Dez in India

Live music at battle of the bands. Really impressive talent, especially since these bands were selected from auditions at local corporate parks (including my office park). Thanks to my friend who included me as her “+1”.

The judges, Goleei Gurus, performing:

Honey Boo Boo is airing on TV in India. I don’t recall all the horsemen of the apocalypse ( and I fear that looking them up online may actually fulfill one of the prophecies), but this has to be a bad sign…

I’m not a crazed fan, but I enjoy a good Super Bowl party as much as the next person. I know most of the rules of the game (having been raised by a couple of rabid LSU Tiger & Pittsburg Steelers fans). I’m even in a friendly Super Bowl pool back in New York. But how does one celebrate properly when the kick off time is 5am Monday morning?!?

Well, guess I didn’t need all those guacamole, chips and beer calories any way….. And I am sure I’ll be able to find all the best commercials on-line. The Budweiser horse-adopted pup commercial has been “liked” and/or “shared” by all my Facebook friends already and what could possibly top that, right?

The worst part: I don’t think they air the Puppy Bowl here. Oh, the humanity!!!!

Puppy bowl play-offs from Nov 2013 (“Sassafras goes for the tackle and… Ouzo fumbles! It’s back to the 10-yard line….”)

I finally found a nice, fairly priced, old urli with a good patina and solid bell-metal ring to it. I am (almost) over the one I let slip thru my hands in the Coonoor antique store. (I didn’t buy it and it’s haunted me ever since.)

An urli is a shallow, bell metal bowl typically used for cooking on an open fire (still used today for cooking up food for big festivals & wedding, especially in South India). They range in size from a diameter of few inches to 6 feet or more. You can get shiny new ones made of brass that are purely decorative (not for cooking), but I wanted something traditional & with character. It became a quest.

My urli is about 18″ wide with charcoal staining around the bottom to evidence its past use for cooking. (Or it’s well faked, but I’m choosing to be optimistic.) I’ve floated some Gerber daisy and rose petals; next time I need more flowers and petals!

This — a giant urli in a hotel lobby– is the sort of flower pattern I aspire to one day (on a smaller scale):

Lately, I have been noticing some wacky comparisons. One local institute of higher learning uses this on its website, email footers, etc:
“We have been ranked #1 after [another institute of higher learning]”
Um, okay. So you’re #2….

A billboard near the airport reads:
“The next best city!”
Does that mean it is #2?
Or is it a prediction that the city will be the best in the near future?

Lastly, yesterday an American representative of my US Consulate said this:
“Bangalore has 1 reported sexual assault for every 10 in Delhi.” (To be fair, the rep immediately said that even 1 was too many.) Note that I feel as safe here as I do in NYC, DC, New Orleans (okay, query my own frame of reference!) — but despite the rep’s good intentions, that comparison isn’t helpful or comforting.

It been a frustrating work week (& not over yet, alas). But as I was tolling my list of frustrations and complaints in my head, another random thought snuck it: This week, WHO declared India to be polio free. That’s just amazing.

It’s hard for most Americans of my generation & younger to fathom this awful disease. Polio in the US is most often mentioned in the context of FDR — a historical note, something that “used” to happen generations ago. In the west, polio vaccine has been available since the 1950s (thanks Jonas Salk!) and, aside from some isolated populations (e.g., Amish), it was practically gone in the US by the 1970s. I don’t know anyone whose family has been touched by polio in the US…

However, in the short time I’ve lived here, I’ve meet people (yes, plural) with siblings my age & younger who are living with polio. I’ve seen people on the street whose atrophied legs imply that they, too, are victims of this horrible disease. Polio is part of active, living memory and daily life here — not just history. As recently as 2009, India lead the world in new polio cases.

I cannot even imagine how big a goal it was to undertake to eradicate polio in India. (A “stretch assignment” in modern corporate lingo, if I’ve ever heard one.) And the immense frustrations and challenges the doctors, nurses, scientists, community organisers, assistants & others involved in this effort must have faced… Well, that puts my laundry list of complaints this week in prospective. I am humbled.

Kudos to public health professionals & volunteers & supporters in India and worldwide who made this happen. You have achieved a miracle.

During our estuary tour of the Madu Ganga, our boat captain, Leonon, greeted me with a frangipani bouquet. Loved it!

As we made our way about the river, we saw fishermen, birds and flowers (including the national flower, the blue lotus or “nil manel”):

There was a fish eagle soaring high above, too, but I never got a good photo of him.

We also explored some “mangrove caves”

And we were surprised by some water buffalo in a rice patty along the shore:

All in all a lovely day as the river met the sea:

As I mentioned yesterday, we spent some time exploring the Madu Ganga estuary. Here are some if the wild lizards we saw:

(these photos did not require much zoom, as he was about 18″ from my head!)

Swimming monitor lizards up close

Swimming monitor lizard in the distance, with just her head peaking out from the water.
This one was more of a pet — alas, the wild crocs seemed to be on holiday yesterday.

He’ll grow to be about 1.5-2 meters long.

Some of the locals raise fish, too. And offer “fish pedicures” (but only by the smaller fish). N wasn’t such a fan. I agree: it was odd. More ticklish than piranha attack, though…

Rather than ending on THAT image, I’ll share with you the lotus blossom necklace our boat captain made for me:

We decided to start the new year exploring Nature in Sri Lanka’s second largest wetland habitat, the Madu Ganga. It’s said one if the last remaining pristine mangrove forest in Sri Lanka. The Madu Ganga ecosystem is an internationally recognized wetland, known for its biodiversity. The locals make their living through fishing, aquaculture, rice paddies, cinnamon farming — and of course, tourism.

(That’s a Nil Manel or Blue Lotus in the last shot)

There are 64 Islands in the wetland, some inhabited by people, some not. One housed a now-abandoned Hindu temple, another houses the tranquil Kothduwa Buddhist Temple (giant Buddha, Bodhi tree and all).

We got blessings from a monk, for the New Year, as indicated by the white threads tied around our right wrists.

In the Bodhi Tree and in the rafters of the assembly hall, we saw our first “grizzled giant squirrels“, what some locals claim to be the national animal of Sri Lanka.

(yeah, the last one is high-fiving me!)

I’ll post photos of the other critters we met separately, so come back for more (lizards, birds, baby croc, flesh-eating fish, etc.)!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!