Settling down in Delhi - Part 3

I still have to receive some pieces of furniture, the curtains, the frames, the gas. To get rid of the cartons. To repair the door bell. To sell my fridge. To soundproof the door separating me from the neighbor. To find a cleaning lady. And well, all that without a car, in Delhi, it is a hell of a job. Especially when you have only Sundays off.     On top...

Publié le 18/03/2012 dans Indian... par IndianSamourai | Lire la suite...

Settling down in Delhi - Part 2

Another test. To get curtains. The first store I located was closed, the second market did not have curtain stores. I ended up in a giant FabIndia in my neighbourhood. I selected the fabric. The tailor came home and gave me an exorbitant quotation for stitching. So I put that on hold. One week later I went back to buy the fabric – I had changed my mine on what I wanted. And then I looked for...

Publié le 16/03/2012 dans Indian... par IndianSamourai | Lire la suite...

Duality...

Publié le 12/03/2012 dans Indian... par IndianSamourai | Lire la suite...

You know you have been living in India too long when…

… You decide to go alone to the furniture neighbourhood and… … You get dropped at the metro station on a bike by a colleague. It is 6 PM. The metro is quite packed but you are in the woman coach. Changing metros is another story. What happends when dozens of people want to get down and a jerk between the 2 doors refuses to move?? Well you fly, carried away by the others. A concert of...

Publié le 10/03/2012 dans Indian... par IndianSamourai | Lire la suite...

Maha Shivaratri

The day before the festival of Shiva (on February 20), I came across one of his devotees with his trident (!!) while waiting for my rickshaw: In the evening, during dinner, I asked my hosts: “What is Maha Shivatri?”. Answer of the father: “no idea”. Answer of the mother (who thought hard): “Once upon a time there was Vishnu who spent much of his time lying down on his snake...

Publié le 08/03/2012 dans Indian... par IndianSamourai | Lire la suite...

This post is dedicated to the Indian Telecom companies

"I hate you."    Nothing new here.    Vodafone has been my scapegoat for the past 3 years. Whenever I feel the anger rising (for anything), I know I can call them and they will say something to make me lose my cool! I'm exaggerating, but not much. Where I am not exaggerating is that they do have a knack for upsetting me. What's the point of having...

Publié le 15/02/2012 dans Indian... par IndianSamourai | Lire la suite...

Sri Lanka

For Christmas, I “dragged” my parents to Sri Lanka. It was easier for me with all the year end changes to be close to India… I had never been, always hearing that it was just like South India. Well… Not really… People don’t look at you weirdly. Waiters smile. Everyone is very relaxed. No one horns for no reason. Streets are clean. Nature is really luxuriant, even more than in...

Publié le 06/02/2012 dans Indian... par IndianSamourai | Lire la suite...

Bye bye Mumbai…

It is now official, I have left Mumbai… A chapter that closed… For a new one to open in… Delhi! My cat flew in, my cartons arrived on time and here we go! No regrets, even no tears: I really enjoyed this city in the last three years, did everything I wanted to (have drinks watching the sea, go knee down in the water for Ganapati festival, walk under the monsoon rain, visit Dharavi...

Publié le 04/02/2012 dans Indian... par IndianSamourai | Lire la suite...

Give to God, God will give you back...

Seen at Bombay store counter in Mumbai international airport… I was struggling to find change and was seriously tempted to borrow some from Ganesh… Ganesh idol on a counter; the most efficient manner to collect money – forget the boxes for the poor…  

Publié le 02/02/2012 dans Indian... par IndianSamourai | Lire la suite...

In Bandra, ”fancy” neighborhood of Mumbai

The other day I dragged my friend on Reclamation (Bandra West) fly-over to take pictures of the snaps… I have been on this fly-over God knows how many times (and for how long, since there is always a lot of traffic on that bridge), every time thinking that I wanted to take pictures. So I finally did it… Please see Survivors of another kind (in reference to: ): Mumbai,...

Publié le 30/01/2012 dans Indian... par IndianSamourai | Lire la suite...