The conference started properly today after months of organisation. I've shamelessly stolen this photo from the set our photographer took of the event. It's big: over 950 delegates and 100 speakers over three days. That's my boss at the podium, along with our chief guest, the Governor of Andhra Pradesh and various other VIPs. There's more information about it here if you're interested.
Another one from Delhi even though I'm in Hyderabad today. This Hitchcockian mural is just round the corner from the one I posted on Day 695. Murals seem to be a bit of a thing at the moment in Delhi. Notice the tree in bloom behind ... the season where Delhi bursts into flower is almost upon us.
I flew to Hyderabad today for our conference, but unfortunately I didn't take any photos. So you can have this one from an old Delhi neighbourhood instead.
Not a very good photo but here's another bike shop. Look how much stuff he's got balanced on it! Totally bonkers. He's selling rugs and mats.
So this matchbox is interesting because usually the word to describe the picture is an English word written phonetically in Hindi, but this time it's the opposite.
A little trip to Nehru Park today after the farmer's market. I'd never seen this bridge before. The boys climbed trees ... it was lovely.
Things people sell at traffic lights #2: books.
I've been meaning to post this photo of a quilt I had made. I'm not sure the photo does it justice. I bought the fabric and then took it to a quilt maker around the corner. It cost £4.50. I'm thinking of going into business.
Every year our gardener at the office grows these beautiful dahlias. I love them.
It's not very clear here but these 'I love my India' stickers are everywhere. I've been wanting to get a photo of one for ages but of course when I'm looking for them, they aren't there ... this one will have to do.
Northern India prepares for Holi - the festival of Spring. See Day 10 and Day 365 for a reminder of what it's all about. Here is some coloured powder and the obligatory water pistols waiting to be filled with it ... only a few days to go now. I plan to hide indoors.
I'm starting a new series of photos of 'things people sell at traffic lights'. First up: poppadoms.
Another fabulous mural - I love this so much, especially the mice. I'm going to make a big print of this to frame.
I'd been meaning to visit this baoli or step well for ages - it's just round the corner from my office and I finally managed a mini field trip to go and see it. As you can see, it's under construction but it's really cool! I can't believe I've never visited it before.
It's not that often that I go past India Gate on my way home from work before sunset, but when I do it's always such a nice atmosphere at this time of year. Loads of people out for an evening stroll. These ride on cars have suddenly appeared for kids to have a go in. 20p a go. Bargain.
Bike shop number ... um ... 15? The milk man.
This mural suddenly appeared on one of our main routes between our house and the kids' school. I love it.
Well it's been even crazier than usual here recently with our annual Teacher Educator Conference taking place last weekend. I still haven't recovered. I'll post some more about that soon, but meanwhile here's a nice piece of cloth that was wrapped around a tree on the side of the road.
Announcing the release of a brand new Bastin blockbuster. Watch it here.
Election Day in Delhi today. Looks pretty likely that the big parties are going to lose out to the smaller Aam Aadmi Party who also got elected last year but then decided to walk out in a huff 50 days in to their term because no one wanted to pass their anti-corruption bill. They're hoping for a majority this time, in which case it will be interesting to see what they manage to achieve.
Elections and holidays are notable in India for being 'dry' - no alcohol can be sold in shops, restaurants or bars. Shops like this one help to give us advance notice for stocking up ...
You know your hotel is a little bit retro when they still have a phone in the bathroom. Or do all hotels still have these? So weird.
Mumbai today. I really like this mural on the side of the building. It looks like the building belongs to a telecom company, but I'm not sure.
Today we finally made it to the organic farmers' market - we've been meaning to go for months. We bought two avocados and some chard. I've never had any luck with avocados in India - they're always rock hard and then they just go black. But apparently the way to ripen them is to wrap them in brown paper and then submerge them in dry rice ... so we're trying it. Will report back.
