Reality Check: You're (Literally)Running Late

For some reason, Abhi and I are habitually late. It doesn't matter what the occasion- morning, day, or night- now matter how much free time we have beforehand, we will probably be late. I don't know if the universe is conspiring against us or maybe we're just extremely irresponsible with our time? :-P

For the past few months we've had to travel to Delhi and back more times than I can count on my fingers and toes; almost always for some kind of important work. That being said, if you have ever seen an Indian-American couple running like hell, pushing aside old ladies and little children, through the Delhi Metro station, Bus Stands, Railway Stations, outside malls, movie theaters, or any random roads...it was probably Abhi and me. AND you're especially lucky if you've seen this fiasco more than once.

Here's our most recent story of running late (it happened two days ago):
Our train was scheduled to leave the station at 3:15pm, it was now 10am and we had all the time in the world to roam around, relax, and have a little fun in the city. We saw a movie, did some shopping, had lunch, and planned to head towards the railway station an hour before its departure- plenty of time to arrive early, find our platform, grab some snacks for the ride and go- or so we thought.

An hour before our train's departure we get on the Metro train (similar to a Subway train) to head for the railway station, a trip that normally takes 30-40 minutes from were we were. Of all the times we've ridden the Metro, it has never faced any sort of complication, until now. That darn Metro was stopping and pausing for minutes on end between every station. We could see that we were going to be cutting it close and knew that we would have to bolt out of the Metro when we got to our station (sadly, we've had a lot of experience with these types of situations).

As soon as the Metro stopped at our station we squeezed our way through the crowds and took off running through the station, pushing past all kinds of people, up the stairs, out onto the road to the railway station. We locate our train's platform number and take off through the station. We arrive just in time to see that our train has left without us on it. (If you have ever seen the Bollywood movie 'Jab We Met,' it was kind of like we were living that scene where the girl is running after her train).

Darn that train for actually leaving on time!! Doesn't the train conductor know what country he's in...that its OK to be late in India?!?!

Lesson of the Day: If you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late. If you're late, you miss your train.

Diwali- My First!

Diwali! Festival of Lights! Biggest Festival of the Year! Yeah! Last year I came so close to being in India for Diwali...Diwali was on Nov. 3rd and I left India Nov.1st. So this was my first official Diwali celebration, and it sure was a lot of fun. It kind of reminded me of a blend of Christmas (all the lights and decorations outside) and the 4th of July (tons of fireworks).

As for the meaning behind Diwali, I'm not 100% sure. I do know that the goddess of money, Lakshmi, is worshiped. Many people will clean their homes top-to-bottom (this includes repainting the house)and light diyas (small candles that burn oil) outside, believing that on the night of Diwali Lakshmi will feel more welcomed to enter their homes and bless them. {I guess instead of our version of "Spring Cleaning," Indians have "Diwali Cleaning." Yes, I thought of that myself...}

Before I show you some of our pictures from Diwali, I was reminded of an old The Office episode. :D

If, for some reason, you can't see this video (sometimes videos aren't enabled between different countries), just do a YouTube search for The Office Diwali Song.

Now, onto our pictures :)

This is called a Rangoli and I have no idea of its purpose, other than it looks pretty.

This was painted on our floor with natural colors (made of red rock for red and rice for white) and represents the goddess Lakshmi's foot print.

Me and my boi.

All the diyas lit up, lookin' pretty.

Family photo.

Some fun with sparklers.

Karva Chauth

October really is the month of festivals. Well, the Hindu festivals are according to the lunar calendar, and it just so happens that they all fall into October this year.

On October 15th we celebrated Karva Chauth, a festival for husbands and wives. On Karva Chauth wives fast for the entire day, not eating any food or drinking any water, until the moon comes out at night. They do this fasting and praying for the long life and good health and fortune of their husbands. When the moon comes out, the wives do a special type of worship to the moon, and after this, they can finally eat.

During the day, women come together and read the story of  Karva Chauth from a book and recite other relevant stories to each other. Our neighbors came over to our home during the day while my mother-in-law read the story of Karva Chauth;and even though i couldn't fully understand what was going on(language barrier and all), it was kinda nice having a time like that with all the ladies.

On Karva Chauth it is also customary for in-laws to give gifts to each other. Abhi and I bought surprise gifts for both of his parents, and they also for me.

Me, mother-in-law, neighbors. 

Me with some neighbors, posing for the newspaper cameraman, lol. 

These are our Karvas (clay pots) used to pour water to the moon. 

Me giving mother-in-law her gifts (some bangles and clothes). 

Me giving father-in-law his gift (dress shirt) ((I think he was really surprised because he almost never gets gifts! He wore it two days in a row this week...that means he likes it!)). 

Seeing the moon. 

Abhi giving me food after seeing the moon.

Dushera

About a week ago I witnessed a seemingly very dangerous event. Thousands of people jammed into a small fairground with very small exit doors, with very large bombs and fireworks exploding in front of us. And by very large, I mean 100ft tall statues of fire and explosion.

But no need to be alarmed, this happens every year. And, as real as you are sitting and reading, I am also here sitting and writing, very much alive and safe.

The significance of Dushera is that of good defeating evil. In Hindu tradition there is a great battle in which a god, Rama, defeats an evil demon, Ravanna. Therefore, these flaming statues are statues of Ravanna and his cohorts going down in flames, a reinactment or symbol of good's power over evil.

The following video is a little long, but you can see all three statues explode and just how large and loud the crowd is here in our little city.

Vegetarianism Was Forced Upon Me, I Say!

Its festival season in India. That means one festival after another, after another. Which is fun an all, but unfortunately, during any festival or special occasion in the Hindu religion (and many times daily life), there is a strict policy of no meat-eating, whatsoever. Not even eggs. "**shock, gasp, the horror!!**"


You see, it was difficult for me already with my in-laws being vegetarians for religious reasons; Abhi and I respected that by eating outside whenever the carnivorous craving kicked in (which happens all the time for me!). Though, we would regularly eat eggs and such at home.

Now, I never want to disrespect my in-laws in any way, hence my temporary change in diet. BUT, I think this vegetarian deal is starting to get to my head and it might just be making me a little loopy. Its been almost a month now without any meat or eggs!! Aaahhh!! And before this festival season started my meat intake was very, very slim. Seriously, I would like to see any Puerto Rican/American (I added the Puerto Rican part because yes, we like our pork) try to reduce meat from their diet for 8 months and then walk through life with a big, happy smile =D. I know I may be obsessing a little bit, but I would like to see you (yes, you) try to get through an episode of MasterChef without your stomach growling at every sight of chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, fish, goat, whathaveyou.

All this said in good fun, I'm patiently (not patiently enough, hence this blog post) awaiting my reunion with my beloved proteins (Friday!). That being said, don't call me on that day because I'm sure, I'll be busy eating. ;)

The Wrong Kind of Milk In Our Coffee

Our neighbors now collectively own FIVE animals of the cow variety (2 cows and 3 buffaloes). When I first moved here there were only 3, but recently the cow and buffalo have been popping out babies. Aside from having a really cute cow baby to pet, there are other 'products' that come from the birth of a cow/buffalo.

After the cow gives birth, its milk is different than regular, plain-ol' cow's milk. For a few days its milk has a higher quantity of fats and vitamins than it normally would. People can also drink this milk and in fact, many people really like it. To make a special 'treat' with the new cow's milk you just boil it and add raw sugar. Once its boiled it separates into liquid with small pieces and becomes a light brown color, called Khees. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Khees, though I don't hate it either. Its just one of those things that throws you off mentally when you hear what it is, even though the taste isn't bad. Actually, the first time I ever met my in-laws they served me Khees. I had never heard of it before and judging by its texture and taste I was a little scared. Though, I was even more scared not to finish it so that my in-laws' first impression of me wouldn't be that I'm a picky eater! Ha!

ANYWAYS, our neighbors so graciously bring us Khees every time their cow or buffalo has a baby. Usually when they bring it, it has already been boiled and changed color. This time when they brought it, it was still in its normal white milk form. So this morning in my sleepy stupor, I reached into the fridge to grab the milk for mine and Abhinav's coffee. I performed my usual half-asleep ritual of making coffee for the both of us without a second thought of what I was doing. We both sat to read the newspaper and drink our coffee, when suddenly my mother-in-law came in the room and asked me a strange question. "Jess, how is your coffee today???" I drink coffee the same way everyday and she never asks me how it is. Why now? With a funny smile on her face she showed me the two different bowls of milk. "You made Khees coffee!" I tasted my coffee and realized I had used the Khees milk instead of regular milk. Which, does not taste the same AT ALL.

The strange mistakes that I could never make in the U.S. surface all the time in India...hmm :)

Horniest Citizens Award Goes To...

In India, I've made it a part of my daily routine to read the English newspaper (I make my attempts at the Hindi newspaper when I have extra-EXTRA time on my hands). Thanks to Times of India I've really come to enjoy a writer by the name of Jug Suraiya and his articles in the Ideas section of the paper. He doesn't have articles published daily, but when his articles do run they are often about current events or situations in modern-day India. From thought provoking to straight out funny, his articles are interesting and well-written.

My favorite article so far is what I would call a perfect explanation of Indian traffic, at least from a foreigner's point of view. I once had the idea to make a recording of the sounds of Indian traffic but when I replayed it in my camera it was nothing but constant loud, overbearing noise. The kind of noise that literally makes your ears hurt and the hair on your arms stand on end.

The following is Jug Suraiya's article, 'Horny India.' Enjoy.

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/jugglebandhi/entry/horny-india

And I have to add this comment given by another reader:
When I learned to drive almost 50 years ago, one of the advices given to me by my instructor was "hamesha haarn bajana--- bhulna nahi". I did not question why, because he was my guru!
Which translated means, "Always blow the horn--do not forget!"

A Different Kind of J.O.B.

This group of musicians comes through our colony about once a week playing the dholak(drum), tambourine, and hand cymbals, while singing songs. They go throughout the city playing music to earn money. Sometimes people will come outside of their homes to give them small amounts of money.

The tradition of these types of music groups roaming the streets and playing for money is actually quite interesting. In Indian history, and still today, people with leprosy were banned from acquiring normal jobs or living in normal quarters. Leper colonies were even created (at least 1,000 in India) for those that were plagued with leprosy. Without many opportunities for jobs from employers, brilliance of mind and musical creativity opened this opportunity for ailing lepers to earn a living in society.

These days the traditions still continues and some people, like the ones you see in this video, are still able to earn money and provide for themselves while living with a crippling disease.

Indian Independence Day

August 15th marked the 65th anniversary of Indian Independence.

India might have many fun and exciting festivals and celebrations, but I'm sad to say that Independence Day in India is not much compared to U.S Independence Day. :-P I'm used to outdoor picnics, barbeques, live bands, family and friends, and lots  butt-loads of fireworks. To India's defense, it is monsoon season, and rain not only covered, but flooded Independence Day without even a minute of dry relief. So besides the deluge of rain, the day was rather uneventful.

Gaining Independence from the British in 1947, it is a rather young country. Nonetheless, Happy Birthday to India, a country full of deep and colorful culture and traditions not found anywhere else in this world.

Raksha Bandhan; A Brother-Sister Affair

On Saturday, August 13th, we celebrated the annual bro-sis festival of Raksha Bandhan. With Raksha and Bandhan meaning protect and promise, the brother makes a promise of protection to his sister. The sister ties a band (rakhi) around the brother's wrist, reminding him of the promise he made to her.

I really enjoy the idea of a promise made between brother and sister like this, and it makes me wonder why, in the U.S., we don't celebrate that unique bond that a brother and sister hold. Even when family members live far apart, they make it a point to come together for this festival. Many times rakhi is also exchanged between close cousins, considering each other as brother and sister.

For Raksha Bandhan we had family come and stay with us, which is always nice. And of course, like any festival, excellent food was had. :)

 Abhi and Shivangi

Shivangi tying rakhi on Abhinav's wrist 

Shivangi tying rakhi on my wrist. Husband and wife are considered as one, so when a sister ties rakhi on her brother's wrist, she also ties it on her brother's wife.

My Mother-In-Law tying rakhi on her brother's wrist. 

Mother-In-Law tying rakhi on brother's wife's wrist.

Happy Raksha Bandhan.

Chyawanprash: In Sickness and in Health

The practice of using natural medicines and (ayurvedic medicines) originated in India, bringing remedies for illnesses from the major to the minor. With the main concern being finding a cure for sickness using all natural ingredients, ayurveda provides natural medicines for things like upset stomachs or bad gas to artery and heart disease to diabetes and more. There are even yoga exercises that are practiced to keep good health as far as illness and disease are concerned. Within India many ingredients, such as turmeric and cumin, that are used in everyday foods are also key to ayurvedic practice of maintaining good health.

I recently started showing symptoms of a cold (first one in 6 months, I think thats pretty good!), so Abhinav introduced me to a new "product" used in ayurveda. Its not exactly a cold medicine, per say, but more of an immunity booster. It can be eaten throughout the year... in sickness and in health.

Its called chyawanprash and I really have never seen anything like it in my life. Its this dark brown paste with a strong sour smell; not appealing to the senses in any way by its looks alone. The taste is not so bad, though i takes some getting used to if you've never had it before. And its really difficult to describe, other than a mixture of salty, spicy, sweet, and sour all-in-one.

Chyawanprash is made up of around 50 different ingredients, but the main effective ingredient used is Amla(Indian Gooseberry). Amla is considered the fruit with the highest Vitamin C content on the earth, and is a key ingredient in many ayurvedic medicines. For a list of other ingredients used in chyawanprash, look here.

Nice color, huh? 

Here's to better health!

Making Paneer

With the help of Google and YouTube, I was really excited to learn how to make Paneer. Paneer is a type of Indian cheese with a very plain taste that doesn't easily melt like our regular American or Provolone cheeses (man, I miss cheese). Since its used in a lot of different Indian vegetarian dishes and I have never seen it in the States, I wanted to be able to make it when we return home. Surprisingly, its super easy to make!

First, bring your milk to a boil (I used 1 liter).

When milk begins to boil (before it starts to boil rapidly), slowly add lemon juice (about 3-4tbsp) and stir with  heat on low.

Milk will start to separate into curds(cheese) and whey (milk liquid) {ahh, Little Miss Muffet FINALLY makes sense now!}. If the milk isn't separating you might need to add more lemon juice. Once separated, turn off the heat.

Using cheese cloth or any other thin type of cloth, strain your cheese.

Rinse the cheese with cold water to remove any lemon taste. While still inside the cloth, squeeze out excess water from the cheese; the more excess water you squeeze, the harder the cheese will settle. You can wrap the cheese in a cloth and form into a block shape if you wish by placing two flat and heavy surfaces on either side. Let it sit and cool for about 30 mins. You can use it for cooking immediately or else store in the refrigerator.

Our 1 liter of milk made about 100 grams of paneer (not very much) so don't feel bad when you look at the finished product and think somebody stole your milk! Its normal :-)

We used our paneer to make paneer paranthas, just like my previous onion paranthas.

Enjoy!

Kavad Yatra

If you were in Northern India right now, you would see an unusual amount of orange color in the streets. Men (and some women and children) crowd roads and highways annually to fulfill a type of pilgrimage dedicated to the Hindu god, Shiva.

Not properly a pilgrimage but more of a journey (Kavad meaning the tent-like structure that is carried, Yatra meaning journey), hundreds of thousands of saffron-wearing devotees make the journey from their respective home cities to Northern India's holy cities of Rishikesh and Haridwar. The trek begins every year on the first day of sawan (monsoon) and lasts for about two weeks (this year's is July 16th-29th).

During the journey people carry kavads, elaborately decorated structures made of bamboo, many of which look like tents because they are so large in size. The kavad should not touch the ground at any point during the journey. Once the traveler has reached the Ganges river, he or she fills jugs with the river's water and places them at each end of the kavad, making it much heavier that it already was. Then the journey begins back to each person's respective home temple dedicated to Shiva. Some travel in groups, others alone.

Some devotees travel by train, bus, motorcycle, or bike, but most of them travel by foot, some also without shoes!

The most interesting part of this Yatra, for me, is that these travelers happen to be passing right through the city I live in! I don't know if its a good thing or a bad thing...maybe just more of an interesting thing. Along the journey there are many checkpoint areas where travelers can rest and find something to eat or drink provided by various temples. Many of these checkpoints are in our city. The not-so-awesome part about being a 'checkpoint' city is that many of our roads are blocked now so that the travelers can do their traveling in peace, making for very congested streets nowadays. Also, I constantly hear a voice on a loudspeaker directing traffic and travelers. Day and night, day and night.

Abhi and I went around the city trying to get some good footage of the orange-ness, here's what we got:

 butt shot!

a pretty big kavad 

This is a drive-by of one of the rest areas in our city.

Dooooosaaaaaa

I had the pleasure of eating one of my favorite types of Indian food the other day, DOSA. Its not easily found where I live because its mainly a South Indian dish. Dosa is a thin layer of cooked batter, filled with masala potatoes, then formed into a long roll. Its served with sambar (soup-like and sour) and coconut chutney. There are a lot of varieties of Dosa, but this potato-filled one is the most common (I think).

Yellow liquid: coconut chutney + Brown liquid: sambar + Roll: dosa = delicious!

Flies. I Hate Them.

Yes. Flies. They're horrible. I don't know if its the strange way they feel when they land on you, or how when you swat at them they just keep coming back. It might be the way they all swarm in packs and there can never be just one. Maybe its because flies always seem to surround things like roadkill and cow pies, so when they land on you its like a huge offense, "ah! the flies are mistaking me for dog crap, do I really smell that bad?!" (Yet no matter how many showers I take or perfume I apply, I still smell like a rotting animal to flies). OR is it because we've all heard the tale that every time a fly lands on us it leaves a piece of poop behind (don't tell me I'm the only one that's heard it)?

For some reason, India has a whole-stinkin-lot of flies. I can't quite figure out why either. (Free-roaming cows and cow patties, anyone?) And its not until I notice how awesome the weather is outside and have the hugest desire to sit outside with a good book or crossword, that I'm reminded of my dear old friends, the flies. I tried doing what most people do and just ignore them. After all, what can they really do to me, lick me to death? But after three or four have taken land I just can't handle it anymore, those tickly legs and extending tongues, yuck. My hands start the swatting routine that doesn't end until I finally decide to retreat and go inside.

I've seriously considered (and still am considering) buying this neat device that looks like a small tennis racket that has electric wires running through it and is used for killing mosquitoes; except I'm after larger prey: those damn flies. I would have a hay day relaxing outside, daring any fly to com near me. BUT, as luck would have it, my in-laws have much larger, non-murderous hearts than I do. They would rather not kill any living creature unless absolutely necessary; that includes flies, and that also includes their daughter-in-law doing any unnecessary harming. So for now, kya karu (what to do)?

Call me a complainer, a whiner, cold-hearted, or even a hater.
But seriously, I hate flies.

Piaz Ka Parantha

Since I've come to India my mother-in-law has taught me a thing or two about Indian cooking. One thing I've learned to cook, though don't particularly enjoy making is this piaz ka parantha (aka onion flat bread ). It tastes really good but can be a little tricky to make. Here's how:

Step 1: Gather your necessary tools

Top  pan (tava), Right tongs, Bottom board and rolling pin

Step 2: Mix wheat flour and water to make dough. Roll into balls. (see above picture)

Step 3: Chop onion into small pieces and add red chili powder, salt, and green masala powder (I don't exactly know what makes up the green masala, maybe I'll update that later).

Step 4: Roll the dough ball slightly and add a heaping spoonful of onion mixture.

Step 5: Fold the dough closed (like a  Chinese won-ton or dumpling) so that all onion pieces are inside the dough. Again roll the dough out flat (preferably in a circular shape), being careful that it doesn't break because of the onion.

Step 6: Cook on flat pan on high heat, about 1 minute per side, flipping 2-3 times. Once one side is cooked and flipped, add ghee (clarified butter) to each side and cook for a few seconds.

After the dough is fully cooked, you're done! You can eat it lots of different ways; plain, with butter, with plain or sweet yogurt, with pickled mango, the list goes one but I haven't tried any other ways... :)

There's no final picture (maybe because I was in such a hurry to eat?) but it pretty much looks like the picture above.

Its Official, I'm A Resident of India

After much trial and tribulation, I now hold an official document claiming my residency in India. No, this doesn't mean citizenship and no, this doesn't mean that I'm staying longer than planned. This only means that I can stay as long as I want in this country (or at least until my 5 year visa expires) without any hassle and hullabaloo from the Indian government.

You see, India's foreign tourist policy says that you can only stay in the country for a maximum of 6 months before they boot you out, and you can't return for another 2 months. This presented a teeny bit of a problem for Abhi and me, seeing that we won't be going home until my 6 month period has passed.

We've done a lot of traveling and jumped through many-a-proverbial-hoop to get my Indian 'T' (Tourist) visa changed to 'X' (Marriage) visa. This was all so that I could then qualify for Residency in India, register with the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) and thus, stay with my hubby as long as necessary here in the Land of Indians. Got it? If you're a little confused, none of this really matters anyway, all you need to do is congratulate me on my new Indian residency status! :)

East Vs. West: Who Has the 'Better' Toilet?

This blog post is not for the sensitive.

We all know what the typical Western toilet bowl looks like and how to use it. We know that we can sit comfortably and relaxed on our own toilet at home, and that outside we should always 'hover' over the seat or at least put down a protective layer of toilet paper before sitting on a public toilet.

Western Toilet

Then, we have the Eastern toilet; a little bit closer to nature.

Eastern Toilet

The rules apply a little bit differently with the Eastern Toilet. For starters, your sitting position is completely different; have a look:

A lot of Westerners, myself included, have difficulty with this position because we never naturally sit this way.

Secondly, the surroundings of the Eastern toilet are usually wet because there is always a running water tap nearby. Why is a water tap necessary, you ask? GREAT QUESTION. No toilet paper allowed in the Eastern Toilet. That's right folks, while using the Eastern toilet you clean yourself with your God-given utensils: your own hand and some water.

Now, I know what you might be thinking...it seems strange, maybe even gross to use your hand and water 'down there.' But think about it from a different side; say you used water your whole life and found out that some people only use toilet paper. That's like saying my hands got covered in mud, but no worries, i wiped them off with a napkin and now they're perfectly clean. No water necessary.

Another interesting fact I bet you didn't know is that there are actually health benefits to this squatting position of the Eastern toilet. A friend of mine shared this link with me and though I'm not sure how scientific or credible it is, its still interesting. click here if you dare. (Warning: this website contains even more sensitive information).

In our home now we only have an Eastern toilet so I've gotten used to it mostly, and I do believe that things flow out more easily in the squatting position than they do in the sitting position of a Western toilet. I haven't adopted the water-only policy and still consider toilet paper highly valuable and necessary, and don't think I'll let go of that one for a loooong time.

Here's a photo that I got from the internet but I have actually seen pictures like this near public toilets in India.

If you've never seen a Western toilet, you might be confused :)

And another neat little invention I've discovered is a toilet converter, maybe we'll get one of these for when we go back home to the U.S. ;)

Thanks for reading, hope I didn't gross you out.

Just Because Its A Gate, Doesn't Make It The Entrance

Abhinav and I just returned from what seemed like a loooong trip to Delhi (more on this next time). So for now here's a picture (or two). India Gate, dedicated to India's soldiers who died in WWI and the Afghan Wars.