Archive for the ‘Photographs’ Category

This is Not My Beautiful World

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We wake to the shrill grinding sound of rebar being cut, in the construction site just outside the window. That sound is soon overtaken by the cacophonous grind of a cement mixer, which is again overtaken by the crashing gush of a truckload of rocks being emptied onto the construction site. A cloud of white rock dust presses up against the windows. This is not my beautiful world.
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The construction site next door is active from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. Thirty sari-draped women balance trays of wet cement on their heads while a dozen half-naked children play in the mountain of sand. Another twenty or so barefoot men scoop rocks and bend rebar and are digging six giant pits in the red earth. They are building a three-story shopping center. From my dining room window this looks like an archeological dig. I have just found out that the construction will take one year. Huge buzz kill.

We chose this place because be could live like Columbian drug lords for what a one bedroom apartments costs at home, and because it was a quiet sanctuary away from the Bangalore choking traffic and relentless noise. Now, we may as well be living in the middle of the road. Every surface of our house is coated with grit. I’m beginning to suspect that this is why the owners have chosen not to live in their dream home.

Pack your earplugs and dust masks and come for a visit!!!

Fuck Yeah Cilantro !

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OK so my new favorite daily read is the fantastic Fuck Yeah Cilantro site, a place where those of us with serious cilantro fetishes can gather without shame, share some cilantro cheesecake, have a laugh or just beat the crap out of unbelievers.

Living in India of course we run into cilantro every day in new and astonishing ways; therefore I have decided to make my contribution to Cilantro Culture by periodically reporting from the front lines, using a Fuck Yeah Cilantro press pass that I made out of construction paper, Elmer’s glue, and green glitter.

Today’s submission is an Indian specialty: the Fresh Lime Soda. Especially great in the hot hot heat here, when done right, they will bring you carafes of soda water, a small pitcher of sugar syrup (because if you use sugar crystals with the soda water you will be mopping up the table), and some freshly squeezed lime juice or concentrate. You mix to taste. In some cases they will garnish with lime, lemon, mint, or in this case…. Cilantro. Nothing more satisfying on a hot, humid day: it starts sweet, has a little playtime, then finishes with that special cilantro twinkle.

In India, we say, “Coriander.” Say it with me: COR – EEE – AND – ER. Niiice :)

For more, be sure to visit Fuck Yeah Cilantro and tell ’em Phil sent ya.

Pachydermaphoria

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Stomp

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Pondicherry Promenade

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Steam

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After our unsuccessful attempt to get to Chennai on time for a tour of the Royal Enfield factory, we stopped for lunch along the coast as we headed for our consolation destination, Pondicherry. It was so hot and humid out there – like 99°F with 60% humidity – that just getting out of the air conditioned car caused my glasses to fog up pretty severely, creating the humorous photo opportunity you see here :)

On a less humorous note, I failed to connect this phenomenon with the potential for similar behavior in my considerably more delicate and expensive camera and computer. As a result, during our subsequent time in Pondy, my Canon 5D Mark II fogged up pretty badly, over and over again, until it just stopped working. Yes, I am new here. And yes, over the next two days it did dry out and begin behaving normally again.