Staircase to Heaven (Navrati Dolls)

Navrati is a time to go visiting in southern India! It is a nine day all female affair - first 3 days dedicated to the Goddess Durga (power and energy), then Laxshmi (prosperity and peace) and finally Saraswathi (art and knowledge). A tiered step like structure is erected in the living room  which is decorated with dolls/models which  may have been collected over the years, handed down from generation to generation. Friends (and friends of friends aka gate-crashers - like me!!) are invited round to celebrate the festival and admire the Kolu.


The dolls essentially represent the court of the Goddess Durga.They are some rules to the arrangements - firstly the number of steps has to be odd (it's auspicious), secondly there is a hierarchy. The most holy are closest to heaven, on the uppermost step. The top step therefore hold the gods, below are the avatars of vishnu (includes Krishna and Rama), then saints and great men. These are followed by mere mortals, perhaps wedding scenes and then tools of business, musical instruments or study books and also animals.

On the 10th night, after the ceremonial arti and prayers, the dolls are laid down and put to ‘sleep.’ And the next day, the exhibits are packed carefully away and preserved for use the next year. Some of these must take a lot of storage.

In the neighborhood, I visited, and saw the two decorations above. Casual California this is not. You don't pop round in your sweats. This is an auspicious occasion and one dresses accordingly (the faux pas I would have made without Shubha do not bear thinking about). Hospitality in India is second to none and as is par for the course I was made to feel at home and the rituals explained to me.


Another friends of Shubha's we visited had a slightly different approach. Around their conservatory they had set up maybe 20 scenarios telling the story of Rama. These were the most intricate and detailed scenes. Below is just one. I think in total there were over 300 dolls/models. The setting up took 2 weeks. Beautiful pictures of an amazing story, an inspiring example of dharma, a great love affair, a tragic exile, a horrific war, which ends in victory and a new emperor.  

Below are a few of the scenes spreading out along one side of the wall.

At the end of each visit we were given a gift bag as we departed. Each of the traditional items to wish us well. 

I am beginning to find tracking down the underlying stories behind these rituals a bit trickier than one would imagine. There are variations from region to region, maybe traditions evolving over time, the individual flourish etc.etc. But in the end the details are not important, the underlying messages of dharma - in order to find the divinely instituted natural order of things, human beings must live in accordance with justice, social harmony and human happiness - look for blessings, wisdom and peace along the way from their gods/goddesses. I maybe losing the plot a bit here!! but suffice to say there is a spiritual feeling and understanding beneath the rituals and traditions which burns strong and hence the details of which god is represented how and when is not so important.

India Night a la OWC

This was the biggie - the major fundraiser of the year for the OWC (Overseas Womens Club), my first as "treasurer in training." Grand plan is when the current treasurer heads back to the UK, muggins here steps in, in an official capacity!!

India Night was quite an extravaganza - big posh hotel, pre-dinner entertainment, free bar (as always a few over-enthusiastic supporters thereof!), raffles, silent auction, fashion show, dinner, bollywood dancers and dancing until the cinderella hour in Bangalore - midnight, surprisingly early for an international hub.

We sold nearly 300 tickets and most arrived attired in formal Indian dress, elaborate sari's for the gals and formal kurta with bling for the guys. All the sari's looked professionally wrapped and I didn't see any wardrobe malfunctions!!

I was attached to my clip board for most of the evening - managed a few glasses of wine but no food and worst of all no dancing!!! They say "you can go anywhere if you look serious and carry a clip board" but what they forget to add is that this bit of nondescript hardboard with it's metal clip also renders you invisible, much like when you deal with someone in uniform you deal with the office/position not the individual. Thus I think I became an extension of my clipboard for the evening not a gal at a party!

Amongst other activities, my date for the evening (my clip board) and I explored the bowels of the Hotel tracking down the photographer's printer, were berated by an enthusiastic supporter of the free booze for the lack of tonic to go with their gin and spent some cosy together time in the designated finance room safely removed from all the fun. However, most importantly we raised lots of dosh for the charities the OWC sponsors and after all that is what it is all about.

But maybe next year my clipboard and I will manage quick shimmy on the dance floor, or perhaps I'll even temporarily dump said partner in a dark corner and find a more interesting companion for a few illicit bollywood moves!!

Grandparents Day at an International School?

If you were rating this for the number of Grandparents present, then not a great success! But for cuteness - high marks.

Not many of first grade at an "International" school have grandparents in state, in the country or even on the continent, so with minimal notice (typical Indus) there were very few grandparents there. Some kids like Wills had co-opted parents to be in attendance, some hadn't bothered.

Anyway I found out why Wills loves his Grandpa - because he gives him chocolate!! This was a big moment for Wills, he voluntarily took the mic to speak in front of his year and the parents, for him a big step forward!

These days Wills hardly ever wears civies - its all uniforms, 2 days a week at school its gym uniform (above), 3 days a week it's formals:

At the weekend it's cricket strip - blues not whites for training!!

What's your car wearing today? - Ayudha Puja

When I staggered into the gym early yesterday I thought it a little odd that all the weight machines were proudly wearing the three line talika (that's three horizontal lines in a sort of paste which can be turmeric/water) usually used as devotional symbols for followers of Shiva. I didn't question this - this is India after all and things happen!

I get back home to see Shankar giving the car an extra vigorous wash and Sweetie asking if she and Shankar can do a special puja for the car. No reason why not, and she and Shankar go to buy the necessary. Time for some serious googling!!

Now, I was aware that we are currently in the 10 days of Navrati. However it transpires that yesterday was Ayudha Puja - the day for the worship of the gods of implements. This day is always the 9th day of Navrati. One of the wonders of India is that festivals vary from state to state - not only which ones are celebrated, but also the underlying legends and the traditions. Maybe accepting the different ways their own Hindi festivals are celebrated throughout the country has lead to the acceptance of all other religions and their festivals in India or maybe Indians just like to party period! Anyways in Karnataka the tradition started when weapons were prayed over the day before some big battle. This is the day to seek blessings over all tools and implements. This includes musical instruments and school books. Aparently in years gone by students looked forward to this time when their books were laid out to the gods for three days and guess what - they couldn't study! However these days it is assumed that one book is sufficient to summon blessings from the gods so no break in study patterns.

Sweetie and Shankar reappear with bags of loot! Firstly the pastes are made up and the car gets numerous talikas on its now gleaming body work, tires, hubcaps, windows....

Next step is interesting. A square hole is cut in a white pumpkin and into the hole some of the red vermillion paste is poured, the hole plugged and the pumpkin shaken. I am now thinking that the sort of strange watermelon I saw smashed on the pavement/sidewalks earlier today were not watermelons after all! Apparently the pumpkin gets hurled to the ground as part of the puja and then the broken segments are left in front of the doors of the garage. The pumpkin is a substitute for animal sacrifices as it is fleshy and the red vermilion represents ...... yes you got it the blood!  Shankar is horrified at the business savvy of the local traders. Prices of the puja kit have apparently doubled for these few days. Driving around later we see streets lined with white pumpkins, banana leafs, garlands of flowers etc. for sale, and some of the best dressed vehicles ever!

The incense is lit and we are ready to roll. Under each car wheel is a lemon. When all is said and done the car will roll over these and smash them - which wards off evil.  There are a variety of fruits, sweets (hoping we get to eat these!), coconuts and puffed rice on the tray as offerings.

Shankar then conducts the puja. The white pumpkin and coconuts have some sort of burning wax put on them and are picked up and circled in the front of the car three times, then hurled and smashed to the ground while some words are chanted (didn't get to the bottom of what these were). We had by this time drawn a crowd of some of the neighborhood gardeners, as is custom, they are given the puffed rice and sweets and some money as a gesture of goodwill.

So the car is blessed for a year. Having spent the best part of a year negotiating the roads of Bangalore our car has aged beyond its years in terms of scratches and dents. Maybe the next twelve months will be kinder!!

Chicks with Sticks aka Dandiya Night

Dandiya night at the Adarsh Vista club house. This was another example of how the Indian culture is so all-embracing. Since we have been here we have been welcomed so enthusiastically to join and take part in all traditional festivities. This was a great night - music, dancing, socializing and food!!


Wills was sleeping over somewhere else in Vista, Simon in Mumbai on a biz trip and Ads somewhere with his buds in the 'hood, but keeping well away from the music and dancing. So it was up to me to represent the Towers family, armed with my sticks. Dandya sticks represent the Goddess Druga's sword. Druga, meaning invincible, is the embodiment of creative feminine force! She stands for fearlessness and patience. Durga was created as a warrior goddess to fight an inhuman force/demon named Mahishasura, who could not be defeated by either man or one of the gods. When the going gets tough, in legend as in life, you need a woman!!  At the end of nine days Druga eventually defeated Mahishasura. This is part of the Navarartri festival which I do have more to blog about. 

The clubhouse was lit up, the DJ in place and everyone (except for me - having been more than feeble here) clothed either in Gujarati (lots of color and festooned with mirrors and sequins) dress or equally vibrant traditional Indian attire. Not only the Indians but the French and Dutch kept up the European end with their Indian outfits. Next year I will be more appropriately attired.

Not only did I have to master the tapping of my sticks, without causing anyone any injury, but also draw on reserves of stamina! Some of the dances had set patterns and stick taps, but of course there was some flexibility and everyone inserted their own little flourish. Two circles - inner and outer, 3 or 4 dance moves with sticks (without hitting anyone!) facing one partner, quick twirl and move on to face another partner. For the British, it's a bit like barn dancing with weapons! It was so much fun and everyone had patience while I fumbled with my sticks!

When the sticks were downed the dancing continued - the colors, the rhythms oscillating into the night.

Luckily, to replenish our energy reserves, there was wonderful Indian street food. I love this food but for gastrointestinal reasons we can't just stop, jump out the car and buy from the street sellers so we only get to eat this when it is catered. My favorite Indian foods to date are not the more fancy Indian foods, but the street/snack foods - the dosa, pabhaji and pan puri.

At some point I found Ads who told me he was tired and was going home to bed but it was OK if I stayed out - role reversal or something here. But he did tell me he'd seen me dancing and while I wasn't embarrassing I did stand out - I took that as a compliment but I'm not 100 percent sure!

Annual Anguish!

We are now approaching our one year anniversary - we left the US November 19th and arrived here in Bangalore November 21st - so not exactly sure which of these days is our actual 1st year Bangalorean Birthday, or what happened to November 20th 2010?

Anyway we are now embroiled in the process of renewing/extending our visas and residence permits.

After collecting the relevant documents and photos we (just Simon and me for the first leg) set off for the FRRO (Foreigner Regional Registration Office) which we last visited December 2nd 2010. How do I remember?, it was our wedding anniversary and we plus kids spent a substantial amount of time there for our initial residents permits. Anyway this was a quick visit (Part 1 of 2) to get a police report request document, essentially an official signed document telling us we needed to go and get a police report.....

Next stop HAL police station. I don't have many police station visits in the western world with which to compare this with. But it was definitely like a trip back in time. Although there was an armed policeman at the door, neither we nor our bags were searched on the way in and the policeman frequently left his gun unattended, propped against the wall when he went off to do other things. Not sure if that was reassuring or not!

These pics were taken surreptitiously with my phone so are not very clear. Behind the desk is a cork board headed "Rouge Gallary" (their spelling errors - not mine) onto which villains pictures were pinned and graded 1 to 5 - whether an evilness ranking or danger factor who knows! There were piles of huge, cumbersome ledgers, all hand written, each for a specific criminal event -  from "Rowdy Incidences" to "Cow Theft." There was a lot of handwriting going on with copious amounts of carbon paper!

There was indeed a "lock up" for the bad guys - in the middle of the hallway black iron bars though which we could see the rather tame, quiet and subdued looking villains, watching us watching them. I sometimes wonder if in India we are the spectator or the spectacle!!

Our first port of call was with the "Station Writer" who had to write up a report to justify that we are indeed residents in their jurisdiction. For some reason a signed lease is not good enough. This had to be signed off by the big boss of the police station who wasn't yet available (or arrived) and there didn't seem to be an ETA. We decided to go home and wait to be summoned, which happened several hours later. The people waiting when we first arrived were still there. We were finally signed off as true residents and now have to plan our second visit to the FRRO with the kids - that'll be the long drawn out wait, wait, wait which will sign and seal our second year here in B'lore.

Who needs to go to the Mall?

Sometimes I am quite amazed by what I can buy within walking distance (and I'm talking a very short walk here) from our house. These little shops on the side of the street are jam packed with merchandise and the owner knows exactly where to find everything very quickly.

The "fancy" stores sell a wide range of miscellaneous items - gift wrap (small selection and small pieces but it works!), hair clips, bangles, cricket cards..........The seller speaks good english and when I asks for something goes immediately to the right box/drawer/shelf.

The stationary shop, a tiny dark little cavern which has provided the necessary for a neuron cell poster (Ads), winter season poster and decorated recycled goods project (Wills) not to mention glitter, glue and marker pens.

One of several pharmacies within walking distances. The cupboards are packed with boxes containing hundreds of different meds, and there is a computerized index system. Anti-biotics come over the counter here. This is not only a pharmacy, but also a prescribing service. If you can mime a sinus infection you can get the meds! Luckily they have reasonable english so there's not too much miming necessary for any family gastro-intenstinal problem! If they don't have what you need they will order and deliver - no additional charge.

Clothes Indian style in all those wonderful colors - all you need is the tailor a little further up the street and you're away. There's even a small market selling psuedo-western clothes a  few yards further on.

Nilgiris is the local small grocery store where you can get most things, though a small selection - (a bit like a very very good British corner shop if they still exist!) The boys are pretty partial to Nilgiris as they have a good supply of Cadbury's and a baked section with samosas and chicken puffs. In true Indian style it is very well staffed. There is security at the entrance to relieve you of any unnecessary bags you may be carrying and exchange them for a token and another one on the exit to check you have a receipt which they will punch a hole in. The door is in good sight and close proximaty to the cash desk but that is not the point! As well as the staff on the 2 check outs there must be at least another 5 employees re-stocking or tidying and dusting the boxes, bottles and shelves, cleaning the floor etc.etc. What will happen when mechanisation takes over or these little shops are replaced by Target/Walmart or equivalent?

 Of course food is never far away, cooked to order or fast food?

We have our local KFC look-a-like. And what does the B stand for. I'd have guessed Bangalore or Basavanagar (the name of the road) but no, this is BIG BOY FRIED CHICKEN!!! - no comment!

Fresh produce is available on all corners 7 days a week. No excuse to eat unhealthily here! These little shops go on and on. In fact in Bangalore there must be thousands and thousands of them. I can also walk to get paint matched and made up, buy electrical goods, get a new watch battery, a phone charger for the car, dry cleaners and tailors, the newsagents who delivers our daily paper, hair and beauty salons for men and women etc.etc. If you want to buy you need an ATM. There are 2 very close by, both have their own security guards -even when they are not working which is all too often the case!

The ironing guy's place is also close by. As we walked passed taking these pics we could see a pile of Indus pants and shirts all crisp and ready to wear which arrived on the doorstep later that evening.

This is not however where I buy our meat. Next door to this store is the chicken store - as the chickens are still tenuously hanging on to life,  I prefer to buy mine, very dead, washed and wrapped at the grocery store!

So why do I go to the Mall? Well, sometime the local charms become a bit exhausting. Although I am getting better, crossing the road still takes a long time. The last stop before we get back to Vista is Tasty Bites, a chai stop and hang out for the locals, rick drivers and autos. I'm sure they stand there laughing at the length of time it takes us make the last dash into Vista! The endless stream of motorbikes, pushbikes, ricks, cars, trucks, carts all at different speeds, with unpredictable behavior patterns, many on the phone or chatting to their passengers make it seem like a life threatening operation to get across. If we are in town and Shankar is coming down the other side of the road from where I am waiting he will signal for me to stay put while he goes on to make a U-turn as he knows it is way quicker than waiting for me to cross the street! Also the incessant horn blowing, the smells both attractive and yucky, the uneven pavements and roads surfaces, the stray dogs, the trash, the open waterways......Sometimes the air-conditioned, cleanliness, order and relative calm of the Mall beckons!