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Okay, I am restocked on my fave local house wine, delivered straight from the vineyard to my “wine cellar” (e.g., closet in room with A/C). Ready for the parents first visit to Bangalore.

Kamal Basadi is an 11th Century Jain temple inside the Belgaum Fort, in the north western corner of Karnataka. My friend R, whose family has been a patron of the temple for generations, took us to visit.

“Kamal” means lotus and it’s fitting. The anti amber has a lovely carved lotus blossom ceiling with 72 petals, each with a mini statutes of Thirthankaras (24 from the past, 24 current and 24 future ones). Thirthankaras are Jain prophets who help people achieve enlightenment.

Inside the Santorum Santorum is a idol of Neminatha, the 22nd Jain Thirthankara. And there are other lovely carvings and Thirthankara idols.

The columns are smooth stone and they are so shiny as to reflect when you look into them — the convex carving in fact causes a double reflection: one right side up, the other upside down. The are also “musical” — when tapped lightly with a coin the resonate with sound.

Next we checked out nearby temple that had been de-consecrated.

And then I was asked to pose for photos with a local family…

And R tapped into her inner super model …

Thanks R for showing us around and teaching us more about Jainism!

Tonight as I was flying into Delhi, the Capital, we were descending close enough to see individual cars and buildings. Then the plane turned sharply upward. What the…. This is Not Normal. And trust me when I say that my whole concept of “normal” has already been reset. This is Not Normal even under my new definition of normal. To be fair the ride back up was smooth and seamless; the pilot seemed to have everything under control. Had I been sleeping I probably would have never noticed. But the ascend was unmistakable based on my body’s internal altimeter and the changing horizon line of Delhi’s skyline.

I said to my seat mate (our first exchange the entire flight), “That is Not Normal.” He struggled. I couldn’t tell if he was unconcerned or didn’t speak English. A look around the plane and the lack of shrieks/prayers made me wonder if anyone else had noticed. I’ve never been that close to the ground and pulled up before. Never.

As one would imagine, we circled back. When we began descent #2, the pilot came on the PA. He said we had been instructed by Control to pull up last time because (spoiler alert) the runway lights had gone out. He went on to say, and I quote, “while this is not normal it does happen from time to time.”

Seriously???? Losing power here IS normal! We all expect power to go out almost daily. My apartment has a back up generator and on top of that all my major appliance have back-up batteries. The back up generator at my office goes on almost daily. Does this pilot think it’s comforting to say that the airport in the Capital doesn’t have some sort of contingency plan for the runway lights in the very normal, entirely predictable situation of a power outage?!? That’s the story he wants to stick with????

Okay people of the internets, that HAS to be pilot-speak for something else, right? Like super secret pilot code for “whoops, forgot the landing gear- redo!”

When I checked in at the hotel, a pilot –sorry, a Captain– from a well known European airline was checking out. I had to ask. He said that in all his years of flying (which, by my guess, were at least 25 years) the runway lights only went out once on approach (and it wasn’t this airport). He said, and I quote, “It is not normal, but it does happen.” Does this day really need THAT as its tag line?!?

The Captain told me that at Delhi, it is much more likely congestion that would require us to circle around. I said I’d have been more comfortable hearing that excuse rather than the runway lights went out. Plus, I am no expert but I think they should have been able to call congestion before we got that close to landing — I mean, I’ve seen Pushing Tin. I am even more convinced that this is pilot code and there is a pilot wall of silence– which they cover up with, “it’s not normal, but…”

I went to the doctor for the first time since I moved. This doctor was trained in Mumbai, London & somewhere in France, and was highly recommended. The waiting room & exam room were clean & hygienic; the process and labs were the same as back at home. Total cost for exam & labs: $24. That’s not my copayment, that’s not my deductible, that is the total. The doc even gave me a receipt to seek reimbursement from my insurer. $24! Amazing. That would have appeared as several hundred dollars on my health instance statement back home. I couldn’t even take my dog to a vet for $24 in NY!

How did the US manage to mess up health care so badly (and please don’t blame the lawyers….)?

The elusive honey badger has been spotted by forestry officials in my state, Karnataka. I love knowing that the honey badger is my neighbour.

Live music two weekends in a row! This week it’s the Reggae Rajahs at the Humming Tree.

The opening act was Cian Finn, the — brace for it — “traditional Irish reggae” “sensation.” I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was in a Sacha Baron Cohen skit…. It was like an Irish Ali G and the joke was on the audience. He gave us a song he wrote right here in South India, but really what could top “Shamrock Jamrock”? I had to laugh every time he said “Peace & love, mon. Peace & love” in his pseudo-Jamacian-Irish accent.

The main event was the Indian reggae band. The Reggae Rajahs are “India’s first reggae sound system.” I wasn’t paying close attention to the billing: in fact they never claimed to be musicians, rather just “entertainers” and “promoters.” Their performance consisted of singing over sound tracks (including some good tunes by Shabba Ranks and others), although they did do it with lots of energy and got the crowd dancing. When it seemed like the reggae part if the set was over and they were in full out dub mode, I called it a night and went home. I started to feel like a character in this short…

It was a fun night out with friends who were game to try something new, but I won’t be downloading music from either act.

I attended the Republic Day flower show at Lalbagh Gardens about a week ago. The conservatory was filled with groupings of plants (roses in one corner, orchids in another) and featured flower sculptures. This year’s theme was “fruits & vegetables”, so there were giant mangoes and carrots and eggplants made with mums and carnation etc. These had faces and hands reaching out… Frankly, they were a little creepy.

The best parts were the gardening and handicraft stalls– I got some basil & rosemary plants, some faux flowers made of wood shavings.

There were also vendors that made for interesting people watching

I still love jasmine, but I’m currently on a tuberose kick. The smells is really divine — I wish there was smell-o-net so I could share it with you. The fragrance seems to increase as night falls.

Perhaps they are more intense here, because I don’t actually recall anything about notable about tuberoses in the US. (I know that they are touted in lots of overbearing perfumes.) That said, I now plan to try my hand a growing them in the garden when I return home 🙂