Travel Blog: Mumbai to Delhi to Amritsar

After staying a few days in Mumbai and meeting up with friends ad family we fly to New Delhi to start our journey to the North of India.
Our first stop is Delhi, just for the night. Traffic undoubtadely is again painful, but the Metro Light rail system is already up and running here.
One thing I couldn't get over in Delhi was their obsession with toilets... and that too weird ones.
Look at the two pictures below... The big grey building has sign on it "Toilet Complex". I was so curious to see what it was about, but took the picture from our taxi.
The next one was a very ugly bad toilet at the train station going from Delhi to Amritsar. It is titled "Deluxe Toilet".. nothing deluxe about it!

Amritsar is a sacred city for Sikhs where there are beautiful temples. It falls in the Punjab state, which is huge agricultural land.
The train journey from Delhi to Amritsar was around 7 hours. It does start early, so you can see my mom doozed off and my Dad hoping to fall asleep. :) Tried some color effects in my camera too.

I couldn't fall asleep as the journey was so scenic. The train goes through endless acres of lush green fields. They extend all the way to the horizon.
I believe the picture below is of a rice field. Needless to say the food in the Northern region of India tastes so much better. There is a lot of flavor in the vegatables which is not found at other places.

But then the other factor that makes everything tastes so good in Punjab is the deep frying. Check out these fritters (potato, cauliflower, onion etc..) not fried once but "twice" to perfection. Well known as "Pakoras"
It has to taste good. :)

Travel Entry: Kala Ghoda Exhibition

Here is my next entry regarding my trip. Few days in Mumbai and I found out about the Kala Ghoda exhibition (Black horse exhibition). It had handicrafters from all over the country and it was such a pleasure going through the booths.

I met some great potters there and had a good time chatting with them, one of whom was Rekha Bajpae.

The pottery there was very different than what is typically seen at shows in the US. I saw more emphasis on decorative pottery than functional. The tiny pots in the picture below were just adorable. (selling for less than a dollar)

The picture below is of some of the functional pottery. The jars are usually used for pickles or yoghurt.
As many of you know, I am very fascinated by color. India sure is a land of colors and I beleive that is the reason color is embeeded in my brain. The next two pictures below show the use of color. Majority of the booths were filled with color like this. Especially the fabric ones. Bright saturated colors just all over the place.

Here are some clutch purses decorated with bright colored and embroidered fabric.

Check for more updates next week on Thursday!

Travel entry: Home town Mumbai

I just got back from my 2 month sabbatical and had a great vacation travelling to India and Bangkok Thailand. Result of such a long vacation is jetlag and 1000+ pictures. After a lot thinking, I guess the best way to share my pictures is with my blog. So here is my first entry. I hope to make an entry every Thursday.

So first stop is Mumbai, my home town. One thing I noticed when I entered was this wall sculpture of a horse I had made when I had just started in clay. It was just air dried and spray painted and is still standing good. (Family in India calls me Vicky and hence the sign)

It was great to meet family and friends and remember old times. Talking about old times, I found my journal which had torn pieces of crafty ideas, pictures of sculptures, pottery, newspaper clippings of recipes etc.. Among all that I found the page above, which was a recipe for making home made air drying clay from bread. I wouldn't suggest anyone trying this out. :)
I was just desperate as a kid to work with clay and I used to try anything.

Every time we visit we feel the traffic has gotten worse and this trip wasn't any different. There are Metro light rail lines being constructed everywhere which are supposed to ease the traffic. But while the construction is going on it is impossible to travel anywhere.

And in every tiny space available there is a multistory building coming up. Attached is the picture from my bedroom which had a nice view and also great ventilation. Now there are two buildings right in front and all I can hear is construction noise.

I am going to pace myself about my trip in every entry and try not to throw it all out there. Next week look for pictures of an exhibition I attended in Mumbai.