Ponto de Vista

Classic! I love that they managed to spell the hardest word right, but not the rest 🙂 
I know, I know, the guy stenciling it on is probably illiterate, but the lettering is still funny. Thanks for the entertainment Delhi ‘govrment’!

At Kamakhya Debutter temple, a cat keeps an eye on two rock doves sheltering in a nook by a sculpture. Look in the bottom right for the birds.
The temple itself is imposing. I didn’t go in. The fast track entry (Rs. 100) was almost as long as the general (free) entry queue to enter the vestibule and visit with the Goddess Who Bleeds* was estimated at an hour and a half and I didn’t feel like paying Rs. 500 for super fast entry. I did see a monkey attack devotees and help himself to their food offerings though, as well as some atavistic goddesses in surrounding chambers. And this curious cat, ready to spring.

Sal trees reflected in a cast iron kadhai over a wood stove at Narmohan Das’ silk home-industry. The boiling water is going to be used to make dye from harad – a bitter dried seed pod used as a digestive in triphala and churan. Handwoven fabric is dipped into it, allowed to rest, and then hung up to dry. The resulting silk is a  beautifully muted charcoal gray – absolutely my favorite color.
#Assam #travel #handmade #handicrafts #India #silk #natural

I can’t get over this album sleeve! It’s from an LP of my mother’s, issued in 1964, featuring classical compositions for that most weary sounding of instruments: the shehnai. I don’t really have an ear for it, but what marvelously eye-catching, modern cover art!

Borrow

In the Grand Palace, Bangkok, a mysterious edict near the entryway. Whatever could they mean?

P.s. We saw perfectly marked ATM’s everywhere. Is this the rogue machine that calls a spade a spade? Is this the ‘rage against the machine’ machine?

Bhumisparsh

At the UNESCO heritage village of SukhoThai, the seated Buddha in bhoomisparsh mudra. Elegant, graceful, serene. Nina and I got there early is, on a scooter (with helmets, thank you very much) and explored much of the old ruins on foot. A lot of people had the same idea though. We saved the best for last and although it got hot, at least the crowds had thinned. We got a private audience with many Bodhisattvas and Buddhas.
The audio guide was useful, but the site map was confusing. And no one told us there was a separate entry fee for the other older park, but we snuck into a section of the old kilns anyway. I think two nights in the city were plenty, and we stayed in such a fantastic Ruen Thai hotel, made in the old Lanna style with solid teak, structured around a swimming pool. Great breakfast, helpful staff, free bicycles, sturdy tree furniture. And a bus stand pickup we somehow missed. Oh well. Still a superlative layover.

For more years than I can remember, I’ve wanted to go see a film at Deepak Talkies, one of the few single screen cinemas in my neighborhood. When we moved to Prabhadevi in 1987, Kirti Talkies on Caddell Road had recently shut, but was still a landmark. These ‘Talkies’, by virtue of their location, catered to mill workers who inhabited the charming two-story tenements that dot Lower Parel and Prabhadevi, and are now being replaced with ugly metal and glass high-rises wherever you look.
Every time I cross Deepak Talkies on my way back from Lower Parel, I try
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Sandwhich?

Unless you know which side your bred is battered … you are tost!

Lion ling

The guard at this shrine at Elephanta (gharapuri) says it’s a ling astride a lion skin. My expert guide (coming soon to an audiocompass app near you) tells me that’s impossible and makes no sense. The emblem of Shiv would be on a symbol of Shakti, not himself. More likely, the lion was here first, when this was a Buddhist site, and the Shivling was added later. Hmm…

This is my mother’s stray button collection. When I was little, it occupied my OCD younger self for hours to spread them out, arrange them by color, then by size, then by material. She has wood, bone, crystal, plastic, matte, shiny, glittery, round, oval, innies, outies … endlessly fascinating even now.