Wi-Fi Woes - October 6, 2014

A few days ago, I moved to my friend's home in Sahar Village, across from Mumbai's

international airport.  I'm ensconced in the new upstairs room, with private bath, they built,

surrounded by coconut palms and I even have air conditioning.  What I don't have is Wi-Fi.  Theirs is not strong enough to reach through these thick walls to my computer - though someone else nearby certainly has a strong signal. I wish I knew who  & I might negotiate use of it for a fee.  If the steps to my lofty retreat weren't quite so steep, I would just lug my computer up and down when I want Wi-Fi but, now that I am 70, and not grace

personified, I think it's not a wise idea.  I will just head to Vodafone this week & invest in a "dongle" though uploading pictures is not so great.  Bear with me, my blog followers!

The Saturday Photo Hunt - Colours - Cricket - March 8, 2014

It's always easier, when your brain is on Sabbatical ( or when you are in the 
company of a baby for a whole month - as I have been since my return from 
traveling most of January about some of the cities in which I've lived in the former 
Southern U. S. ), to have nice blogging memes to help stimulate blogging posts.
"Colours" had me pouring through hundreds of photographs this morning.  India
pictures are the most colorful in my collection although I do have some other 
wonderful ones from other travels.  Of course, seeing them made me very
wistful to get out the suitcases and start look at reservation sites.  I do plan to
head back to India in the next few months.  That country is now so much a part
of me!!

This colorful group of young cricketers played in the courtyard outside my

"home" in Sahar Village, Mumbai, almost every day.  They always called for

Aunty Carmen to come out and cheer them on.  None of the fancy cricket 

clubs has ever captured my heart as these youngsters did.

I am participating in

The Saturday Photohunt

Add your colorful photo to join in the fun!

All This and Forensics, Too - Friday, January 27, 2012

I've been woefully remiss in posting for far too long.  So much is going on,

it seems the day is over - and it's well into the night when I finally put my head

on the pillow.  I certainly can't complain, however.  I am almost at my half

way mark of my four month India stay and I am already starting to feel so 

sad at the thought of leaving.  

Yesterday was Republic Day here,  Though India gained its independence 

August 15, 1947, Republic Day marks the date the Constitution came into force,

26 January 1950. I spent most of it at Oberoi Mall. Started my morning at their 

spa, indulging myself...hair color, manicure, pedicure, etc...what a fabulous place. 

Every treatment had a massage with it and, oh, how glorious that was. As I was 

walking out, Salim, a slim young male employee approached me and really made 

my day. He said he'd wanted to tell me when I was there three weeks ago and 

he couldn't let me leave without speaking to me now. I was  blown away when 

he said that he was so impressed with me, that I was such a kind, lovely and 

gracious woman, talking to everyone, smiling. He ended his kind words by 

telling me, "You must have REALLY been something when you were young, 

you are so pretty now." You could have pushed me over and I was walking on 

clouds for hours.

Another unbelievable thing happened to me this week.  Sunday morning, 

early, I leave for Jaipur, to attend the wedding reception of a blogger 

friend, Bharat Kshatriya, of Unseen Rajasthan.  I had planned to leave 

from there to go to Delhi on February 1.  An email arrived from Virginia

Lynch, our founding president of the International Association of Forensic

Nurses.  I have known Virginia since that day in August 1992, when

 a group of us met in Minnesota to form IAFN.  I often refer to her as

the Pied Piper of our speciality since she did, indeed, draw hundreds of 

us into the field.

At any rate, Virginia wanted to know if I was still in India as she would

be in Jaipur from the 1st until the 5th, attending a huge international 

forensic conference, at which she would  be presenting!  When I told her

that I was actually going to be in Jaipur and planned to leave on the

1st, she invited me to stay, share her room at the conference hotel and see

some of our forensic colleagues who are helping to bring forensic

nursing to India.  It is such an incredible honor to do so and, in the 3

years since my forensic nursing position with San Francisco ended, I have

been very absent from this world, which was the passion of my life.  At

the end of the conference, I will accompany her to Patiala in the Punjab

where I will, again, be sharing in the world of forensics.

It has to be karma that all this is taking place.  It is unbelievable that I 

will be able to combine my love of  India with my love of forensics.  

Someone, indeed, is looking out for me.

In the meantime, I've been enjoying life with my friends in my village, 

getting out and about in Mumbai and traveling the auto rickshaws like a 

pro, rarely even screaming at near misses.  When Oprah was here 

recently, her comments about the traffic rivaled mine when I first got 

here.  She, too, wondered how seven lanes can converge into one!

Here are a few pictures taken here and there.

Thia is the Sahar Village home of my friends, Ode and

Lorna Santos and their sons, Nick and Jake.  I stayed here

fourteen years ago, for ten days, when I last visited India.

A night time scene across the compound from the Santos home

The streets of Mumbai

Almost every home I have visited, be it Hindu, Christian,

etc, has an altar - these garlands drape statues, pictures, etc...but

are not worn, lei-like, by people

Traffic is unusually light in this photo.  Often, crossing the street is

fraught with danger!

Many people live in these lean tos, raising their children,

cooking meals, making do as best they can.  People are so

resilient here.

Out shopping for vegetables with Lorna

Entrepreneurs are everywhere

Don't these vegetables look fabulous?

You can see the condition of many of the roads...but, everywhere,

women are wearing the most beautiful saris!

My two "sisters", Lorna and Alma, off to another party!

My first jhumka ( earring ) purchase

This is not a real mang tikka on my forehead but I have, since, 

purchased one.  Why don't I look like Aishwarya Rai?

Christmas in Mumbai - December 26, 2011

Aside from a brief bit of melancholy which was quickly eliminated with phone
calls to my three sons, my Christmas in Mumbai was a very special time.
I was all caught up in the real sense of family felt everywhere.  Of course,
practically everyone in this village is either a Santos or a Pereira so it's all
about family.  And everyone was gracious enough to make me feel
included in it all.

For days, my "sister", Lorna, was making sweets from dawn to dusk - every
sort of confection, many familiar cookies and cakes, some I'd never had,
like guava candy.  I am a big fan of guava and quickly laid claim to that
entire tray of tidbits.  When we visited other houses, that's the first thing
for which I searched.

We went to Midnight Mass at Our Lady of Health Church in an
outdoor setting in the village.  It was a nice warm night, brilliant with
stars, and I let my mind wander as I sat beneath the palm fronds,
bedazzled by all the ladies in the most splendid bejeweled and colored
saris.

When the choir began to sing, I was totally in awe, not having expected
such vocal perfection.  Their rendition of "Mary, Did You Know?"
moved me to tears.

Beautiful Lorna Santos...I couldn't believe the length of this 

sari fabric and the work it takes to get it wrapped so beautifully.

Ode and Lorna Santos and their son, Nick, who is about to celebrate

his 21st birthday.  Jake, the other son, was absent for our photography 

session.  Santos is the first person I met and became friends with when

 I began cruising with Royal Caribbean...he's the one who nurtured my

love of India and Indians!!!

The church setting was packed and most of us were standing out by the 

graveyard where you could still see the altar.  I had my walker with me so

I was able to sit....and I must admit, from time to time, my mind wandered.

I happened to be glancing down when I spotted a mouse scurrying a couple 

of rows behind me, over the feet of the men standing there.  A couple of 

men spotted it but none of the ladies did.  It ran back and forth for a little 

while which really made me giggle.  I kept imagining the ruckus that would 

ensue if even one lady had seen it - colorful saris flying, and screams

competing with the choir.  Fortunately, the mouse finally headed out into

the graveyard and disaster was averted.

At communion time, the priest came out toward where our crowd was 

standing and I was surprised to see this tall, handsome young man who 

looked like he should have been a Bollywood star instead of wearing a

priest's vestments.  During my church going days, all the priests I ever had

were ancient!

After Midnight Mass, we all went home where we made the rounds of

each other's houses, eating and drinking till the wee small hours of the

morning.  After a bit of a nap, the Christmas day round of visits began

again, with platefuls of sweets being exchanged among households 

and another nap to ready ourselves for the evenings festivities.

Boy, do these Indians know how to party!!

To Market I Will Go - December 22, 2011

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, even so far from home.  All over
in my Indian village, one smells sweets cooking and, since I have "family"
everywhere ( it seems like half the village is of the Santos clan ), I am being
offered tidbits by everyone.

The other day, I went with Kamlah, the lady who comes twice daily to help
Lorna with household chores, do laundry, and run to the market.  I wanted
to buy myself some more Odomos cream, my weapon in the war against

the mosquitoes.

Outside, in the large compound next to the house, I found a vigorous game
of cricket under way.  I stopped to cheer the lads who, initially were a bit
shy.  I asked if I could take pictures and they agreed and began to ham
it up.  I told them I was from California and no one seemed to know
where that was until I said, "it's the home of Disneyland."

Aren't these the cutest guys you've ever seen?  One of them

may well be a cricket star someday.  From what I've observed,

it's a bit like American baseball.

I love papaya, especially the small Hawaiian variety.  These look more

like the ones I've had in Mexico.  I pass them going to the market.

Village shrine honoring the deceased members of the Santos family

We stopped at the chemist so I could replenish my Odomos.  It seems that

they only had one large tube and one small tube left so I took both and 

asked them to order more.  I know I'll need it.  I finally had my face nearly

cleared up but, somehow, last night, I guess I didn't apply enough and I, 

once again, have red splotches everywhere....VERY EMBARRASSING,

as blogger friend, Deepak Amembal is picking me up tomorrow for a

luncheon meeting with Indian bloggers.

Here's the fish lady showing me "bombay duck" - a fish I enjoy very much.  I always

wondered how it got that name since it certainly isn't a duck and I turned to

the ever trusty Wikipedia for information.  It is actually bummalo ( Harpadon

nehereus ), a lizardfish.  It's native to the waters between Mumbai and Kutch 

in the Arabian Sea.  Once the fish is dried and salted, it has a most powerful

smell and is usually transported in air-tight containers.  

While the acquisition of the term "Bombay duck" is debatable, one answer

is that, when rail service was started,because of its strong smell, it was 

relegated to the mail train - the Bombay Mail or  Bombay Dak.  People,

strongly scented, were accused of smelling like Bombay Dak, a term used

in the days of the British Raj.  Thanks, Wikipedia!

There are about a dozen feral cats that hang out under this 

table waiting for scraps to fall.

Lulu Santos getting her fish for dinner!

Hard work, cleaning and cutting the fish

Sweet Lulu, with a friendly wave

At one point, a man in the crowd asked me to take his picture.  When I

hesitated, he grabbed up a stay dog and said, "How about now?"  I couldn't

refuse so here he is:

On the way home from the market, we passed a lassi, chai stand and I told

Kamlah I wanted a lassi.  She suggested we get it to go but I wanted to sit and

drink it there.  I plopped myself down and ordered and it wasn't till I was 

sipping my delicious lassi, equivalent $.40 US.  I looked around and realized

there were about 15 men seated and I was the only woman.  I looked at

Kamlah, waiting in front.  "Why am I the only woman," I asked.  "Women 

don't usually sit here."  I laughed and asked the man who served me, "Have

I made some sort of horrible mistake... are the women all home working and

the men are all goofing off?  Should I leave?"  They all looked at me, smiling

and told me, "No, stay."  I did, of course - but I did, then feel very out of

place!!!

More to come in the adventures of Carmen and Sahar Village in Mumbai.

Shadow Shot Sunday #186 - Mumbai Shadows - December 11, 2011

The sun shines very brightly on Sahar Village, near Mumbai's international 

airport where I am staying.  Dust settles everywhere, with all the construction

going on and the red clay soil - which reminds me on my Georgia home.  

There is no shortage of shadows.

I am participating in Shadow Shot Sunday #186 -

add your shadow shot and join in the fun.