Sat - October 8, 2005

Traveling Toddlers


What will life in India be like with a 1.5 and 3 year old child in tow?

Posted at 03:10 AM     Read More  

Sat - December 3, 2005

Parks in India


If we were childless travelers, I doubt we'd have noticed. But since we have two children, one of whom is able to say "I want to go to the park" until you can't bear it anymore, we've had to brave a couple of India's parks.

Posted at 01:50 AM     Read More  

The life of Indian students


On Thursday I had the opportunity to sit on a panel that interviewed twenty Indian undergraduates who were finalists in a program that sends students from developing countries to the U.S. to complete their degrees.

Posted at 06:37 AM     Read More  

Wed - December 7, 2005

Defence Colony and the flat


We're pretty fortunate to be staying in a nice neighborhood, whatever that means in Delhi, and in a pretty decently appointed flat. Still, there are some challenges to daily life we don't face at home.

Posted at 07:33 AM     Read More  

Indians and Westerners


Indians certainly have their fair share of contact with westerners, so why is it that wherever we go people want to touch our children and take their picture?

Posted at 07:49 AM     Read More  

Sat - December 24, 2005

Remembering the Tsunami


Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of the tsunami that struck the Indian Ocean last year. India suffered great losses, mostly in Tamil Nadu and the Andaman Islands (though the population there is much less than mainland India). But Kerala, even though it's on the western side of the subcontinent, also experienced damage and loss of life.

Posted at 11:24 PM     Read More  

Tue - December 27, 2005

Fish and the Sea


In the part of Kerala where we are living, much of life revolves around the sea. In the morning the men go out to set their nets. Women wait on the beach, then carry the day's catch around on their heads.

Posted at 12:01 AM     Read More  

Thu - January 5, 2006

Rural life on the Kerala backwaters


Throughout Kerala, education is highly valued. On the backwaters, this makes for an interesting juxtaposition. Children in neat uniforms pass fishing nets and half naked men in canoes on their way to school. In just a couple of hours on a traditional Kerala houseboat (OK, the outboard motors were not so traditional), we got a small taste of what rural life on the Kerala backwaters is like.

Posted at 07:48 AM     Read More  

Sat - January 28, 2006

Kerala farming


We've seen a lot of Kerala's fishing industry, and a little bit of the coconut and coir industry ("industry" in both cases being used loosely), but during my trip to Plachimada I got my first glimpse of agriculture. Plachimada is in the foothills of the Western Ghats, the mountain chain that runs north-south through Southern India, and the main crops are spices (and tea at higher elevations).

Posted at 05:43 AM     Read More  

Fri - February 10, 2006

Reflections on Arabic culture


There are a few more things about Dubai, or more generally, Arabic culture, that I feel compelled to write about. One is hijab, the practice of modest dress by Islamic women. The other is religious cartoons (which I can safely discuss now that we're back in India).

Posted at 02:54 AM     Read More  

Fri - February 17, 2006

Beemapally


Trivandrum's Muslim area, known as Beemapally, is tucked away from the city center right under the flight path of planes landing at the Trivandrum airport. Beemapally is defined by two features--its brilliantly pink (almost bubble gum pink) mosque, and its profusion of shops selling pirated DVDs.

Posted at 04:04 PM     Read More  

Sun - February 19, 2006

H5N1 has arrived


I just received the following email from the U.S. Embassy in India...

Posted at 07:06 AM     Read More  

Sat - February 25, 2006

A few notes on India's quirks


Phone bills, travel, queues (again), and "space."

Posted at 05:20 PM     Read More  

Sun - February 26, 2006

Festival season


We had our first experience tonight with the Hindu festival season. On our way to Technopark this afternoon for ice cream, we saw a truck bringing an elephant into our neighborhood. We asked Rahul what was going on, and he explained that a local temple was having a parade. Murugan, a practicing Hindu unlike Rahul (we tease him about this), had the inside scoop. So in the early evening, with Murugan and Rahul stopping to ask directions, we were able to track down the parade and Claire and Luc got to touch an elephant.

Posted at 07:19 AM     Read More  

Fri - March 3, 2006

Bush in India


A success. That's more or less how Indian papers (at least the English-language ones), have been describing Bush's visit. They've also surmised that there was a lot of pressure to strike a nuclear agreement, or else Bush's visit would have been deemed a faillre.

Posted at 06:25 PM     Read More  

















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