Landscapers

I've mentioned before the lines of people you see doing manual labor.  Here are the landscaping ladies in their sari uniforms, sweeping up the grass clippings at Sula's resort.  At least they had a mechanical lawnmower.

Weight loss

Shama's weight loss tips:  Sleep on your stomach for 10 or 15 minutes in the morning.  Apparently her doctor recommended this after her c-section 18 years ago?  Drink hot water.  I only know this as a Jewish remedy for nausea.  And nausea seems like it could be an asset to weight loss.

One of the things I wanted to do while on this sabbatical thing was lose some weight.  I'm embarrassed to say I don't feel like it's been going well.  I have been working out regularly when not sick, but I've been sick a lot.  I think I also expected to walk more, which isn't always practical here.  And let's face it, I'm pretty lazy.  I also really like food.  Haven't really curbed that at all, but am glad there are no Taco Bells for Boaz to suggest deliciously, shamefully unhealthy food.  But McDonald's delivers.  Sigh.

It isn't all bad news.  Progress is being made, apparently.  To refer to the situation as 'muffin top' might be an understatement, but I did get myself into the pants I wore on our first date almost 3 years ago.  So there's that.  Maybe it's safe to unpack the scale now.

How India Sees the World

(Click to biggify)

Revamped articles page

The articles page was getting pretty unwieldy.  I've added dates and tried to categorize the articles.  Did you know that categories are basically never mutually exclusive?  It was harder than it sounds.  For now the new categories are 'Light and Funny', 'Life Culture and the Arts', 'Politics and History', 'Economy Education and Development', 'Health and Environment'.

I am also deeply sad to report that Playboy has taken down all their archived interviews, like the one with Jawaharlal Nehru while he was still Prime Minister of India.  There were a ton of interesting things there not related to India too.  I've e-mailed them to complain.  If you're like me and read Playboy for the 40 year old interviews, you should whine too.

Mystery Produce Episode 8 - Banana Flower

Yesterday we checked out the mega supermarket at a new mall nearby.  In the produce section (which includes Western fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, basil, yay!) I saw a pile of big, purple, conical, husky things.  So obviously I bought one.  It's a banana flower.  Peel away the husks and little banana fetus tubes and eventually you get to the pale yellow, edible part.  It's apparently a pretty common vegetable in Asia.

I made a little salad, inspired by this recipe (and cute write-up on banana flowers).  I should have discarded another layer or two of the leaves.  Our salad was a tad bitter, but still pretty tasty.  Hard to go wrong with lime juice, fruit jam, soy sauce, chili powder, ginger/garlic paste and cilantro tossed with Chinese fake meat, topped with fried shallots and roasted peanuts.

Weekend at Sula Vineyards

 

We spent a lovely weekend at Sula Vineyard's Beyond Resort.   We didn't travel more than a few kilometres from the vineyard or a few feet from the booze, so there aren't many pictures.  It was darn picturesque though, as you can see.  The room was very comfortable.  I was pleased with the food too (all meals are included).  I didn't try any of the continental fare, but the Indian offerings were tasty without being heavy.

The Nashik Valley is littered with vineyards and wineries.  We did a tasting at Sula, but are already very familiar with their wines.  Wine pickings in India are pretty slim and Sula is a widely available, palatable choice.  I've been drinking a lot of Sula.   We also visited York's tasting room.  York's wines were a little more distinctive, a welcome departure and lately my go-to wine.  We especially liked their late harvest chenin blanc.

Conversation with a Nigerian expat

I recently got my first reader e-mail.  Exciting in and of itself, but she also turns out to be a Nigerian studying in Jaipur, Rajasthan.  We've been e-mailing a bit and I've found it really fascinating.  She was kind enough to let me post parts of our conversation here.

J:  Hey, I'm J, saw ur blog:  "who ran away with her bf to India" thats really funny.  I'm a student in Jaipur so if u ever come to Jaipur maybe we could meet and just say.  I've been here for almost a year and I totally agree with u on every thing.  Incredible India!  :)

S:  Thanks for writing!  That sounds cheezy, but  I'm really glad that you did.  I  know more than just my friends and family read the blog, but it's a great mystery who they are and where they come from and just wonderful to hear a stranger is enjoying it. 

I don't know a lot about Nigeria.  Since moving to India I read a lot more about the developing world.  One of the founders of Tech Crunch spent some time there and had a lot of interesting posts about it (http://techcrunch.com/tag/nigeria/).  How does the infrastructure compare (electricity, internet, roads)?

J:  About Education, what ur saying makes alot of sense.

But honestly, there is no place like home.  I discovered in India u have to pay for electricity as u use it but back home u just pay monthly no matter hw much u use.  Internet, when I left abt 2 years ago was very dull and except u had enough money pay for internet u ur home u'll hv to go to cybercafes.  But right now almost all my class mates are on facebook, my teachers neighbours, etc so I guess its improved alot...trust me.  Roads are same but the governor of the state I'm from is trying his best with traffic lights and less potholes.

I think everything is getting better back home but the kind of news I hear of Nigerians here just makes all the good seem bad and like nothing's worth it.  Thats why they "sent us here" to experience a culture other than ours and bring back something to develop the nation.  But no matter what I prefer Nigeria to the Indian food, mentality(the way they think) and reception of foreigners.  Remember there isn't a perfect place on earth.

I'll tell u a story of what my pastor went through when he first came to India.
Here it goes.....

Travel minutiae

Planning a selfish weekend getaway to a local vineyard, wrapped in the guise of a surprise for the Manboy, I've encountered an interesting travel reality/feature in India.  The destination is (hopefully) less than 4 hours away by car.  Of course we don't have a car, nor do I want to rent one and drive myself.  Obvious solution: I'm hiring a service. 

But do we have to keep the driver for the whole weekend, or will he drive back and forth?  If the former, do we have to put him up at our destination?  It turns out 'bedding' your maid or driver is part of the hotel service.  Yes, they actually called it 'bedding'.  And imagine taking your maid to a hotel!  It is too much.  I want to say 'Only in India', but this is probably common in many other places too.  You guys, I am so not coming back.

Arindam Chaudhuri sues the Caravan, Google, ect.

In making an actual list of the articles I read about India, I realized I was not reading any Indian publications.  Ever since I've been making a point to seek them out.  One of my favorites, The Caravan, along with Google India, Penguin Books, and  the author of the article, Sidddartha Deb, is being sued by IIPM .  Here is their press release about it.  I'm honestly very upset about the whole thing, but it is a fascinating conflagration of issues. 

Firstly the Caravan is great and I have to admit I've had a hard time finding Indian publications I like.  Arundhati Roy talks about some of the problems (sensationalism, corporatization, censorship, lack of integrity, whathaveyou) with the Indian media in an interview at Guernica (another fine publication, but not Indian).  I don't feel qualified to pass judgement on these matters.  I don't like say the Oregonian much or any American TV news either.

Although the plaintiff and The Caravan are located in Delhi, the suit was filed in Silchar, Assam (and they have used the same tactic in similar suits).  That is just bizarre and seems like a gross abuse of the justice system.  What, they've got a judge in their pocket in Silchar?  And they'll just be allowed to file wherever they want?  That is messed up.  An injunction has already been issued and The Caravan has taken down the original article (but you can read it here).  And corruption scores another point. 

There's been a lot of chatter lately about new internet regulations here.  I'm afraid I haven't been following it much.  But the fact that Google is included in this suit and individual bloggers in previous ones, highlights that some of the new regulations will make censorship even easier in India.  Media Nama has good coverage of these topics, in particular this post calling out some of the more troubling language in the new legislation.

I hope people get all riled up over this stuff.  But it's also funny that I am so up in arms about it.  One interesting side effect of moving to another country may be a renewed interest in politics and what not.  I was pretty cynical about all these issues back home and didn't pay a lot of attention.  I haven't been burnt out by the futility of the machine here yet.  Or maybe it's more about India being a developing country and there really is more opportunity to shape things.  Either way, it's welcome.

So go post about this nonsense on Facebook.  Make jokes at Arindam Chaudhuri's expense on twitter or at least read them and have a chuckle.

Kitten video

Mom requested more pictures of  the kitten.  I'll do one better and post a little video.  I have never seen Cat do this before.  She must be conducting some kind of hunting lesson.  Kitten pretty quickly retreats back to a Safety Zone and begins crying though.  I don't think cats are meant to be only children.

(Video after the jump.  It was slowing down the site.)