Jaipur Cow - November 28, 2014

Cows wander the streets freely in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. This fellow seemed to be taking a rest against this orange brick wall.

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Sundays in My City - Homeward Bound in Seventeen Days: I Love You

Coastal Scene Near Pacifica, California

Well, really, it's hard to say where home is nowadays. I have spent about as much time in India as I have in California over the last three years.  If I could establish some sort of
residency, open a bank account, and get health insurance, I would actually live here most of the time and go home twice a year for two months.  Why? Mainly because it is affordable .. and I like this country. I have so many friends here, from youngsters to people my age, get very reasonable massage, can die here without spending a fortune for cremation and departure from this earth and they have some amazing, reasonably priced hospitals as well.  I can eat inexpensively, find someone to clean, cook, wash and iron for barely a dent
in my retirement income and participate in any number
of wonderful festivals that take place.  

The downside, of course, is that my three sons live in
California and so does my daughter-in-love, Laura, and my sweet granddaughter, Harper Ann,and the two granddogs.  In spite of Skype,not one of them seems predisposed to stay in touch with me that way - though, when I am in the U.S., my Indian friends always keep in touch  via those modalities or Viber, We Chat, etc.  I am a woman of the internet. Air fare is costly between the two countries, often $1000+ round trip and it is a long journey, sometimes 25 to 30 hours.

Jal Mahal, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

I've been very pensive the last week or so, acknowledging
that I am aging and may not be able to continue to keep up this international travel forever.  Words for a poem came to mind so here it is.

I Love You

The days rush by too quickly,

Minutes go so fast.

Those we love pass through our lives, 

The treasured times don't last.

Do we pause to cherish them,

While we have the chance?

Or does God take them from us,

While we look askance?

Three simple words, "I love you,"

Are not so hard to say,

We may feel them very often,

But not say them day by day.

I often feel the anguish of a friend,

And his overwhelming pain,

At the death of one most cherished,

And words cannot be said again.

The world would be much happier,

If we'd take time, now and then,

To tell our loved ones how we feel,

From family to special friend.

Carmen Henesy

November 12, 2014

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Orange You Glad It's Friday, Week 114 - October 30, 2014

First of all, I must congratulate my home team San 
Francisco Giants on their great World Series win.
It was a knuckle biting seven games and, though I 
didn't actually watch them from India, I followed, almost
play by play, on internet news.

I offered prayers to almost every deity, including Lord
Ganesha, the Indian god, known as the overcomer of
obstacles.  To whichever god ( or all of them ) that 
helped my team win, thank you!!  Our city rejoices.

My "orange you glad Friday" post is of a sweet Lord
Ganesha I found at Creative Textiles in Jaipur, a store
that had wonderful fabrics and made lovely clothes 
from them.  I came home with two outfits and this 
little Ganesha.  I now have a small collection of Ganeshas.

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The rickety bicycle rickshaw,

Slowly makes its way,

Down the Jaipur street,

On a sweltering summer day.

The weary driver will certainly,

Have to take a rest,

AFTER a day spent hauling,

Many a harried guest.

Carmen Henesy

Copyright Carmen Henesy September 16, 2014

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Two 

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Our World Tuesday - Amber Textiles - Tuesday ( in India ), August 12, 2014

For the most part, I really love India.  You meet all kinds of wonderful people, in the
course of your comings and goings.  Take my outing in search of "house dresses"
with my Indian "sister".  I rent a room from Rosy and her husband, Norman, the 
parents of Edsel and Danny Toscano, former Royal Caribbean crew friends.  It
is really nice for me, in Mumbai, a city of over ten million, to be with people who
are like family.

So, off we go to her favorite spot at Elco Arcade Shopping Center to get "house 
dresses" for me, during a momentary lull in the monsoon rains.  Playing "dodge 
'em cars" in our rickshaw, we arrive, amazingly, safe and sound.  On the first floor,
we pass shop after shop of caftans, saris, kurtas, and all the assorted Indian
ladies clothing, all looking basically the same.  If I stop to admire, Rosy calls me
to keep going, "It's just ahead."  

"Just ahead" is a tiny little shop that can only accommodate a few shoppers, 
especially after I have entered.  It is chock full of brightly colored cotton prints of
every hue, short and long lengths, dazzling to me.  I explain to both the young 
man and the older man in attendance what I want to see ( "everything" ), probably
in an extra large.  

The young man, who, I later learn, is Hitesh Narsinghani, gains my undying affection
when he tells me, "No, you won't take an extra large, only a large."  I remember when,
in 1997, during my first India trip, being told, during a shopping expedition to 
Bandra, "sorry, madam, your dresses will be four hundred rupees because you
are a jumbo."  He tells me to try on one of the dresses over my clothes and, lo and
behold, he's right, a large fits.

I tell Hitesh and his uncle, I believe it was, that I want both long and short house

dresses and out they bring at least two dozen folded choices in assorted colors.

Hitesh takes the first, shakes it open and holds it up so I can see it full length.  I love 

it.  He then starts for the second one.  I tell him to stop, not to bother unfolding them 

all, I can tell what I like with them folded.  Oh, no, like a showman, he insists, saying 

I have to see them opened up and it is no bother to refold them.

I ended up buying three long dresses and three short ones and I told Hitesh I would

probably come back for a couple more before I head home in November.  One 

black floral one that I loved was out of stock but he is sure they will get another 

shipment from Jaipur.  I told him they all reminded me of muu muus.  He had no

idea what I meant but I can just see myself in Hawaii wearing these and, for $35,

I could never get six muu muus at Hilo Hatties.  

When I asked Rosy how she had settled on this one store out of all at the

shopping mall, she told me because of the quality of the dresses, the durability

of the cotton and the colors and the good stitching which was not consistent

everywhere.  Also, the price was excellent, even better than what you would get

in Jaipur where the dresses are made!

I'll enjoy wearing these, I'm sure, long after I stop coming to India.  After all, I will

celebrate my 70th birthday here in October and I wonder how long I can keep 

traveling.  Oh, well, as Scarlett said, "I'll think about that tomorrow" ... a lot of 

tomorrows in the future.

Amber Textiles is located at 15, Elco Arcade Shopping Centre, Hill Road, Bandra

West, Mumbai - 400 050, India, Phone: 2640 6303, 2642 2606.

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Wordless Wednesday - Sights and Scenes of India - June 3, 2014

Photos from past visits to India....new ones will come when I return in late July for a  four
month stay in "the country of my heart."

Hard work

Palace of the Winds, Jaipur, Rajasthan

Camels still pull carts in some areas

Beautiful children

Mysore Palace, Mysore, Karnataka

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Mandarin Orange Monday 93 - Rajasthani Dancers in Orange - May 12, 2014

During my first visit to Jaipur, a dear forensic nurse colleague and friend, Virginia
Lynch, and I ended our stay with dinner at a restaurant called Indiana.  It was a 
delightful evening with delicious food and an amazing show.  We had the best
table in the house, front and center, and watched mesmerized, as the women 
whirled, slowly at first, then more rapidly, as the tempo increased, balancing
various pots on their heads, including a grand finale with a metal urn set aflame.
I was dizzy just from watching.

While their dresses were a beautiful and varied array of colors, this one of orange
was perfect for today's theme.  What wonderful memories looking at these 
photographs brought back.

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Ruby Tuesday Too - Indian Musician at the ITC Rajputana Hotel, Jaipur - April 22, 2014

During my five month stay in Jaipur, I spent a lovely evening at the ITC 
Rajputana Hotel.  This brightly garbed young man played outside one of
their fine restaurants.  I think the instrument is a sitar, though I am no expert
on Indian musical instruments.   Please correct me if I am wrong.

From Wikipedia, I learned that the sitar is descended from a simpler Persian
instrument and it is a plucked instrument used in Hindustani and classical
Indian music.  The sitar gained in great popularity in the 16th and 17th 
century.  "It derives its distinctive timbre and resonance from sympathetic
strings, bridge design, a long hollow neck and a gourd resonating chamber."
Musicians normally sit on the ground to play the sitar.

Vilayat Kahn, from a family of court musicians dating back to the Mughal empire,
 is credited with introducing sitar music to much of the world.  His first record was
produced at the age of 8 and his last performance took place when he was 75.

Pop musicians such as George Harrison of the Beatles and Brian Harrison of
the Rolling Stones helped introduce the sitar to the Western world.  George
Harrison visited India to study sitar under one of the world's greatest sitar 
musicians, Ravi Shankar.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilayat_Khan

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Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! #119 - Jaipur Beauty, Perfect For This Theme! - Marrch 10, 2014

I took this photograph during my five month stay in Jaipur well over a year ago.  

I always loved passing by this building, it looked so exotic and, of course, the 

doorway and windows - the whole house, really, are in colors I love.  I check

Meme-Aholics from time to time and was so surprised to see the above 

meme.  How have I missed it in the past?  Anyway, here are my beautiful

Jaipur doorway and window!

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Ruby Tuesday Too - Jaipur Musician - February 25, 2014

Soon, it will be three months since I arrived home from India and I am starting to
feel nostalgic for my "other" country.  I've been going through hundreds of photos 
but haven't gotten started with my resolution to learn some Hindi before my return.
Babysitting for granddaughter, Harper, now twenty pounds, leaves me pretty
weary by day's end.  I will get started March 1st, even if it's just an hour a day.

In the meantime, here's a musician that caught my fancy during my five month
stay in Jaipur.

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Everyday Life - January 19, 2014

A street scene in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

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Colorful Puppets of Jaipur - October 22, 2013

Depending on whether you are in India or San Francisco, 
I have 42 or or 43 days left in Mumbai - it's 12-1/2 hrs earlier at home!

One of the things I love most about this "country of my heart, is the brilliant colors

everywhere, in clothing, home decor, puppets and, of course, cosmetics.  When

I finally win the lottery, I will return, oblivious of overweight luggage charges, to

outfit my new homes with all sorts of wonderful Indian purchases, in brilliant 

colors, to offset gloomy rains and to fill my days with happiness and wonderful

memories of visits to this land I love so much.

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Shadow Shot Sunday 2 - Tree Shadows on a Jaipur Pig - October 20, 2013

44 DAYS LEFT IN INDIA!

This rather dusty, dirty Jaipur pig is pretty much camouflaged by the stone 
fence and the leaf shadows of the tree above.  It is clear, however, that she
must have given birth to a litter pretty recently though I didn't see any little
piggies around.

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