This morning crossing the street, there were two cows wondering unattended down the road, as the cars and motorcycles just zipped around them. I'll try to have my camera ready next time.
Traffic is easily the first area of culture shock; the best word to describe it is madness. Seeing the cows was just the cherry on top. Base ingredients include motorcycles, scooters, bicycles, cars, buses, trucks, rickshaws ("autos"), carts, dogs and pedestrians. Add a healthy dose of honking, sprinkle with dust, and make sure to omit order. Then bake at 90 degrees F, 24x7.
Yesterday I watched a guy's hat come flying off as he sped through traffic. He came back against the grain, and stopped in the middle of the road to pick it up, while everyone else just dodged him. Love it!
Anyway, with that build up I'm sorry, but I'm not posting any videos quite yet (the only thing that would do the traffic justice). Wanna take a nap. But here are a few random photos from my experience thus far.
Paper masala dosa for breakfast. The dosa is the large cone-shaped part (like a brittle crepe made from rice), and the masala is in the bowl inside. Accompanied with chutney and other stuff, can't keep all the food names straight.
Pushp har for sale on the street. Flower necklace worn at weddings and other such ceremonies.
Haaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy!
Wedding of Priti Chaudhari, flanked by some of our developers. She's one of many of a fantastic team.
Mehandi, or heena, on Priti's hands. She said it took about 4-5 hours to do.
Shaniwar Wada, ancient palace, downtown Pune. Mostly in ruin now, aside from the exterior walls. Now the interior is a nicely landscaped courtyard, frequented by school kids and sweethearts.
Front gate to Shaniwar Wada. The spikes start at about 7 feet up because they were used to deter elephants from ramming through. At least that's what I heard.
5 comments:
Brett! What the heck are you doing in India!? We need to learn to talk more.
I'm glad to see that you have returned to the blogging world. That breakfast doesn't look very filling... But I'm glad to see you're making friends with the local livestock. :)
wow!!! dint know so much happened around here on pune roads...Loved the laughing buffalo pic!!!!
I love Priti's hands, that is gorgeous! I especially love the picture with Praveen! I miss that kid!
hi.. i was lookin fr ref images of Shaniwar Wada fr my maya model n stumbled upon the ones u took.. although its like 10 min away frm home i thot net wud giv beter images :)... anyways loved ur blogs n pics tht go wid it..saw a real life adventurer fr the 1st time :) or may b second ... anyways.. the "Front gate to Shaniwar Wada" snap is really good . .wow :)
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