A saree for Melanie (part 1); two girls show me their bull; Sanju rides the bus
Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 8:04PM ;)
Melanie needs a saree to wear to Soundarya's wedding. Vasanthi, our most generous host, has saree material just waiting. She shows a sample as little Sanju walks through the room. If Melanie looks tired, just remember that the two of us had just finished a 41 hour trip from Alaska to India.
We were both tired.
;)
Vasanthi drapes a saree-in-the-rough over Melanie. Melanie likes it. Next, we must go to the tailor to get it fitted.
;)
We are going to walk to the tailor now, and then we will catch a bus into downtown Bangalore to do some more shopping for saree material. Jesse, Buddy's mom, helps little Sanju into her sandals.
Jesse, originally from Malayasia, runs a small school for little children. She used to hold it right here, in the living room of her sister and brother-in-law, Vasanthi and Murthy. Sanju was one of her students. Sanju has graduated now and moved on, but she sees Murthy, Vasanthi, Jesse and household as her own family and so comes over almost daily just to hang out, to love, and be loved.
;)
Sanju walks with Jesse as Melanie follows.
;)
Vasanthi leads us to the tailor, but his little shop is closed for the day. So we walk a little further and there is another tailor, in a tiny, open-faced shop. That's how it is in India. Little tiny shops, everywhere.
;)
As I photograph Melanie, I feel someone tap my elbow. I turn and see these two girls. Although they do not speak much English and I know nothing of their language, they let me know they want me to photograph them with their *bull.
Murthy tells me that India has more than 700 active, indigenous, languages.
;)
After I take their picture, I show it to them on my camera's LCD monitor. They are most pleased. "Beautiful!" they say, "thank you." Then they walk away, waving as they go.
;)
Sanju, Jesse, and some other little kid at the bus stop.
;)
Sanju and Jesse ride the bus toward downtown Bangalore. I will continue this story shortly, meanwhile...
;)
...I jump ahead to today, right here in Wasilla, Alaska, USA, where I took a ten-mile bike ride after I ate breakfast at Carl's Jr. My first two days back home were filled with warmth and sun, but today it rained.
The rain in India is warm, but this rain was cold. It felt good. I thoroughly enjoyed it. When I got home, I took a hot shower. I enjoyed that, too.
*I originally referred to this little bull as a cow, but was corrected by Sandy's cousin, Kavitha V. Kavitha wrote:
"In India the bulls are used for ploughing the fields, the bulls that are born with large humps and disablities are not used for ploughing. These bulls are decorated and brought from house to house accompained with music. It is considered aspicious when a bull visits a house. In ancient India, people used to worship thier livestock. It was only after the white revolution beef eating came into picture. Now it is considered as a form of beggary."
Reader Comments (2)
:) Lovely!
Amazing post - and great photos throughout the blog. I'm planning to move to Wasilla in the next couple months if I get the job I'm flying up to interview for at the end of this month. (coming from Oreogn). Thanks for giving me a sweet taste of the place I soon hope to be calling home.