DAY 75

My friend and colleague down south just sent me this clipping from a Chennai newspaper. The text says: "It is a gala time for Chennai youth as the city seems to be in vacation mode. Having done with their exams, guys and gals are out to spend some quality time with their friends. Apart from youngsters, many professionals too are huddling up for bashing night outs [!] to forget their daily blues. Recently a bunch of spirited partygoers, including expats, were seen going on a spree at a watering hole in the city." I'm going to Chennai again next week!

DAY 74

This is an amazing wooden chariot thing with huge wheels (which I couldn't fit in the picture) at the Crafts Museum. Still my favourite museum in Delhi. It's full of beautiful objects. Look at the carving on the top section... I'm not sure if you can really get a sense of how intricate it is from this photo. You will have to come and see it for yourself.

DAY 73

Oz and Louie with some of their electricity project that they've been doing as part of home school. Remember these wiggly wire things that we used to get at school fairs? Probably not allowed to do them any more.

DAY 72

More decorated walls outside a house in Shahpur Jat.

DAY 71

Gond style painting from Madhya Pradesh on the wall of the Crafts Museum in Delhi.

DAY 70

This is in another 'village' area of Delhi: Hauz Khas Village. Like Shahpur Jat, it is also known for its artists and boutiques and has had a real boom since we were last here. This is one of the back lanes. Five years ago it was very rare to see any graffiti in Delhi, but now you see it more and more. I'm not sure what that means in terms of Delhi's evolution.

DAY 69

This is in Shahpur Jat - an area of Delhi that people sometimes refer to as a village, with lots of shops and studios belonging to designers and artists. Some beautiful old buildings in a maze of little lanes.

DAY 68

This is a great example of hand painted signs which are a dying art form in India, being replaced by printed plastic banners. If I was doing a book of photos about Delhi, chapter one would be photos of the things people carry on their bikes, and chapter two would be hand painted signs.

DAY 67

I took this through the car window and on my phone so it's a bit fuzzy, but I love these street barbers. Check out their use of the random pillars on the pavement as stools, the picture of the gods on the wall to bring good fortune and the improvised table.

DAY 66

One for you, Sophy. Saw it on the way home from work today and thought of you.

DAY 65

 

Ed and the boys at Connaught Place - two concentric circles of shopping streets around a massive roundabout in the middle of Delhi (and not far from my office). Note the red stains on the walls from people spitting after chewing paan.

DAY 64

These patterns with flower petals are sometimes made on the floor to welcome people to events ... this one was at the conference that I went to on Saturday.

DAY 63

Today we have a guest photographer: Ed. We went to a craft fair where there were workshops for kids. The boys made pots and clay animals. This is Oz making a bead key ring. We also went to see the film Epic in 3D - we all loved it and highly recommend it. 46 degrees today.

DAY 62

This is one of the buildings of the university I went to a conference at today, just outside Lucknow (an hour's flight from Delhi). It's a massive campus, complete with security guards wearing bullet proof jackets, an auditorium with a very enthusiastic air conditioning system and a mango orchard that the students aren't allowed to go in. Quite surreal.

DAY 61: TWO MONTHS IN INDIA

 

Another video to mark the end of my second month in India. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2kOLGLt0IY&feature=youtu.be This one is all about food in Delhi. Hope you like it!

DAY 60

A face of a demon to keep the evil eye away ... and to remind others not to covet what belongs to other people. You see them on vehicles, above the door of shops and on construction sites, among other places. It's not the only symbol that's used for warding off the evil eye. A string of limes and chillis has the same function. I'll post a photo of one soon.

DAY 59

This is a small temple. I didn't actually get to the bottom of which god it is for - too busy taking photos.

DAY 58

A street stall at Connaught Place in the middle of Delhi, selling tobacco, sweets, water and those little packets you can see hanging on the wall which is another kind of paan (see Day 26). Just managed to cut off Hanuman's head in the picture frame.

DAY 57

Now that we have a car we get to spend a lot more time in petrol stations than we did before. Luckily, petrol stations in Delhi are manned so you don't have to get out of your car, unless you want to take a photo of the fire safety features. You now know how to write 'fire' in Hindi ('aag').

DAY 56

This is Louie trying out a 'weight and fortune' machine at a temple we visited. You put in a coin and it spits out a little card. Louie's said: "119.5 kg. You are idealistic, curious, optimistic and outrageous."

DAY 55

This morning we visited Jantar Mantar: a 300 year old observatory in the middle of Delhi. It's a series of structures that was built to track the position of the stars and planets, but it's no longer used. It was the first time we had been here and we loved it. Choosing which photo to post was very difficult.

DAY 54

I've been out of the office and at this event for the last two days at a hotel in Delhi - incidentally, the same hotel that Ed and I stayed in for two weeks when we first moved here in 2004. Anyway, at this event I learned that you can project the screen of a mobile phone onto a wall using a shoe box and a magnifying glass. I am going to try it. Will report back.

DAY 53

This is one of my favourite lunches at the South Indian restaurant around the corner from my office. Idli with sambar and three different chutneys and an extra bean thing on the side. Anyone who comes to visit us will get to go to this restaurant. It is cheap and best.

DAY 52

I love these trees in Lodhi Gardens. There's a long avenue of them. Apparently they are Bottle Palms and were originally imported from Europe.

DAY 51

Daniel - this one is for you. The kids have started doing taekwondo classes twice a week in the park round the corner from our house.

DAY 50

We are eating a lot of dal. Luckily, we all quite like dal, but while we wait for our pots and pans to arrive, our repertoire of meals is quite limited. I miss cooking big meals with lots of different ingredients. And cheese. I miss cheese.

DAY 49

The boys planned this, then the man arrived. It's much better with him in it.

DAY 48

... and moustache

DAY 47

My colleagues introduced me to this food stall outside our office - they do juices and sandwiches but my favourite is a plate of these fried potatoes with lemon, salt and a tiny bit of black salt which tastes kind of sulphuric. I'm not a huge fan but in small doses it works. Lemon on chips! You should try it - totally delicious.

DAY 46

Louie checking out the neighbourhood from our balcony.

DAY 45

You can just glimpse this building through the trees in a park in the middle of a roundabout near our house. We went to have a closer look today and found that it houses the Welfare Association for the area that we live in. The association looks after all the parks and rubbish collections etc. Apparently the building was originally a tomb but the two graves inside are no longer there. The tomb is more than 560 years old and being used as a government office... I love it!