SIREWALLs for 17 Suites

The progress on the site has been fairly steady since we arrived at the end of December and the potential look of the hotel is starting to emerge.  Currently dealing with a temporary delay the guys are itchy to get back at it to complete 33 more suites.  What you are looking at in this image is the back wall of the hotel.  There are two more suites in this section and then they will move on to build the front section that will include seven two-storey units.

Jerry and Meror are surveying the site in the early morning.  It is already 28 degrees and will climb to 37 before the day is done.

(I can't believe that Meror isn't wearing sunglasses in this crazy-bright sunlight.)

Helmet Laws

The chaos of traffic and colour with motorcycles weaving through is a common scene.  What's different about this moment is the helmet on the woman.  I think this is the first time in my almost 4 months here that I've seen a woman passenger with a helmet on.

There is a law in Delhi that all drivers must wear helmets with the exception of turban wearing Sikh men.

In 1997 Sikh women protested and won exemption for themselves.

"As per the Rehat Nama (rules of the community)," says lawyer Manjit Singh Butalia, who filed a petition in the high court seeking exemption of the rule for Sikh women, "a Sikh cannot wear a topi. If he does, he will die of leprosy for seven lives. By forcing our ladies to wear a helmet, the government is violating our fundamental rights. The authorities are prohibiting us from practicing our religion."  

Basic assumptions are thrown askew when you add reincarnation into the logic.  Maybe one life lost in a motorcycle accident is preferable to seven lives with leprosy.
Once again my North American perspective (judgement) is shaken.

for referenced "quote" article click here

for further reading click here

Iron-wallah

The chai-wallah serves steaming tea, the dhobi-wallah collects laundry, the rickshaw-wallah takes you where you want to go and this iron-wallah almost burned the pants he was working on - he was so focused on posing for the portrait.  The multitude of followers surrounding us were yelling at him to move the iron.

This iron is heated with hot coals - you can see them nestled in the oval chamber.  The photo was taken at Sikandarpur Market where all business, including ironing is done in the street.  

If you'd like to see a couple more images of people in this street market check out my new photographer's blog - that will be linked to my website when I get that up and running.  click here:  Lighting at the End of the Tunnel

Holi Hai

Holi was on March 8 this year  (I'm about two travel-filled weeks late getting these images posted - you may have seen a preview on Facebook.)  

  ...and we were invited to celebrate with a group of friends who initiated us into the Holi games in New Delhi.  We started by sharing a traditional breakfast including .....
Then donned white clothing and set out with packets of colour* and two large water guns.

As soon as we stepped outside water balloons came pelting down from neighbour's second and third floor windows.  And we, once enveloped in the safety of our car - specially chosen to be the "holi car" because it too would not be safe from flying colour - started firing at passing rickshaws and pedestrians.  People either stay home or get coloured.

The photos below are taken at a courtyard party with family friends who drop in to share the fun.  There was music and dancing, snacks and drinks and lots and lots of laughter.


From what I can make out, all the colours on you are an expression of love.

*There is concern in India about the dangers of toxic colours currently being manufactured for Holi celebrations.  Jerry was careful to get the natural colours and I'm happy to say that our skin is clear of any nasty side-effects.

Touching the Untouchables

I have spent my time in India observing and trying to organize what I see in a way that makes sense to my North American sensibilities.  Although often uncomfortable and constantly perplexed I love this exercise, I can feel my brain expanding to accommodate new views every day.

This photo was taken on my recent sojourn to South India with an local friend.    The chance for me to see through her eyes was an opportunity that I jumped at and, on our 7 hr. bus ride from Bangalore to Pondicherry, asked her to explain the Hindu caste system to me.

People are born into their caste according to previous Karma (activities).  Although the system is loosening evidenced by "untouchables" reaching high ranking government positions there is still a strong family rule to marry within your own caste.  

The skeleton of this hierarchy is:

Brahman = intellectual and spiritual people, peaceful austerity

Ksatriya = warriors and leaders, heroes

Vaisya = business people, traders and farmers, cow protectors

Sudra = sweepers, unskilled labour

Outside of the castes are the untouchables.  

I was deeply moved by the work of  Narayanan Krishnan - here is a CNN clip of this Brahman helping untouchables.

2003 National Geographic on Untouchables

Tent Village

Tent Villages grow on plots of land in most communities.  This is a relatively small grouping.

I was chatting with a local friend and she told me that normally what happens is if there is any work in an area - construction, road making, labour - these villages will be built near the work site and then as soon as the work is complete they move on.  They are usually paid on a daily basis and don't have any permanent residence.  Their average salaries are 50 to 200 rupees/day (one to four Canadian dollars) and they don't have work all year round.

The tent village in Gurgaon, close to our high-end abode, was recently removed.  Hundreds of these tent homes on a vacant plot of land - one day it was there and the next day it was gone...  They may have been moved because of a land purchase or new development.

The municipality has managed to clear the cows out of our neighbourhood too.  Both of these losses in Gurgaon were sad events for me.  The first because of the lives impacted, the second because I find the chaos of the cattle in the traffic so humorous and picturesque.

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Our crew are usually prepared with food for the people that approach our car at busy intersections.  They do take our offerings but are relentless in their request for rupees until the traffic shifts and our driver rolls us away.

Early Early Morning

A 13 hour train ride through the night from Delhi to Katni in Madhya Pradesh, was uneventful.  We slept most of the time... and disembarked in the wee hours of the morning emerging from the dark and dingy station into a sleeping town.

Even the rickshaw drivers were not yet awake to procure valuable fares from the arriving train...

Egret - widespread resident of India

Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)

Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve & Bird Sanctuary

This two and a half year old male is being protected from alpha males (who would kill him) until he is ready to fend for himself.

His mother was killed when he was a cub, poisoned by a local farmer protecting cattle.  Now, of an age when he must be separated from his sisters who are also being protected and supported, he has a 6 square kilometer fenced area to roam while he's learning to provide for himself.  Soon he will be released into unfenced wild to an area outside that dominated by other males - a territory he will be able to claim as his own.

As well as Tigers this jungle at Bandhavgarh National Park is home to a large variety of mammals and birds willing to show for the camera.

Here are my birds...

Collared Scops Owl

Blackiston's Fish Owl

Blackiston's Fish Owl

Changable Hawk-Eagle

Red-Wattled Lapwing 

Adventuring into Wildlife Photography

This past weekend I tried my lens on wildlife.

Meror and I went on a 3 day Tiger Safari for photographers in Bandhavgarh National Park located in the heart of India.  If you are ever in the area I highly recommend this trip organized by a group called Nomad Excursions.  You can check out their website here.

We travelled in 3 Gypsy Jeeps with a naturalist/photographer from Nomad, and were allowed only on designated routes in the park.  Our driver and a local guide were expert at tracking tigers by listening to the warning calls given by Langur Monkeys and Spotted Deer as well as tracking signs left by the big cats.

 

There is a strong campaign in the area to have the tigers living undisturbed in their natural habitat and efforts are being made to have visitors venture into this terrain in a non-invasive way.

A female and her two cubs were sited in a hilly bamboo hollow, settled down with a kill she had made early that morning.  This was lucky for us because she would stay in one place for a day or two and we were granted permission to ride an elephant into the jungle to see this trio.  We were not to speak and the driver could not be bribed to move closer or stay longer than prescribed by the powers that protect.

This is the 5 year old Elly and her driver, that took us uphill on our 45 minute trek.

Photographing a camouflaged tiger is not an easy thing to do with your support dangling and rocking 15 feet in the air.  Oh, to be given hours to hunker down in a blind with a tripod.

This wee cub, looking at the elephant I was perched upon, is what I was able to capture and then I just relaxed to be in the moment and soaked up the enormity of what I was seeing with my own eyes.

My respect for wildlife photographers - always high - has just jumped several notches.  

The Bride ...

So you might have been wondering where the bride has been all this time.  My job was to photograph the groom and his family but, I did get to run up and see the bride before her official arrival on the scene.  She was lovely and had a beautiful smile ready for us.  

She will be carried in a crescent moon shaped litter by four bearers and then will walk under a beautiful canopy of flowers in procession with her family around her.  

The colour ...well, just see for yourself.

This bridal costume, with the pearls, gemstones, sequins and embroidery  weighs 15 kgs + jewelry

... the Band, the Final Procession and one more Set of Horns.

The procession approaches the gates of the hotel where the Groom will leave his carriage and be escorted by his family to the ballroom where the guests are waiting.

There is one more group of trumpeters to harold him into the building...  this group of three horns is most picturesque.  I've never played a wind instrument but I'm guessing it must take a huge amount of wind to get a sound out of these.

Priyanka-Varun Wedding

I have wanted to experience an Indian wedding since the first time I heard about them.  I got the chance to do that earlier this week - in the way that I love best - as a photographer.  

The Sagan Ceremony is a festival - our groom arrived in a beautiful and elaborately decorated carriage drawn by two white horses and escorted by his family.

Above is the carriage the groom will ride in 

...and these are the horses and one of the many Rajasthani musicians that lead the parade and generate the guests dancing with their energy and rhythms.  When you look at these still photos you will not hear the noise - I tell you, it is unrelenting and at least as loud as the colour.  

Everything was BIG and BOLD and in a grand way very very BEAUTIFUL and full of life (which I interpreted the dance of the groomsmen to be explicitly demonstrating).

The groom follows and witnesses the procession with two nephews.  From my reading I understand that the groom does not participate in the raucous frivolity around him but, the pull to dance is strong...

Notice in the bottom right corner of this image is a hand extending money.  I saw denominations of 10, 100 and 1,000 rupees being tossed into the air throughout the procession.  My research tells me this is for prosperity in the marriage but also in some instances it is thrown on the road to ward off evil.  

There was so much going on that I didn't understand; so many questions that I don't yet have answers to.  When Tanushree and I next get together I will be able to know so much more about what I experienced.

to be continued...