Diwali in Orchha

There was a small part of me that was hoping that going to Orchha for Diwali break would bring an opportunity to experience a true Diwali celebration. After all the last two years I've been in a desert camp and in Catholic Goa. But Orchha, Orchha is a Hindu town. So I thought that perhaps I'd get a truly local experience. At first it seemed like Diwali might be restricted to people painting their houses, adding a new layer of color to brighten up the town. Don't get me wrong, I loved the bright blue, pink and yellow houses! But I was hoping for more...of course it is hard to know what to expect when you can't even identify which day is the proper Diwali...not that I'm any closer to being able to identify that. The second day we were there, it seemed that the number of people pouring into town had doubled or tripled. Almost all of them were making their way on foot to the large temple in the middle of the town dressed in their finest clothes, many of them waving peacock feathers in their hands. That seemed a bit more like a celebration, but not quite what I was expecting, after all Diwali is known as the festival of lights. I never did see many lights, but the the electricity only seemed to run from about 7-11 pm. However, the last morning we were there, we were awoken by the sound of drums. A peak over the balcony to the riverside revealed trucks coming in with the trailer full of men (all men). As they arrived the guys climbed down and began to get dressed...get dressed up in costumes of "women" (which often just meant tight short shorts, a skirt made out of flowers or some other type of adornment - never mind that women dress quite conservatively here). From what we could figure out on the particular holiday in this particular region of the country, villagers meet up and the men dance as the women are not allowed to. Most of the dances occur along the water front to the beat of the drums. Some groups of men strike sticks as they spin and jump. Others focus more on a jumping aspect. I'm not quite sure I can tell you what the meaning of the dances are, I would assume for good luck/food/fortune but that would be pure speculation. It was a bit uncomfortable being out on the road during that time as there really weren't any woman out and about. But of course I couldn't resist a small wander to take pictures and soak up the unexpected celebration I had landed in the middle of.

Christmas traditions

As I got ready to head home for Christmas this year my mom and my sister were full of questions about what needed to/could happen for the holiday. It really made me sit down and think about what were important traditions for me to experience if I was going to  feel like I had had a true Christmas. There are many things that I don't feel strongly about, after all three years ago I spend two hours in an internet cafe in Kampot, Cambodia skyping with my family and then went out for a peppercorn crab meal on the banks of the river by myself. So what is it that makes a Christmas at home Christmas? It is mass on Christmas Eve (turns out I don't care about which church since the priest I grew up with has been moved). Driving through Leisurewoods to enjoy the Christmas lights and the luminaries. Christmas Eve at my mom's house - opening presents and snacking on tamales, cheese, fresh rolls and fruit. Spending time with family. The lights on a Christmas tree. A nice family meal on Christmas Day with plenty of veggies (also turns out I don't have strong feelings about the main dish - lasagna this year). If possible going to visit the Zilker tree and trail of lights. Crisp weather many of you would think of as fall (but no snow!). Home made Christmas cookies. My mother's pumpkin bread (do I need to point out we have a lot of food traditions in our family?). Throwing sparkly puffs at my mother that turn into a fake snowball fight until we are both laughing too hard on the floor to continue. Seeing the wonder in my nieces' eyes at the magic of Christmas. All with a low refrain of religious Christmas carols in the background. 

Orchha

Back in October we had a long weekend (otherwise known as a travel opportunity!) that found me in the small town of Orchha over the Diwali weekend. I and a couple of friends had gone on the recommendation of a couple of people in my department, and before showing up about all I knew was that it was a fairly small town that was full of old constructions. Located about a 6 1/2 hour train ride south of Delhi it is one of the rare 15th century towns that got built around instead of torn down and repurposed. I believe we saw at least 15 16th century structures before it began to feel like they were all starting to blend together. Okay, maybe they blended together before that, but I wasn't willing to give up the freedom of walking everywhere until then. There is the large Raj Mahal (fort) sitting just in front of the Jahangir Mahal (palace?) with its elephant supports inside. Up on a hill overlooking the town is Lakshminarayan Madir, a temple that still contains some of its original hand drawn decoration. One of my favorite places was the Chaturbhuja Temple which was constructed to house a Hindu idol but was never used for its intended purpose as the idol refused to be moved and so a new temple had to be build around it. Instead we were able to climb all over this open building following a sadhu with his flashing green light up immense stairs to great views of the town. I also enjoyed the cluster of eleven cenotaphs that were a mere five minute walk from our hotel, old tombs situated on the banks of the river; I could have done without the vultures - although there is something a bit fitting about them being perched on the tops of the tombs.

Election time

We got a notice last week that our local hires would be able to take off half of a day in order to ensure that they had an opportunity to vote in the elections that would elect the new parliament members. This brief email made me start to think about what I had been seeing (and hearing) around town (and in other cities) recently. How do you campaign with a population that only has a literacy rate of 74% overall? Well if the advertisements that can be seen all over are any indication you do it with a combination of things. Signs that not only include pictures of the people running, but a symbol for the party that I assume are included on the ballot. I've seen an elephant, a diya, a lotus flower, a broom, and a bicycle for sure. Also plenty of cars have been driving around blaring loudspeakers, presumably encouraging individuals to vote for their candidate. Whatever the case there was a lot of excitement on election day. Delhi votes earlier than other areas of the country, and there was a feeling of hope that if the current leading party didn't win outright there then things might actually change across the country (many people have complained of how corrupt the current dominate party is - I really don't know much at all about Indian politics). What I do know is that people were proudly showing me the brown stripe on their finger which was proof that they had gone and voted (and make sure that a person is not able to vote more than once by going to a different voting site). It was nice to see people excited about elections and feeling strongly about casting a vote that they believed was a chance to make a difference.

For those of you more interested, Times of India is updating a blog regularly as results come in today.

Thanksgiving in Dharamashala

Happy Thanksgiving! The holiday brought us another long weekend, and thus another chance to travel (which seems a bit ridiculous seeing as how I haven't even told y'all anything about the last trip I took in India!). I've been slowly going through my list of places I want to see and this break gave me a chance to visit Dharamashala. Nestled on the side of a mountain it has become a refuge for Tibetans who have fled the Chinese occupation of their land, and serves as their primary religious headquarters housing the home temple of the Dalai Lama. As such you can imagine that it is a pretty low key, relaxing place. For three days I walked without being hassled, enjoyed the views, took in the clean air and took the opportunity to recharge before going into the end of the semester. One day we took a stroll out to see the waterfall in Bhagsu, a neighboring village. Another we took the opportunity to attend a momo (Tibetan dumplings) cooking class. The hour and a half with the lad who runs Lhamo's Kitchen was well enjoyed. We didn't have to do any of the prep work (no chopping!), but just learned how to put all of the ingredients together and how to form a momo (sort of). The best part of course was getting to eat all of the momos we had assembled just as soon as they had finished steaming. All in all a quiet restful weekend which was exactly what I needed.

When is a motorcycle full?

If you spend much time on the roads in India it can make you start to think, "When is a motorcycle actually full?" Clearly one or two people is an easy fit. Three is seen fairly often. Four seems doable. But what about five? Ah, yes, we've seen that. I've seen up to six on one motorcycle...transportation for the entire family, especially in smaller cities or towns.

So if a motorcycle can hold at least six, what does that mean about a scooter?

Or one of these?

 

 We counted 28 piling out one day.

Village walk

They dropped us off by an overlook with a lower pond and a view of the hills. A place where stone structures like diving boards jutted out over the void. They said there was a village just down the road if we wanted to walk a bit. After several hours in the car the idea was delightful and we all grabbed our cameras as we got out to stretch our legs a bit. I couldn't turn down the opportunity to see a village from the ground instead of out the car window as I so often do here in India. Those women you see hauling piles of hay on their head - they're coming out of the woods to join us on the road, a big smile on their face. Small children may seem shy at first but will soon overcome the strangeness of our skin in the joy of taking photos and sharing the few words of English they know. The old man, face lined with life, will continue to sit silently on the porch, just offering a nod as I say "Namaste." Women in bright saris peek out of doors and sweep the ground in front of their house. They go about their life as usual as I come the closest to rural India as I've ever been. An hour that reminds me of the two years I walked villages in Guinea as a Peace Corps volunteer.

Muscat by night

This past weekend found me in Muscat, Oman for the volleyball tournament with my boys (our best result yet finishing fourth place). The only problem with travelling for sports is that all you really get to see is the inside of the gym. I have to admit that I still hear the refrain that our players were chanting all weekend: Everywhere we go everywhere we go, People want to know people want to know, Who we are who we are, So we tell them so we tell them, We are the tigers we are the tigers, Mighty mighty tigers, mighty mighty tigers....aargh! Enough already.

Thankfully I have a friend that I taught with in Turkey who is now in Muscat. She graciously came and picked me up one evening after we had finished so I did get to see a little bit of Muscat, but only what is lit up at night. A promenade along the beach front, the beautifully lit opera house with its strong angles and arches, the golden lit dome of the Grand Mosque. I have to admit that I like the way things get lit up at night, even if it does mean things are not really open for an inside views.

Happy Diwali!

May you have a bright and well lit holiday

Welcome the goddess Lakshmi with your lights

Turn away evil spirits with the burst of firecrackers 

Celebrate good over evil with your row of lamps

Fall Fiesta

Yesterday was the Fall Fiesta. The one big fund raiser that the high schoolers at AES do. Almost a service project in and of itself. It is a 4 hour undertaking which has just about every student in the high school hoping from booth to booth to work to provide a Halloween carnival for the lower and middle school students. For the price of one wristband, a child can play endlessly at any of the booths that have been set up with home grown games. Some of my favorites this year were the Whack-a-mole booth where students donned helmets, stuck their heads through some circles cut in a sheet and let the kids hammer their heads with an inflatable helmet, the face paint booth for the littlest kids is always a big hit, there was a hoola-hooping station this year, a paper plane flying booth, and not one but two angry birds throwing balls destruction games. There are a couple of things that are always present at Fall Fiesta: bouncy castles (I put in an hour of corralling kids there, but I'm only willing to work the first hour when it is the smallest children after that it is just volunteering for a head ache), the dunk tank by the swim team, the beat the keeper game by the soccer team, the haunted house put on by the theater program, and of course a raffle. I'm always kind of impressed with what our students are able to put together. It has a definite home made feel to it, but I kind of appreciate that. Most of all, though, I appreciate that I won't be asked for money every week during the school year to help fund a variety of activities our students are doing. No, part of putting this on, is that this provides all of the funding for the activities our students do - community service, athletics, theater, etc; no extra fund raising is allowed. Making this an activity our entire school can get behind.

Dusshera in Udaipur

A low drumbeat seeped into my room, a subtle heartbeat of the city invading my sleep, welcoming me to a new beginning, imploring me to take advantage of what the day will offer. So I slowly got up, taking my time to enjoy the fact I was on vacation and made my way up to the roof top terrace of the hotel. Where better to take breakfast then with a view over the lake, sparkling as the sun touched it after rising past the buildings, reflections of windows and the exclusive white palace floating in the middle adding an extra dimension. I could have sat there for hours appreciating the sight, but there was more that Udaipur had to offer. After enjoying a stuffed parantha and a cheese omelette I headed out to the streets. Despite the drumming that woke me Udaipur doesn't move very fast in the morning; as we walked the road to the City Palace vendors were just starting to open up shop; making sure that their wares were beautifully displayed, a riot of leather, glass and color. We had to pause for a stop under the sparkling tinsel canopy to climb the stairs up to Jagdish temple, rising above the city streets in the heart of the old city. Remove our shoes and then wander around the intricately carved temple. Layers of designs covering the facade of the building that towered above. Elephants here then a level of horses, people farther up, some flower designs; on and on it stretched, no inch left unadorned. Then back down to the street to continue on to the City Palace, a twisting turning maze of rooms that it takes a couple of hours to wind through. A trip that takes you past a variety of rooms and colors, amazing windows, carved details and open spaces. 

No visit to Udaipur is complete without a boat ride around the lake. A twenty minute journey where you can't decide it you want to look towards the shore and the old constructions that line the water's edge or if you'd rather stare at the smattering of constructions that seem to have been built on nothing in the water, conveying a mixed sense of floating and sinking. Did I want the faded light of sunset or the clarity a day trip would bring? Rather than trying to make that decision I settled on both. Each time I completed a circuit I noticed new things, took a few more pictures, and appreciated this special piece of Udaipur a little bit more. So much so that I decided I needed to get a birds eye view of the lake, and so went off to experience a very Indian segment of Udaipur's tourist offerings: the rope way - a cable car/gondola trip up the hillside that offered views over the city in every direction. The string of lakes making it clear just how different Udaipur is from other cities in India.

Word portrait: bicycle passenger

Young man with your curls gelled into place over your forehead; 

Rocking out to the music from your phone as you hitch a ride from a friend,

Perched on the luggage rack of his bicycle

Your flip flop shod feet centimeters from dragging on the ground

As the light changes, away you go

To some place I can't even imagine

Mini escape

There is no denying that I live in a big city, although I must admit that Delhi is a lot greener than I expected before I arrived. After a few weeks back though I'm always reminded that I grew up (sort of) in the country. At least with a lot of green space around me and with a ton of time spent outdoors. I start to miss it....a lot. Luckily for me I have a mini escape just two blocks from my house. The Aravalli Biodiversity Park is a reclaimed space that used to be mined for morrum and clay. A fact that is still obvious when you look past the edge of the main trail to find a variety of pits cut into this spur of the Aravalli mountain range. I stick to the main path, approximately a three mile round trip, which takes me along a red dirt path, past fields, a set of greenhouses and a couple of small Hindu shrines. The way is well delineated with both stick and wire fences, the occasional over sized wooden gates letting you know you shouldn't follow that fascinating looking side path. One of my favorite things about walking or running the path is that abundance of bird life, and my particular favorite - peacocks. I don't think that I've ever gone out without chasing a peacock for at least a short way down the path. Today I was pleased (but not quick enough with the camera) when some dogs surprised a group of them out of the bushes and they came flying overhead. Of course you can't ever forget that you are still in the city, and if by chance you had, the planes flying low overhead or the glimpse of an informal settlement off to one side will quickly remind you that this is really just a mini escape. But then my attention is captured again and I have to wonder why is there a pile of old bricks in the middle of the path? What is the point of the old rail road ties that they planted upright on the side? How do you just lose a sole?

American snapshot: Road trip

One of my favorite things about taking off with my mom during summer vacation for a road trip is her willingness to stop at all the random odd sights that I've dug up while researching our route. Often these little breaks end up being the highlight of our trip, which can only be the case when I am with someone who is willing to humor my sense of the absurd and doesn't sigh too much when we only make it a couple of hundred miles in a day (instead of a more normal 600 or so when we are actually trying to get somewhere). Together we're discovering that the journey is definitely part of the fun. A brief highlight of some of my favorites from this summer (thanks in good part to my go to guide: Roadside America "Your online guide to offbeat tourist attractions"):

There was the skeleton boy leading a skeleton dinosaur
somewhere off of I-90 in South Dakota

The graffiti art alley in Rapid City, South Dakota
"My people will sleep for 100 years and when they wake 
it will be the artists who give them back their spirit."

Where we also stopped at a Storybook Island,
the children's section of the city park which had fabulous photo opportunities
with over sized cartoon and movie characters.

A giant spider made out of a VW bug in a field of Lexington, Oklahoma

Oversized metal water lilies in Riverside Park in Wichita, Kansas

Which also had a troll hidden under a grate on one of the sidewalks by the river

The world's largest ball of Sisal Twine in Cawker City, Kansas

Where we also walked the twine trail (no matter how many times we tried to say this out loud it always came out as the twine twail...) which took us by store fronts containing replicas of art masterpieces with a addition of a ball of twine somewhere in the painting.

And my favorite roadside stop of the trip: Carhenge (Alliance, Nebraska)

With stops like these, who cares what the purpose of the trip was?

Thoughts from a walk

Shuffling down the path

in your repaired flip-flops

rifle slung over your shoulder,

I wonder what your story is.

What lead you to this path,

the coincidence of two individuals

crossing amidst fields and rocks?

What is our common bond,

our one irrefutable truth

that in some way ties us together

for a moment

until we continue on

in different directions

down the same path

Walking around the Qutb Minar

A few weeks ago I realized I was at my last free weekend before volleyball started. Despite limping around with a cast on my foot I was determined to take advantage of time that would soon be in short supply. So I decided to take a trip to one of the main sites in Delhi which, despite it being the beginning of my third year, I had never visited...the Qutb Minar. On a bustling street corner, after crossing the road three times (turns out the ticket office is on the opposite side of the road from the monument itself) we entered into a green space whose main focus had my neck cricked back so I could stare into the sky. This sandstone column rises 72.5 meters (238 feet) into the air and is the highest stone tower in India. It was constructed as a huge minaret in the courtyard of the Quwwatu'l-Islam mosque which dates from 1198 and was pieced together using fragments of demolished Hindu temples giving an unusual design of stone work in a mosque. The Qutb Minar itself was begun in 1202 and continued to be added on to and renovated until 1503. In addition to this massive tower and the remains of the mosque there are numerous tombs on the grounds, a madrasa, an unusual iron pillar with a Sanskrit inscription (which may attribute its pristine state in part to being regularly covered in ghee in its past), and the rubble of the beginnings of a second enormous minaret which never got very far off the ground.

Word portrait: Taxi driver

My Sikh taxi driver yesterday sat comfortably chatting with me in his car. A twinkle in is eye, made me feel as if he really enjoyed my business. His light gray turban contrasted nicely with a darker gray pants suit. As we got stuck in traffic I noticed him looking in the rear view mirror. A glance back at traffic, we weren't going anywhere, and then back to the mirror. Clearly this was a prime opportunity to work on his grooming, pulling and twisting on his mustache until he was satisfied that the upward curl was at just the right angle, the tips in line with base of his nose. With a satisfied nod his attention went back to the traffic and I was left feeling a little like a voyeur. 

Igreja de Sta Clara

As I was wondering around checking out churches in Porto (Portugal) I noticed one marked on my map slightly off the beaten path. With little left to do that day I decided I'd cross the main street and see if I could find it. A small brown sign pointed into a courtyard, towards what looked like the side of a church tucked away behind a solid stone arch. This little unassuming facade was what I was looking for? But when you turn the door handle (literally a hand!) the interior will blow you away. It is a testament to the wood carving ability of the Portuguese. As I sat down to soak it in I just kept noticing more and more details. It was all I could do to keep my jaw from dropping as I let my eyes roam. This, the church of St. Clair, was a truly impressive if unassuming little church.

Pena palace

I'm trying to get caught up on my whirlwind summer where I think the longest I spent staying in one spot was four days. You'll get little snippets of what made the biggest impressions over the summer.

Cheshire cats on chairs, a gargoyle over here and crocodiles on the corner of turrets. Here pink, there yellow, in the center blue tile covering. No piece of it fits together yet piece by piece it is an eclectic feast for the eyes. Perched high above the town of Sintra, the palace of Pena is quite a sight. Instantly recognizable it is difficult to describe. Tile work and turrets. Views and intricately carved details. It is definitely the most unique palace I have ever been to!

Feast of St Anthony

June 12th was the start of the feast of St. Anthony and a city wide festival of sardines! I'm still not sure what the connection between the two is, although perhaps there are stories of St. Anthony preaching to the fishes. Pat and Gerald had never gone into the city for this so we decided we should make our way into Lisbon. However, we would do so early so as to miss some of the crowds. Once we found an appealing temporary restaurant set up in a courtyard facing the streets we sat down to have our typical festival dinner: grilled sardines (5 each) bread, salad, boiled potatoes and some sort of chorizo starter. There was definitely a party atmosphere going on. I was quite amused to watch the three men manning the grills with sardines on their heads...little did I realize I'd acquire my own sardine hat soon enough and wear it the rest of the evening. We walked around after that; admiring the sardine decorations, colorful hangings, constant people out grilling sardines in the street (my favorite was a man who had a grill shaped like a boat) until we reached an area that was to have a parade...a very stretched out parade that had elaborate costumes, even crazier props to carry and where it was very difficult to find a spot where you could see them pass by much less perform. Quite the experience. We got back just after midnight when the party was probably just starting to hit full swing.

Monasteries and military

If I had to sum up Ladakh in two words it would be monasteries and military. If you gave me a few more words I'd add rugged, majestic landscape. A few more? Altitude, high mountains, friendly people, prayer wheels, and contrasts. Now, you don't come to Ladakh to see the military, but you can't really avoid their presence. On the roads in convoys, bases set up all over, clever squad names like the clue finders or the mountain tamers, there is a clear military presence here. But then that shouldn't really be a surprise when you consider that the border with Pakistan and China are both quite close to this area of India. (I think we got within about fourth kilometers of the Pakistan border during our trip.) no, you come to Ladakh for the scenery. To explore an area of India that is so different from other parts. You come to visit monasteries that sit perched in mountain sides. Monasteries in remote places. Monasteries that are remarkably well kept when you wonder how they ever constructed them in the first place. Of the twelve monasteries we saw only one wasn't clinging to a hillside, that at Alchi, which was memorable for its two story clay sculptures of several different Buddhas. Sumur wasn't exactly built into a hillside like the others but its multiple layers provided its own unique view. I think my favorites where the monasteries in Hunder (you'll get more about that separately) and Diskit. Diskit (1420) is that iconic buddhist monastery, that clings to a mountainside in multilayer white stucco. Across the way is a large (ok, huge) statue of the future Buddha which in contrast to the stark landscape seems a miracle of construction. That's not the only enormous Buddha around, we saw a second golden monstrosity at Likkir (another cliff clinging monastery). He is seems to be nestled into a valley along rock walls, and was impressive in its wooden construction. Thiksay is another picturesque one, although as you wander through it it does not seem quite as old, perhaps because it is one of the wealthiest monasteries in Ladakh and so has upgraded and is very well maintained (although every monastery we visited seemed to be in great shape, even the ones that seemed more remote like Rizong). I'm not really sure what to say about all of the monasteries. They each had several temples, all different inside, with the commonality of some sort of large Buddha statue inside. I found myself enamored with the prayer wheels, which varied in material and number from site to site. Lamayuru can claim 143, Alchi 63 and Hunder just one. They are made out of tin, wood, leather, and old cans. Spinning them sends a prayer out, as the most traditional are filled with a solid paper roll of prayers. My memories of Ladakh will be filled with snapshots of monasteries, prayer wheels and smiling people.

Lamayuru festival

I climb out the window of our simple room and go to perch on the ledge overlooking the courtyard of the monastery in Lamayuru. We are in luck, completely by chance the monastery festival is going on while we are in Ladakh. The drums, cymbals and horns (a few so large it takes two young monks to carry them out) play a background of music throughout the day as 30 monks in colorful, shiny, patchwork over robes each wearing a mask of a protective deity dance. It is a simple dance around a circle, including spins, hops, arm raises and touching the ground in an unpredictable pattern. It is mesmerizing in color and the unchanging faces of the painted masks. As the horns lead the way back inside I find my attention captured again by the turns that flare the robes and the occasional mask which seems to be looking directly at me, two stories above the performance area. Truly a once in a lifetime experience.

Hunder Monastery

After a rest, with a few hours left until dinner we decided to take a walk through Hunder village. We set off on a route we hadn't wandered before. As we were turning a corner I happened to look up on the mountainside and spotted what looked to be a string of old monastic cells. Stone one room huts were actually scattered across the hillside. I wonder if that is Hunder monastery that the guidebook so briefly mentions? And how can we get there? We kept walking hoping that maybe the road would curve around and take us there. We've been continually drawn to some of the small concrete paths that veer off from the road and finally decided to follow one. We were excited when it took us by a small field of shrines, but even more thrilled when it led us over the stream and then up to where we wanted to go. Across the main road stood one of the prettiest prayer wheels we have seen. To the left stood a long stupa covered with intricately carved stones. Beyond that pebble stone paths led up to different areas of the mountainside, all of which held a handful of old monastic cells. We climbed one promising looking path for a ways, but due to impending night fall had to turn back before reaching anything of interest...unless you count more carved stones or the view of the field of over 50 white chorten across the river. We were still unclear as to if this was solely an abandoned monastery or still a working one as we began our walk back down to the little footpath. All of a sudden I noticed a monk coming out of a stone house. I guess it is still a monastery! We greeted him with a friendly "Juley" and then he came out of the gate holding a key. Did we want to visit ... something? Oh, yes. If a monk is willing to unlock a door I will follow him to see where it leads. Down some rocks and through a new door led us to a prayer hall that appeared to still be under construction. On the far side a fabric hanging hid a doubly locked door to a four hundred year old temple. Inside, the darkness barely pierced by a few candles, standing behind a glass wall was the most stunning Buddha I've seen this trip. His serious face and prayerful position dominated the space, keeping your attention. "Wow," was an echo inside my head. Look at what we stumbled upon...and we almost didn't go for a walk!

Road side advice

One of my favorite things about driving, well okay riding in a car, is to read the roadside signs and see what they share. As we drove out to visit some monasteries outside of Leh I had ample opportunity to take in some of these sage sayings.  There are three categories that these signs can fall into. There are the often amusing reminders to drive safe on the mountainous roads. Which proclaim things like the following:

All will wait, better be late

Caress the urges do not test them

Darling I like you, but not so fast

If you sleep your family will weep

Be Mr. Late then late Mr.

It's a highway not a runway

Bro anytime is safety time

I am curvaceous be careful

Overspeed is a knife that cuts a life

Your hurry is may be a cause to worry your family

And my favorite: Hurry burry spoils the curry

Then there are signs that actually tell me something I didn't know. We passed one today that proclaimed We did it! Guinness World Record. Most trees planted simultaneously. Chang-ga Village. Others just make me wonder what the are referring to, and make want to do some research. Like the one that said The Mountain Tamers. How do you tame a mountain?

The last genre are the signs that actually make you stop and think. That offer some surprising insight into life:

Hard work is the best investment a man can make

Self trust is the essence of heroism

Serve ever, hurt never

Only the best of our friends and the worst of our enemies would like to visit us

Roadside jobs...grooming

One of the things that I enjoy about India is realizing just how little it takes to be an entrepreneur. Really, these people could teach anyone interested in owning their own business a bit about how little you actually need to start up your own shop. For some all it takes is a bit of sidewalk space, a tall chair, a mirror to wire onto fence and a straight edge razor. Voila, you're ready to set up your own barber shop. You'd be surprised at how many of these little "shops" I pass on my drive to school. And yet there always seems to be a man settling in for a shave and/or a cut. 

Roadside barber in Delhi

Or perhaps you don't want to be that tied down? You'd rather be able to take your job on the go? Perhaps you should take a page from this man's book and becoming a roaming ear cleaner. Everything you need will fit into a lunch box sized carrier, well, with some cotton stuffed behind your ears. There is a lighter, q-tips, cleaner and scissors (some people have looooong ear hair) inside. No chair provided, but the side of the road often has rocks when people can sit down. What other types of grooming jobs do you think could be developed for the roadside? 

Ear cleaner in Rishikesh, photo from Shannon V.