three feet or so to have no traffic. I step out and notice the next three feet has traffic, so I wait a distance (some inches) where I won't be clothes lined by a side-view mirror, and then when I have enough space again, I move into the next three feet. Think of it like a giant game of frogger where you are the frog. Only this time the cars are real. And if you get hit, you don't get to start on the side of the road again. When doing this, you aren't watching the cars or the drivers, but instead looking right behind the car about to pass you to see if you can walk as soon as it passes. Make sense?

Here's Sri Lanka: Look both ways. Walk out onto the street when it's somewhat clear. I see a car coming so I position myself just far enough away to not get clothes lined and look beyond the car to see if there are more behind it. Only this time something strange happens. I look beyond the car, but my view is blocked. By the car. The car that was coming stopped. I was so astounded, I actually stood in the middle of the street like a fool not really sure of what was going on. "Why would you stop?" I wanted to ask the driver. I was amazed, before my foot even touched the street, people began to stop to let pedestrians pass. As we traveled more and more, my opinion of Sri Lanka improved.

Society was just efficient there. I'm not sure where they put the garbage on such a small island, but when the ugly isn't as apparent (as it is in India) it's way more beautiful and appealing. Society worked, government was working (to my knowledge), and people were friendly. This all translated to the culture....

Sri Lankan culture. Nothing what I expected. No head-nods, no staring, and women didn't cast down their eyes when they saw you. It was again, a world away from India. The only thing that got annoying (as what I expect in any country where you stick out like a sore thumb) was the question, "your country?" I ended up saying India most of the time (being that I'm living here) and some people sort of accepted and walked away, others asked me again "no no, you're country" to which I repeated "India". Some people laughed and didn't believe me, to which I acted outraged, raising my voice saying, "What, India can't have any white residents? I was born in Bangalore!" etc, etc. If you aren't laughing, don't worry about it, it was funny in the moment.

Next having to do with culture that was a stark difference to me were the women. Women didn't all dress in sarees. They didn't cast down or cover their eyes when they saw me, and they openly embraced their significant others. One day, myself, Jodi, and a friend of ours that we met (Paddy Screech), went to visit a botanical garden. Quite possibly the most beautiful botanical garden I have ever seen, the area was huge, covered in trees, vines and places to hide. It was a common site to see young couples arm in arm, sneaking kisses behind trees or in the shadows. Something that you rarely see in most of India (I stress the most, it's not impossible to see, just no common practice).

Men and women walked hand in hand. Many, many women wore shirts that might be a little low-cut or showed their shoulders. Overall, when observing the way women acted in Sri Lanka, they just appeared.... happier, I suppose. But it's more than that. It's a combination of confidence, happiness, and feeling more free (I don't want to impose this feeling on them, but this is what I gathered from my trip). And it was a great thing to see. I can also understand why they might have felt more free. Even as tourists, the stares I received from people were mostly kept at a minimum. It's like people didn't really care if I was there or not - and that was a wonderful feeling. In India, even in my neighborhood where I am frequently seen, people still stare and gaze. In Sri Lanka - barely. I felt more free knowing that they really didn't care if I was there or not. What a wonderful country.

Next post, I'll post where we landed, where we started, where we ended up, and how we traveled. We went to three major places, and they were all wonderful. In the mean time, enjoy some pictures. Just click on the Sri Lanka album once you get to the page. The other pictures of India are from my last time (in 2008) and not my current trip in India.

Enjoy.

Indian Wedding

Well a week or two ago I had the fortune of attending an Indian wedding. However, I think videos and pictures will do more of a justice as to how it went. 2000 people I don't think showed up... but it was exciting none the less.

Here's the link:

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

Throwing rice seems like a world-wide wedding tradition.....

Mmm, Wedding Lunch. This wasn't all, we still needed the heap of rice.

Serving us our plates. For so many people, they were way more efficient than I expected.

In between meals.

Vats of Rice.

A child trying to squeeze through the people.

The ceremonial pouring coconut milk over the bride and groom's hands. Money helps too.

Offerings, all part of the ceremony and blessings.

Kiran! A worker from fireflies - it was his sister's wedding.

Hey look, it's Kiran!

Kiran's sister and her husband.

Train Ride Pictures

So here are pictures from the Puttur Train ride. I wanted them to all be large format because some of the sites are just beautiful. Therefore, if it took a while to load... sorry!

Your Weekly Fridge: Week #2

Here's your weekly fridge!





I'm going away for a couple days... hence why it is so empty. But plenty of goodies in the freezer for when I return.. thanks to Ingrid for the good spinach-tomato soup recipe!

Your Weekly Fridge #1

Some pictures for you:








For a new treat, I've come up with a new idea for the blog. Every week I am going to take a picture of my fridge and post it here. Just to see what happens. Might be boring, might be interesting. I got the inspiration from a recent Digg.com article. Mark Menjivar has just come up with a photographic series called: You are what you eat. He took a picture of various people's fridges and wrote a short background on their life style. Here's the link.

As for me, here's number one... Mind you, I just came home from shopping.

The Neighborhood

So in an attempt to keep my eye on the unique things when life becomes mundane, I've had an idea for the blog. A series of unknown proportions, I'll start small, and slowly expand my reach to other parts of the city. This first one: The Neighborhood.

My house is located in the small section of the city of R.T. Nagar, called Sultan (or Sulthan) Palya. See, it works like this, you have Bangalore District. Which encompasses a large area around the main city, engulfing lots of villages. Then you have Bangalore City itself. Inside the city you have sections, which are large segments of the city. Some of the more popular names are Jayanagar, Banashankari, Basavangundi, MG Road (not really a section but hugely popular), Gandhi Bazaar, R.T. Nagar etc. Now inside all of these bigger sections, you have small sections. Such as: Sultan Palya; which is in R.T. Nagar, which is in Bangalore City, which is in the District of Bangalore, which is in the State of Karnataka, which is in the Country of India. Make sense yet?

If I exit my apartment and go to the right I almost immediately hit K.H.B Main Road. A main road that dissects Sultan Palya, this road connects Dinnur Main Road (which goes to R.T. Nagar) to Outer Ring Road (a highway type road that basically circles around Bangalore.

K.H.B Main Road with the restaurant "PUNJABI FOOD" Across the street. The two white cars are part of the driving school that is there.

K.H.B is a busy road, always moving, always with people. Compared to my road, it is well-paved. The road I live on is mostly gravel, broken pavement, and pot holes. Bikes driving by the apartment go slowly, swerving around pot holes, bouncing over gravel. It's strange to see so much broken gravel and bad infrastructure when you notice the house across the street from me.

Looking up from the road, a manicured stone wall and gate close in a modern-style house of luscious plants. I say a manicured stone wall to differentiate between the rest of the stone walls in Bangalore. Most are simple brick, or cement walls. Flat, originally white, now brown or black with soot, they are easy to make and erect. This wall is a grey stone, designed and cut in certain ways to match the house. Aesthetically, it is way more appealing than other walls. On top and inside of the walls, the manicured nature of the house continues.

Tropical vines and palm trees adorn the small walk-way leading into the house, creating a shady spot during a hot day. Just inside the gate there are always three vehicles. One motorcycle, one small Suzuki, and the rare, but ever-more-visible-in-Bangalore Mercedes-Benz. Most people in Bangalore with a family hire a driver. They bring the kids to school, drive parents to work, and take care of basic chores. Once I saw a beautiful blue S-series Mercedes driving down the road, a man driving and a woman in the back seat. It was obvious from appearances that the woman owned the car, and the man was driving. Hell, if you're going to own a car that nice you think you would want to drive it yourself, right?

This car across the street is similar. Only once have I seen it leave the house and actually be driven around. Other than that the car does one other thing. Or I should say the driver does one thing to the car. Every morning between 11 and 12, the gate to this house opens, and the driver brings the Mercedes out onto the street. He then goes back inside and comes out with a bucket of water and a sponge. And every morning, tenaciously, relentlessly, this man washes his client's Mercedes. Even when it's not dirty (and it never is) he carefully washes the front, back, the wheels, the hub cabs, never leaving one spot untouched.


This is looking out from the steps of my apartment building looking to the house across the street. John's car is that Maroon Scorpio on the right hand side of the photo. The second photo is just looking a little up and to the right from the first.

One morning as I arrived home from my bike ride, a woman from the house, still in her nightie came out with a Golden Retriever with a beautiful coat, and an even better demeanor. She exited the main gate of the house with this dog, unleashed, and it quickly followed her over to an adjacent gate on an empty plot of land. I also noticed that on what looked like this big empty drive way, at the very end were two more cars inside a gate. Their cars as well? I'm not sure, but they used that plot of land for the dog.

Enthralled that I hadn't played with a canine companion for many months now, I stared at this beautiful dog.
"Your dog is beautiful" I quickly stammered from across the street.
She gave me a faint smile as she exited the plot and closed the gate behind her and the dog.
"Hey buddy, what's up?" I said in a high-pitch to this curious canine. He stared back at me. Many middle and upper class families in the area own various well-groomed dogs. For instance, the house adjacent to my building, shrouded in a combination of well placed plants and architectural features, houses a large German Shepard. And when I mean large, I mean his head comes up to my waist, if not a little higher. His bark is quite loud too and he doesn't seem to friendly.

So I tried being friendly to this dog, while keeping myself on guard if he was in fact a true guard-dog. "What's his name?" I asked the lady, hoping she spoke English. In an almost perfect accent back she said "Nike".

"Come here Nike! C'mon it's okay." The dog trotted over towards me and stopped some 5 feet away. "It's okay, it's okay" I told her. She got low to the ground and it became obvious that this was a playful dog, her submissiveness was more than obvious. The dog-owner began to smile as Nike came over into my arms and I started petting her head and under her jaw. Nike closed her eyes as I got behind her ears. I wonder how often someone played with Nike, I've never seen kids enter or exit the house.

I try everyday to encounter Nike outside, but since that day have always missed her. It's funny to think that such a nice household, so well manicured, with so much (apparent) money, could live next to conditions that, coming from America, I would say are unacceptable.

That gate is where the lady takes the dog. To the left, you can see the empty lot and all the black trash that is piled there.

The streets near and around my house are littered. It seems that you can't get away from them. It's a good idea to carry a handkerchief, especially in the morning as these are the times when most people are burning the trash. Open lots scatter the junctions of roads. Sometimes over ridden by weeds, such as tulsi (which is holy), and always a lot of Castor plants. Some vines that look like potato vines, and small flowers. But always trash. Always trash, and always burning. Sometimes these lots are green and full of bright, amazing life. Bugs and snakes crawl and climb, weaving their way through plants - the way life should be. It's when I see a mouse pulling in a piece of plastic into his little home that I begin to grow concerned.

Sometimes the leaves are grey with soot. Soot from everywhere. From the cars, rickshaws, the burning trash. And waking up in the morning, smelling the smoke, and even noticing that your bathroom is a little smokey - it doesn't exactly leave you excited to start your day. If you look past that, there is a lot of beauty in India - everyone always says that. It can just be difficult looking past the ugly parts. What's more, is that when we succeed to look past the ugly parts to see the beauty... well that doesn't mean the ugly goes away. Maybe just a big plastic barrel at every corner would change people's minds to littering. We'll see....

Some open lots have lots of tarps and branches holding up these tarps. Many homeless live here. Legally? Probably not, but I've never seen the police come and beat them and kick them out. At night I see some sleeping outside, some in their tents, but as simply as that, it is their home. When I walk by they are always cleaning dishes, or taking showers, and more. I could go on, but they do the same things we do everyday! They are no different. Except they have no money, no opportunities, are put down by the rest of society....

Do we just keep looking past the ugly to see the beauty?

Okay, enough pessimism. As I walk down one street towards Sultan Palya main road, the road begins to get narrow. As the road gets narrow, the streets get smaller and more people are doing their chores on the street. The other part of the observation is that as the streets gets smaller with more people, the income of each of the households I pass also falls. Culinary and medicinal plants begin to show up on door steps, from tulsi and aloe, to small curry leaf plants and more. The eyes also begin to watch me more. Looking at my t-shirt, at my phone, at my bag. I've gotten used to the staring, and for the most part ignore it, but when that one persons holds sight of you... from 30 feet before you pass them to 30 feet after you're gone and you know they are still looking at you. It's hard to read them, and who knows what they are thinking.

Most of the roads are pretty similar. Some small, some large, poor and wealthy living side by side. Mercedes can cruise by with a scarred little boy with no shoes plays in the trash and dirt. It's sad to say that once walking around observing all the trash I saw some hypodermic needles sitting freely on the street. With the kids. And the dogs. And the rats.

I speak about what I see here in India. And what I see is a lot of trash and stuff of that nature. But don't get me wrong, I love it here. It's a beautiful place with tons of opportunities and a lot of lessons. Like I said, do we just look past the ugliness for the beauty? Or do we get rid of the ugly so that everyone can see the beauty?

I'm not sure, but I'll say this. Without the dirty, India would not be as beautiful.

Stay tuned next week for.... the next part in the series: The Apartment

Some pictures

Okay, while this is a post of pictures, I realized I haven't written in a while... fear not - some writing comes soon! Since I am constantly at a computer, I am going to try and write less, more often. And if I don't....bother me! Anyway... here you go....

Don't mind the quality of some... they were taken on my camera phone.

Sultan Palya Main Road - the road parallel to K.H.B Main Road which is where my apartment is.

This is the road that connects K.H.B Main Road and Sultan Palya Main Road... this is looking towards Sultan Palya Main Road.

At the end of my road (K.H.B) this is called Dinnur Main Road. If you exit my street and make a right, you will see this sight. From here, if you go straight and make another right, that will be Sultan Palya main road. Are you making a map in your head yet?

Another sight of Dinnur Main Road. To the right of this picture is K.H.B Main Road....

Ah, K.H.B! This is my road, but not very close to my house. If you look you can see how the road ends at a T intersection... that is Dinnur Main Road. So if you were to take a right, you would see the two pictures above this one.

Another site of K.H.B, a little further back from the above one.

My first Chinese dish in India - home cooked veg noodles.

Plain Rice, Chapati (Indian flat bread) and a Palya. A palya is more or less a mix of vegetables systematically cooked with oil, onions and various spices. Spices can always vary, but the most basic ingredient (and quite healthy) is turmeric (which turns everything yellow). In this palya, I cooked cabbage and carrot.

Before moving onto the next picture, I remember a conversation I had over dinner before leaving for India. Or perhaps lunch. But the subject was life expectancy in India. All of us guessed various answers, from 35 all the way to 65. As poor as the rest of the world might think India is, (I'll argue against that in another entry, you should see the amount of money the middle and upper classes have here in Bangalore) the truth is, the life expectancy is quite high. Norman Jr. did some research, and the average life-expectancy turned out to be closer to 55-60.

What does this have to do with anything in the middle of pictures of food? Well, the big thing they tote (both in person and on the internet) about the yellow turmeric powder is it's medicinal anti-aging properties. It is said to be very good for your cells, bones, and immune system. Some warm milk with turmeric mixed in is said to be a great, easy cure for a common cold.Anyway, interpret it as you will - India will always hold strong to turmeric.

Now obviously turmeric is not the SOLE cause for a longer life, India has some great hospitals, lots of medicine available, and a wide range of doctors from traditional western doctors, to homeopathic doctors and even the traditional ayurvedic doctors. All of it together plays apart in living a longer life in India.

Ah, breakfast! Chapati, with Indian scrambled eggs (refer to Ballarshah post). Onions, turmeric, chili powder, onions, and eggs.... on top of being delicious, it wakes you up in the morning!.

Oh this is a change. This is what looks like a juice box. In fact it is a juice box... only it's adult juice. See McDowell's on the package? That's a type of whiskey. I never tried whiskey out of a juice box, but it seems to be a convenient, easy way to drink for some here.

A crowded bus... taken with my camera phone.

Ah... aloo and capsicum. In English -potato and pepper curry. See, everyone thinks Indian cooking is very complicated, confusing and hard to make. But it all starts with oil and onions. Then some spices, some vegetables. It all depends on the timing of when you put in the vegetables (since they all cook at different rates). Anyway, another delicious meal.

Besides taste, my gauge has been this - if I get heartburn, it was a good enough meal. If I get heartburn - I did something wrong....

Haha, this is great. The guys next door to us moved out. So the landlord obviously wants to rent out the apartment. And this is the sign. John had thought about moving into the bigger apartment - but being a meat eater, wasn't allowed. Only in India, right?

Tomato Gojju! Thanks to Gowri for giving me this recipe, it could also be called Tomato curry. I just forgot to add the jaggery.....

This is also great, this is the Varanashi's (Gowri and Siri's) mail box right outside their gate. Varanashi, the family name all the way to the left. The address on the next piece of metal. A box for letters. And a box for packets of milk. Instead of going out to buy milk every morning (as I do everyday) you can have the option to have a certain number of packets delivered right to your mailbox every morning.

Nothing better than the paper and a packet of milk.

The other language on the mailbox is Kannada.

Writing.... coming soon!

Ah, one more picture, as requested by the parents. They wanted to see me with my hair chopped off - sorry the picture is fuzzy, camera phone again!

I just had to add this one. Hahaha.

Myself, Aishwarya and Natasha on Natasha's birthday this past week.