Where have you been in India? Where did you like the best?

Hey Mark! Is that you? How are your journeys? I like the pictures. What I really want to know is are you picking up a lot of Britishisms, I mean, you know, those phrases that the British used to use and are still in active use in India? Will you be able to speak American English upon your return?
Really, the pictures are really cool. Tell us more about it...
Will you go to a yoga ashram since you are there?

Hi Mark,
You don't know me, but you brother Joe is a friend of mine: we are part of the same cohort at the Anthro dept. at UNC.
I am from India and Joe thought I would enjoy keeping up with your itenerat witnessing.
Oh, BTW, whatever anyone says about the name of your website, dont' change it. It's wonderfully geeky. I approve.
Rachana

I'm so excited that people have written something here! Hi Jeanne! Hi Rachana!

I've been goofing around so much with the technical part of this website (while on the road no less) that I didn't check.

I got some of the same pics but with captions now on the gallery. More soon with luck.

Jeanne: Rachana can tell you Indians have their very own brand of English, which I haven't adopted yet. I do find myself shaking my head from side to side though.

Mark

Joe and I have reviewed the photos and we're wondering the following:
Why is there so much smiling?
Who writes your captions? Do they have a degree?
(just kidding, we like them as they give us some context for the photos.)
Have you witnessed (or should I say have you itinerantly witnessed) any dogs chasing cats of a different caste?
Have you washed the paint off your face yet, or are you saving it for posterity?
The bandana-scooter look is very cool. Joe has taken to wearing one on his bike to school.
Did you get to ride the elephant?
What has been your favorite place so far?
How has the food been... shall we say, treating you?

Looking forward to more postings from you, answers to our questions, and seeing some more photos!

Tom and Mahatma

Ah!
The ubiquitous figure-eight head move. But we are like that only! (Jeanne, that's an Indianism for you.)
I miss the head shaking out here in Chapel Hill. Maybe I should teach Joe to do it.
Rachana

Hi Rashana:

I guess it is a figure-eight move! More subtle than a head shake.

Do you know that Tom and Mahatma are my brothers Tom and Joe in Chapel Hill?

Speaking of which.....

Do I even dignify these questions with answers????? ;-)

People are smiling because people are so friendly here! Most of them are smiling at the clowns at Carnaval.

The person who writes the captions has a degree or two, but it's not clear how he or she earned it.

The paint wears off very very very slowly. My toenails are still pink. Very sexy. The paint is because of Holi, as Rachana can tell you. People walk up to you and say "Happy Holi!" and then they smear paint on you. You can do the same to them.

I did not ride the elephant. Big animals!

The food has been treating me well. A couple of minor digestion problems over 6 weeks, not bad.

Favorite place.... don't have one. But Holi in Jodhpur was a lot of fun, and the beach in Goa was brain-meltingly relaxing. Mumbai was very very cool.

Dear Witness,

It sounds (from your phone calls with Karthik) and looks (from your pics) like you're having a great time. The line about Goa being "brain-meltingly relaxing" pushed me from being happy for you to being envious,though. ;)

How did you like Udaipur? My friends who were there recently said it was the most beautiful (and romantic) part of their trip. What are your accommodations as you travel? What are some of the most unexpected things you've seen so far? Are there lots of other goras (white boys) around, or do you stick out like a sore thumb?

Keep the pictures coming... I'm using them to plan out my next trip there. :)

Nima

Hey Mark,

You certainly seem to be taking to India like a fish to water. Don't be doing too much "eve-teasing" in north India. Learn any Hindi yet ??

By the way, the next time you're in Bombay, you should check out Film City, where they make a lot of the Hindi films. I hear there are ample opportunities for foreign tourists to populate the screen in certain Bollywood productions, so this may be the launch of your film career - maybe even put your dancing chops to good use !!

Post some more pictures...

Cheers,

Sanjay

Nima: Udaipur is full of couples mooning at each other. I noticed a lot of women looking at their boyfriends and saying "The guidebook says this is supposed to be the most romantic rooftop restaurant in Udaipur. Why don't we go?" "Uh, okay" responds the boyfriend. He knows she's in charge of the romance department.

I actually wrote a blog entry about India being romantic.  I was surprised when I realized it. Sanjay had mentioned it before I left though.

I am in tourist central so there are plenty of white boys!

Sanjay:

Working on pics...........

Mark

Mark-
I am readily awaiting your white man debut in Bollywood. Can you do some of those dancing moves? And Sanjay, what exactly are dancing "chops"? (I thought they belonged to dogs or non-vegetarian cuisine).
That is, if you are not too sore from your camel excursion...

By the way, looking at your pictures of food is making me hungry, even though I've already eaten dinner. Hope you are eating some for the rest of us! (Can you get some tips and recipe ideas?)

Hi Jeanne,

Guess "chops" is a slang term you aren't familiar with. Here's the definition of what I meant, from 'Dictionary.com' -

An official stamp or permit in the Far East.

A mark stamped on goods or coins to indicate their identity or quality.
Quality; class: first chop.
[Hindi chāp, seal.]

By the way, I didn't know about the connection to the Hindi word till I looked it up - I must have been drawing upon some ancestral wisdom :)

Seems like your brother is still exploring the dunes.

- Sanjay

I know what you mean by chops, Sanjay. Jeanne should too, because she is a saxophone player. In music, especially with a jazz band, a musician will get asked if they have their chops. It means 'do they still got it?', are they on top of it?, can they play? If you lose your chops, it means you can't play well anymore. I always figured it had something to do with wind instruments and embouchure and having the muscles in your mouth practiced enough so you can play.

Mark,

Judging from the attached link below, it looks like this guy frequented some of the same places, and took some of the same pictures that you did in Bombay :

http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/cat_photos.html

Jeanne, some more examples of differences in Indian vs. US English, leading to some inadvertent [and occasionally off-colo(u)r] humo(u)r.

And he went to the same place in Bandra I did. Carter Road is the name of the road on which Jogger's Park and the laughing club are.

Jeanne, the misspellings are _everywhere_. And whenever you go near water, there is a sign telling you "it is to commit suicide" to go in the water. And everywhere creative uses of grammar and vocabulary that you or I could not write if we tried. They bend the brain gleaning their original intent.

Hey Mark,
It's great to hear (and see) your trip is going excellent - nice shot of you on the camel! Also, I'm way behind with this, but in case anyone is still interested, "chops" are also jazz musician slang for skill with an instrument or voice, e.g. to practice is to work on your chops. I think it's also fair to use it more generally for any kind of skill, e.g. that guy on the camel has great chops getting the camel to go where he wants!

See comment #18! I'm glad you're following along. I posted a bunch of new pics here.

Hi Mark,

We're enjoying wine and beautiful weather here at Keuka Lake. Wish you could join us, but it sounds like hiking in the Himalayas will be really exciting. Don't forget to send us email updates to the group and a few pictures in the email now and then, too. Have fun!

Joe

Keuka Lake sounds nice as always. I arrived in Manali last night. It is in a narrow, green-treed valley with snow-capped peaks nearby.

I hear ya on the photos.

Mark

Mark,

The pictures look spectacular. Enjoying the updates. Good luck on the trek. Make sure to breathe in enough O-2. Don't make them carry the the 5 gallon water jug, dining table and chairs, and mini-fridge, you should carry those.

Joe

Many of the questions you all have been asking, specially the ones on food, recip, tips, culture that normal guidebooks tend not to covver in great detail - you will find the answer there.

Please Visit www.theindiatree.com

Damn, the mini-fridge was heavy. But the linen tablecloth and red wine under the moon was worth it. And the porter wore a black tux.

Hi anonymous - Yes I have been checking out theIndiaTree.com for a while and it is very useful.  The India travel forums are great for getting near real-time information on places.  I was checking out the forums for when the road from Manali to Leh opened (it's been open for a couple of weeks now) and for where to watch the World Cup in India (more than what I thought).  Here is the post in which I introduced myself.  It's fun to start a conversation and keep up with it!

Mark, those pictures of your trek are incredible! It looks amazing. I really enjoyed the scew field. What did you and Amit do when you came across those 3 dead guys? Did you call someone?

Joe

Yo Mark,

Hope you are planning to celebrate your birthday in style there in the foothills of the Himalayas. Just remember that alcohol goes to your head faster at those elevations, so take it easy !

Great pictures - rediscovering my motherland through your travels.

- Sanjay

The trek was great. Watching the porters learn yoga was a real hoot! They were really into it. After lugging 80 pounds of equipment up the mountain, they didn't move a muscle when they were lying in that yoga position. And after they were done they were all smiles.

The scew field was great. What's a scew field?

Thanks for the birthday wishes. My birthday certainly was induplicable: I spent it watching a World Cup game in Sarahan, Kinnaur Valley, with some friendly travellers. Got to drink a decent bottle of beer.

Glad you're enjoying the photos. I'm very happy that I've been able to organize and upload them while travelling. It'll be at least a week before the next batch, because I won't have a decent connection until I get back to Manali. But I will have several weeks worth of photos from Kinnaur and Spiti Valleys and of the various Tibetan gompas I'm visiting.

Mark

I just emailed you photos from the b-day celebration we had in your honor. Any excuse to have cake, we'll take! Thursday night dinner group misses you and even your jokes!

-Maria and crew in DC

Hi Maria. I saw the birthday photos you sent me. How nice of you guys! It really means a lot to me.

Hope you're enjoying DC summer!

Mark