Pictures

Our friend Lovepreet (it means "Love" and also "Love")
Golden Temple (Amritsar, Punjab)
We were stranded here for maybe a week or so... we honestly
do not remember how many days we were here...
Our friends would not let us leave.

Grant with friend, "chota Sardar"

At Wagah Border (Border of India and Pakistan)

Grant playing "Contra" with Babloo's younger brother

Garrett driving Honey's tractor

Grant driving Honey's tractor

Garrett & Grant with Honey's relatives

Grant and Garrett at Honey's village drinking homemade
alcohol with his family

Taking a bath

Honey's relative, nice motorcycle

Friend at the river

Grant at the river with friends

Garrett doing a canonball

Honey home

Riding on Honey's motorcycle (Amritsar)

Honey

Bus stand, Dehradun (This is the bus we took to Dharamsala)

Dehradun

• We are in Amritsar in Punjab state. We have been here three days, I think, and it has been strange, but in the best way. We came here by train, riding in "Ordinary class" which cost Rs. 38 for Garrett and I together. So for a 3-4 hour train ride it cost less than $1 U.S. pon arriving in Amritsar, before disembarking from the train, we met a young man named Jagroop Singh. He lives in a village not far from Amritsar and comes to the city every day to visit the Golden Temple. Since we also wanted to visit the temple we decided to accompany him. This is where everything starts. Because we decided to go with Roop we are now in a small social circle of young Sikh guys our age. They all have motorcyles and they all want to hang out with us all the time. There is Roop, Lovepreet, Diamond, Honey, Prince, Babloo, and a host of others. They take us to their villages on their motocyles. We swim in the river with tons of kids. We recline on handmade beds and eat what I believe are grapes from a huge tree. We drive their tractors. At times it has been a bit overwhelming being swept up into this group and having to deal with "drama". Everyday they all want us to call them and spend time with them. For example, yesterday we were spending time with Honey and we had to call Prince by 10am. When we told Honey this, he said no don't call Prince call him tomorrow, spend time with him tomorrow. Perhaps one of my favorite memories so far: Playing the old Nintendo (?) video game "Contra" with Babloo's young brother. But perhaps the most memorable was visiting Roop's school. It is located in the farmland outside of Amritsar. Approximately 500 students attend the school. Roop introduced us to the principal and several teachers. The school is located in Kotla Sultan Singh, which is the birthplace of Mohammed Rafi, the legendary Hindi film playback singer. When one of the school's math teachers informed me of this I was speechless. We have had so many opportunities to practice Hindi, although our friends only want us to speak English so that they can practice. This certainly is not tourism, at least I don't think it is. I honestly don't know what it is, but I think it is good. We will probably spend several more days here in Amritsar and then move onto either Jodhpur in Rajasthan or Mumbai. The kid who is running the internet cafe I am writing from just put on some good Bhangra music....

Sincerely,

Grant

Dharamshala

We arrived in Dharamshala after an incredibly tiring 14 hour bus ride. We then proceeded to walk 8 miles uphill in the dark (it was 2am), haunted by packs of dogs in the streets and not knowing whether we were in danger of wild animals or other things. We checked into a hotel and had some breakfast. The man at the hotel was singing a Hindi song in the kitchen while preparing our food. The song was "Tere naam" and Grant briefly chatted in Hindi about it. We decided to look around a bit before resting, and met a guy named Tenzin who we practiced more Hindi with. I asked if the Dalai Lama was here right now (since Dharamshala is home to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in Exile), but he didn't think we would get to see him. About ten minutes later we saw him drive by in a car. Later I visited the Namgyal Monastery, which is part of the whole temple complex that includes the Dalai Lama's residence. The temple as a building is not as impressive as the giant buddha inside and the one enormous prayer wheel filled with thousands of prayers. Having seen the Dalai Lama, we don't think there is much else to do here, so tomorrow we plan to go to the Punjab to visit the city of Amritsar.

Sincerely,
Garrett

sardi aat baje jomprdi mein milenge

"We will meet at 8:30 in the hut" That was one of the running jokes during our stay at the Himalaya Hindi House. We actually did meet in hut every day for Hindi lessons.

Our Hindi course is finished and we are now in the city of Dehradun. Next we go to Himachal Pradesh (to visit Dharamsala) and then on to Rajasthan to find some friends of a friend in Jodhpur. We may also go to Jaisalmer. Our teacher Yogendra-ji gave us a name "Pankaj Joshi". He runs an STD operation (STD is a sort of pay phone you can use to make local or international calls) in Jaisalmer. Yogendra-ji just told us to ask around and we will find him.

"Chand Chandni Se Hota Hai
Sitaron Se Nahin
Pyaar Ek Se Hota Hai
Hazaron Se Nahin."

We learned so much Hindi at the Himalaya Hindi House... going on trips with our friends who do not speak English and visiting their villages... While visiting our friend Anil's village, Sainj, we had lunch at his house and later we were in his parent's bedroom and his father (who is the chief of the village) offered us each a cigarette and then a nap on his bed. Later we watched an auction for a huge cedar tree that had fallen near the village temple. Yogendra-ji won the tree for Rs. 6,000. Garrett went on a trip to a remote village and stayed in a hotel with a mud stove, slept in a smokey room with a rat running around in it, drank sweet, boiled milk from the cows of Divinder's family, and almost burst into tears when as we were leaving Nolunna Anil gave him his copy of the Ramayan that had belonged to his grandfather.

Take a peek at the post below for pictures.

Sincerely,
Grant

char aankh

Our friends at Nolunna. Left to right: Binita,

Mahavir, Dilbahadur, Mani, Hari Om, Hasmukh, Badri,

Yogendraji, Anil, Divinder, Grant, Anila, Ganesh Bahadur, Garrett

Some relatives of Divinder

Anil's father


bathing in the sacred waters of Gangaji
Garhwali folk dancing

yeh larki kaun hai?

char aankh (four eyes)

"Ganga ki awaaz"...

...Or, "The sound of the Ganga" (Ganges River) is what we hear all day every day. The Himalaya Hindi House is situated right on the banks of the Ganga. We arrived here one week ago. Since then our days have been spent studying Hindi, drinking tea, and eating the best food. We study in a bamboo hut. We study on the banks of the Ganga. We fold our hands and say "Namaste" to the elderly Nepali gardener. We communicate with a young deaf and dumb boy in sign language. We do Yoga in the morning. We will go trekking in the Himalayas with Anil, one of our tutors.

*Internet/phone access is only available 15 miles away in nearest town, thus posts to blog/emails will be infrequent until mid july when we are finished our studies at the HHH.

Call Center, Kamal Kishor Singh, Rishikesh

Yesterday was my last day in Delhi and after checking out of the Youth Hostel I went back to the call center in Gurgaon. I spent the next twelve hours speaking with the kids who are being trained to take calls as well as those who are already "out on the floor" working. My guide through the office was Mitali Chowdury. She bought me lots of food and Punjabi sweet Lassi. Later I met with each group for about 30-40 minutes and fielded questions relating to American culture, history, politics, etc in an effort to give everyone a better understanding of America in general as they are dealing with Americans over the phone every day and most rarely get the opportunity to interact in person with one. It was truly a rich and exciting experience. One of my favorite questions came from a man who asked about whether or not it was true that if one visits America they must carry a pistol with them when they go out at night. He was also curious to know if witch craft was a real thing that people practice in America. Several individuals in each group were curious to know about my interest in Indian culture and what brought me to the country. When I mentioned Hindi films everyone became very excited. One girl in the second group beckoned me to sing a song to them all. So, I sang:

"Kabhie Kabhie Mere Dil Mein
Khayal Aata Hai
Ki Jaise Tujhko Banaya
Gaya Hai Mere Liye
Kabhi Kabhie..."

(from KABHI KABHIE, 1976)

&

"Tujhko Dekha To Ye Jana Sanam
Pyaar Hota Hai Deewana Sanam
Ab Yahan Se Kahan Jaye Hum
Tere Bahon Mein Mar Jaye Hum"

(from DILWALE DULHANIA LE JAYENGE, 1995)

They all went crazy. Both groups also made me speak some Hindi. This, however, was only a small fraction of our discussion. We went very deep into some complicated subjects and I think learned much from each other. Truly a very rare opportunity.

Between the meetings and afterwards we spent a lot of time in the cafeteria and I had lots of good food to eat. The building is very new and is still being constructed on several floors. It was most interesting to be walking down a fancy office hallway with meeting rooms and workers in crisp work clothes, then you round a corner and there were guys in the hot sun laying bricks. Another employee that I spent a good deal of time with was Preeti Vasdev. As I later learned she is actually the cousin of "Rishi Rich" a hugely famous star of the Bhangra music scene in the UK. This was crazy... But that aside, Preeti is in charge of culture, language, and experience training. She showed me several slide shows and presentations that she uses when teaching the kids about American culture. She wanted me to look over what she had compiled and see if it was accurate, or if it could be edited in any way. One of the techniques they use to teach the kids about American culture is to have them sit in a room for a few hours and watch some episodes of "Friends".

I left the call center at 11pm. My last day in Delhi, and maybe my best. I made some great new friends on this day, James Abraham, Mitali, and Preeti. I also met a man, Jupiter Singh. Now when we go back to Delhi there will be plenty of friends to spend time with. Hopefully friends for a lifetime!

Forever and always,
Grant

(This is Garrett writing now)
I arrived in Delhi last night around 11:15, went through immigration, got my one bag that I had checked, and headed out to meet Grant. I found him and we headed outside to meet our driver, Kamal Kishor Singh. Our ride was arranged earlier by the call center Grant visited, and was paid for by them. Kamal arrived shortly and we were off down the road, headed for the rail station where we planned to wait until our train at 6.55 am. But Kamal suggested going to his house instead and resting for a few hours, he asked if I was hungry, etc. So he drove us to his apartment where his wife fed us kheer (milky, sweet treat), chai (tea), and some baked chips. We enjoyed the food while Kamal showed us photos of his family and his subscription to a magazine having to do with a Guru with whom he was connected somehow. Kamal offered his bed to Grant and I, while he and his wife slept on the small balcony outside. We stayed up all night, Grant telling me stories of his time in Delhi. It was warm, but comfortable, there was a ceiling fan on. Sometime really early in the morning before Kamal and his wife woke up, I had to pee really badly so I took a stab at going in a squatting toilet. I went in the dark because I didn't know which light switch was the right one and I didn't want to accidentally hit the light for the room adjacent to the bathroom where a Sikh man was sleeping. At the time I thought the body I saw was Kamal's wife. But then later in the morning we came out of the Kitchen/bedroom and saw this guy standing there smiling. We woke up around 5:30 and took a shower because Kamal really wanted me to feel refreshed. and I did. He poured 3 large buckets of water, of which I only used about half of one. I wasn't sure how much I was allowed to use so I just used as little as possible. Feeling quite refreshed, I went out and sat on the balcony with Grant. We looked out onto the rooftops across the narrow street and saw lots of families still sleeping on their roofs, cows meandering down the street, stray dogs and cats walking around, and people getting up to go to work, etc. Kamals wife prepared us an amazing breakfast of puri (really thin fried dough in sort of a round, puffy, hollow form), with spicy potatoes and some kind of sauce. and tea. Kamal kept refilling the plate until we had eaten quite a bit. He gave us some maps to keep, of Delhi and Jaipur. I asked him about the string he wore like a sash across his chest. He explained how it was used when praying to God, taking it in his hand and putting them together in a praying fashion. Then he wound it around his ear and explained that when going to the bathroom, it is wrapped around the ear like that and functions as a reminder to keep the mind centered, focused keenly on the present and whatever action is being performed. I asked if it was used for that purpose at any time other than going to the bathroom. The answer was a bit unclear but I believe it was no.

Soon it was time to go to the station, so we said goodbye and thank you to his wife, and headed down to the street, where upon exiting his building a couple of cows strolled by in front of us. I forgot to mention that his wife also gave us some Puri and potatoes to take with us for lunch. As we were driving to the station Kamal told us that we can call him anytime if we have any problems, and to call him when we return to Delhi and he will drive us around. He said it pleased him to serve us. When he dropped us off I gave him a picture of myself in front of the Eiffel tower.

We boarded the train for Haridwar, and were on it for about 4 hours or something like that. Food was served on the train, and tea several times. We were on a nice train with a/c, so the ride was very comfortable. When we got to Haridwar we were quickly found by an autorickshaw driver who got us on our way to Rishikesh, probably about 26 km away. We got dropped off somewhere in Rishikesh and walked around for a bit until I asked a guy who looked like a westerner if he knew of any good places to stay. He was staying at a place called the Swiss Cottage, which is where we are now. We have a room with two beds and a bathroom attached. no a/c because it is not very hot at all here and we'll only be here for the night. When we first walked up to the place there was a snake charmer playing a tune for a cobra. I could keep going but I am deciding to stop here. I took a bunch of pictures while we were going from Haridwar to Rishikesh, but it costs extra to upload them so those will come later on. Until then, goodbye!
-garrett

A few pictures

Tomorrow I will go back to the call center in Gurgaon. The plan is for me to meet with two groups of the kids who work there (from 1.00pm - 5.00pm) so that they can interact with a US National in person, and so that we can share our experiences and perhaps learn something from each other. You see, they are providing services to Americans over the phone all the time, so the idea is to get some real hands on experince with one. Then the following morning @ 6.55 we go north. Now, some a few pictures:



















Dil se(from the heart),
Grant

"Jal Hi Jeevan Hai"

"Jal Hi Jeevan Hai" (Water is life)
That is the phrase written on certain water tank trucks in Delhi. Speaking of water, I have been drinking around 4-5 litres a day. With temperatures sometimes reaching as high as 110, I would say "It's hot."

After being in Delhi for only one week I have seen so many dreams realized. I witnessed a bribe. I jumped onto a moving bus. I was cheated out of Rs. 40 by an autorickshaw driver. A man offered me an ear cleaning, but I decided not to accept it.

I am now staying at the Delhi Youth Hostel. It cost Rs. 270 (about $7) per night for a bed in an A/C room. I have made many interesting connections while staying at the Youth Hostel. One night I met Prikshit and Soniya. They are both eighteen year old students going for their B.A.'s. They had become friends while trekking in the Himalayas for their holidays and were staying in Delhi for two days before they returned to their respective home states. Soniya is from Madhya Prades, which is in Central India. Parikshit lives in Andhra Pradesh, which is in South India. He speaks Telugu, which he suggested I try to learn as it sounds like music when spoken. He gave me his contact information and told me that Garrett and I are more than welcome to stay with his family later this summer, after we have finished our Hindi studies. We will have a month to travel post-studies, so perhaps we will take him up on this offer.

Harjinder Singh (Harry) lives in Amritsar (city in Punjab, North India) with his wife and daughter, Simran. He is originally from Afghanistan (Kabul), but moved to Amritsar after meeting his wife. He works in exporting handicrafts, brass, costume jewellery, etc, and often travels to Switzerland. We shared a room in the Youth Hostel, and also had dinner together and went to the cinema for a Hindi film. Harry invited me (and also Garrett and any friends/family) to come and stay with his family in Amritsar. He said he would serve much beer and chicken.

*Sorry, no pictures.

Garrett is set to arrive on Tuesday night, around midnight. If all goes as planned we will go from the airport to the New Delhi Rail Station and catch the 6.55am train from Delhi to Haridwar (roughly a 4 hour journey). From there we will take a bus to Rishikesh, where we will meet our Hindi teacher Yogendra Yadav and take a taxi to the Himalaya Hindi House (HHH). Here is an outline of what our month of studies will be like:

Basic Hindi: 14 June-12 July

14 June 11.00 ish leaving from Natraj taxi stand. Mobile 9411523033

Arrival HHH 14 June Departure 12 July

Classes 9.00-1.00 (No classes on Thursdays and Fridays)
2 hours lecturer and 2 hours of Grammar practice and conversation with
monolingual tutors.

Week 1 16-20 june Script and writing Devanagari
Week 2 23-27 june Grammar and conversation
Week 3 30-04 june/july Grammar and conversation
Week 4 07-11 july Grammar and conversation

Cultural Tour:
Walking to most important festival Ashad Mela 1st week of july!
Optional
-Trip to Gangotri temple, Gomukh 18 kilometers walk one way. Night halt
at
Bhujvasa
- Trip into wilderness, subject to whether conditions.

Sincerely,
Grant

With you for always

"With you for always", that's the slogan for the Delhi Police. I arrived in Delhi in the early hours of the morning on Friday 1 June 2007. As sort of a lucky last minute arrangement I was picked up at Indira Gandhi International Airport by Siya Ram, who is the driver for the Singh family. The Singh's live in a beautiful house in Vasant Kunj, a very southern area of Delhi, not far from JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University). There was a bit of confusion in communication between Upendra Singh and myself, so he had told Siya Ram that he was to pick up two boys, myself and my brother. Garrett had of course had to change his flight to stay on in USA to complete his series of Japanese encephilitis vaccinations and would not be arriving for another ten days. So we stood there for a long while, looking on and waiting for another boy to appear. Siya Ram does not speak much English, so I was given the opportunity to try to communicate in Hindi. Between that and speaking in English on Siya Ram's cell phone with Upendra we sorted out the problem and left.

The drive to the Singh's home in Vasant Kunj was great. The radio was playing Hindi film songs and there was much for the eye to see.

The Singh family is: Upendra (father), Padmaja (mother), Thoya (daughter, age 11 1/2), and Prithvi (son, age 6). Along with Siya Ram, there are two others who work in the house, Ganesh (a Nepali citizen), and Kitni (I do not know anything about her). The family also has a small dog, Zo.

I stayed with the Singh's for three days. It was an amazing introduction. We did many things together.

FRIDAY 1 June 2007:
Siya Ram drove Prithvi and I to buy tickets for a movie later that night. I later bought a cell phone, and exchanged US dollars. Thoya had sitar lessons, which I was able to view. Upendra took me up on the roof of the house where you can see the planes flying overhead. Thoya and Prithvi got me to start speaking Hindi with them (they both speak great English). In the evening Upendra shared some fine beer with me. It is called "Golden Eagle", and is produced exclusively for the Indian army. He said it's a rare thing to come by, and he only gets it from his father who used to serve in the Indian army. Ganesh just kept serving me glass after glass. Later I joined the entire family for dinner at Nirula's (India's first fast food restaurant, offering Indian and other sorts of food, established about 30 years ago), followed by a movie, Pirates of the Caribbean, opening night at the PVR Cinema in Basant Lok (shopping area). We had tickets for the "Premiere Class", which is the most expensive seating in the theater at about $4-5. The lowest class ticket costs Rs. 50 (just over $1).

SATURDAY 2 June 2007:

Upendra and I woke up early, shared breakfast, and then I accompanied him to work. Upendra works in Gurgaon, which is an area that has developed over the past several years. It is a place filled with fancy malls and office buildings. Upendra's company is called Quatrro: http://www.quatrro.com. They have a call center at Quatrro. I had the opportunity to visit the call center and listen in on a live call. The employee was talking to a man in California who was having trouble with his internet. The call lasted about 20 minutes, and it was finally concluded that the man's son had been exceeding the download limit. Through this internet provider plan there is only a certain amount of downloading that can be done within 24 hours. One of the employees showed me downstairs. We shared a brief conversation and talked about motorcycles. I told him how I thought it looked like so much fun to ride one around town. He said that he had a motorcycle, and if only it wasn't broken he would share it with me.

Padmaja, Thoya, and I went out for a drive around Lutyen's New Delhi. This area of Delhi is very clean and there are many trees and other lush vegetation. Many important government figures live in this area, as this is the center of government activity in India's capitol. Padmaja works for the government in the Department of Agriculture, and she knows the city well. She said they are currently working with the US government to begin importing Indian mangoes. While we were driving around it was funny to note the music we were listening to on the radio. Hindi film songs.... Hindi film songs... Hindi film songs.. Tom Petty "Free Fallin"......

We stopped off at Khan Market for lunch and visited a book shop. After that we visited Humayun's Tomb.

In the evening Siya Ram drove me to Sarojini Nagar, which is a popular market. I bought a shirt and a pair of pants. I needed some clothes as I had come with only the clothes I was wearing. After that he took me to another shop somewhere down the road. We went inside this tiny room and one of the men inside presented me with several options of underwear. I chose a small pair called "VIP".

SUNDAY 3 June 2007:

We woke up very early and went for a walk in the park surrounding the Qutub Minar. The park is a network of trails leading around a park of crumbling buildings and monuments. There are some 80 sites in the park, 40 of which are actually marked and under preservation. I walked around with Upendra, while Padmaja, Thoya, Prithvi, and Zo took another path. We saw a peacock with its beautiful ploom. That must mean the rains are coming soon.. But I cannot overlook the dozens of cricket matches that were underway this early in the morning. We climbed up high to the top of a huge stone structure and watched a huge game for a few minutes.

This was followed by breakfast at a popular South Indian restaurant.

After breakfast we left Zo at home and headed out to Gurgaon to see an early movie (11:00am). Padmaja and I saw a Hindi film, "Cheeni Kum", while the others opted for "Shrek 3". Both Padmaja and I agreed, "Cheeni Kum" was not very good. By the time we got out of the movie the entire mall was packed with hundreds of people. We ate lunch and then left. I hope to go back to Gurgaon and take some photos, and also visit that particular mall again. I noticed several times while I was the there the power would cut out, and then come back on again. This means that the elevators would stop. So I think it would be interesting to be in the elevators when the stop, and maybe be stuck inside with some nice people.

I went to sleep after all of this.... Then I woke up.

Then Thoya, Padmaja, and I went to an extra special site, Sultan Gharib. Padmaja was not sure of the exact location, so we had a Muslim man on an old cycle show us the way. According to Padmaja it is the oldest Islamic structure in all of Delhi. It was a stone structure with steps to a court area, at the center of which was an underground tomb area, and another level above all of this. We went underground to the tomb. It was dark and smoky, and several men were performing various tasks. There was incense and things being burned and it smelled quite good.

After this they took me to get another shirt and pair of pants. Since I had trouble getting a good deal at Sarojini Nagar, I picked out a few things and Padmaja did the buying for me.

Later that night Thoya sat me down and let me watch her VCD of Dhoom 2, the recent popular Hindi film. I had missed this when it hit theaters earlier this year, so this was a real treat.

It was amazing being able to stay with this family and interact with these children. Driving around in the car sitting in the trunk with Prithvi, listening to Hindi songs (Padmaja asked "When are you going to sing us a Hindi song?"), talking to Thoya about Hindi films and entertaining her many questions about American movies and music. (She likes The Corrs, and even has music by the band Creed on her iPod)...

MONDAY 4 June 2007:

Upendra's parents arrived the previous evening from a European holiday. After we shared breakfast it was time for me to leave. Siya Ram was to drive Upendra's parents home and then drop me off somewhere in Delhi. I ended up at the YMCA in Central Delhi, near Connaught Place (huge shopping area). They had no A/C rooms available, which means a very sweaty situation.

Walking around Connaught Place you constantly are approached by kids trying to give you a ride somewhere or do something for you. When you say refuse they all say the same line "Okay, sorry. Next time. What do you want? Go to the government emporium. They have everything"

The Hanuman Temple and the Gurudwara Bangla Sahib are both in this area, and are quite amazing.

TUESDAY 5 June 2007:
I went out this morning to get water. I bought 5 one litre bottles for about $1. It's crazy but in a good way, because now I really have to figure things out for myself and make a real effort, or I'll be in a bad state.

I took an autorickshaw for the first time. I went to the New Delhi Rail station to buy a ticket to get out of Delhi in a few days to begin my Hindi studies in Uttaranchal. And of course Garrett arrives next Tuesday, so I have to make a plan for picking him up at the airport.

one note:

Traffic in Delhi is a great. As Padmaja said, there are rules, but no one follows them. If you are on foot and do not pay attention to what you are doing then you will most certainly by run over. So many motorcycles... The motorcycle of choice it seems is the Hero Honda. Padmaja asked me if I had an international driver's license. I said no, and she said too bad, because she would have let me drive her sleek teal Maruti.

Sorry if this was a bit long. I'm finished writing for now. As I have limited internet access this is the first time I have been able to write these things. I'm going to try to post some pictures later. It's hard taking pictures though....

Straight from the heart,
Grant