“It's weird...you know the end of something great is coming, but you want to hold on, just for one more second...just so it can hurt a little more.”

My life in Bangalore India is coming to an end. In less than 3 weeks I will be back with friends and family in the Bay Area. This blog will no longer be updated. If you'd like to read and see photos of my work with a volunteer project in Kerala India in June then come over to

http://leslieziani-squid.blogspot.com/

I'll start writing over there in early June.

squid

Wayanad - Kerala

Andaman Islands -India

Shantiniketan West Bengal

Kolkata West Bengal

Dandiya Raas

My dog Rum

Hampi

Sarawak - Malaysia - Borneo

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia

Pondicherry - Post French Colonial India

Trip to Food World...

Rickshaw ride to Food World - 12Rs
2 Bunches of Lettuce - 10Rs
2 Benganapalli Mangos - 37Rs
1 Bunch of Mint - 2Rs
1 Pack of Basil - 18Rs
1 Pack of Garlic Paste - 22Rs
4 Tomatos - 11Rs
1 Large Fruit Salad - 45Rs
1 Loaf of Multigrain Bread - 50Rs
6 Eggs - 17Rs
2 Rolls of Toliet Paper - 74Rs
1 Bollywood Music Compilation - 199Rs
1 Packet of Butter - 18Rs
1 Ball of Gouda Cheese - 100Rs
1 Carton of Cranberry Juice - 80Rs
1 Almond Chocolate Bar - 45Rs
1 Laundry Detergent - 115Rs
Rickshaw ride Home - 12Rs

Current exchange rate ----> 1 Rs. = 0.025 US$

Wedding Ceremony

Mehndi / Sangeet - Deepta and Sujit's Wedding

Bring on Wedding Season!

These are pictures of my building 2 days before my landlord got married. Sorry, no pictures of the actual event as it took place at 6am and that is the sleeping hour. Pictures of Deepta and Sujit's fabulous three day wedding coming soon.

...helps the healing process

I left my camera behind last weekend. I went to an ayurvedic resort near Mysore. The resort was impressive, peaceful, friendly, and healing.

Highlights:

1)The 'chant boxes' placed throughout the grounds that emitted OM chants
2)The gorgeous pool that was pristine and refreshing
3)The tasty and healthful food including fresh papaya and lichis!
4)The Abhyanga Sweda treatment that left me a puddle of bliss
5)The buoyant yoga instructor that had the most beautiful prayer voice

Indus Valley Ayurvedic Resort
http://ayurindus.com/index.html

Mango Party '07

San Francisco

Northwest

Kannur - Kerala

Wayanad - Kerala

Mysore

Janapada Jaathre - Karnatakan Folk Dance Festival

Summer?

Sangria Filtered

Western dance

Veggies

On a string

Napping

Lines

Haze

Dahi Puri

Observe

Mumbai

Bananas

Balance

Gridlock

Babulnath Temple Road

Love of my life

Happy 2007 (from Boulder Colorado)

a happy 29th birthday

The scooter

Christmas

Chaat and Rock in Delhi

Lotus

Roosting

Up Palms

Rising Right Follow-up

Thank you to everyone that attended the benefit on Saturday night. It was a great party and we raised 40,000 rupees ($1000) for RIFAA Girl's home!

(sorry there aren't more pictures, too many drinks and lots of dancing distracted me from the camera)

Rising Right

Some friends and I are throwing a benefit for RIFAA Girl's Home. If you are in Bangalore on the 11th of November please come drink, dance, and support the girls!

Mumbai - Night

Mumbai - Day

my Mumbai is...

hanging garden, heat, people, peach margaritas, taxis, leopold, mugly frank, prawn sukah, sparklers, butterflies, sambucca, shiro lounge, Marine Drive, ice cream, fireworks, 29th floor penthouse,diwali, babulnuth temple, humidity, Chowpatty Beach, cigs on the stoop, lanterns, can do, indigo, best meal of my life, handlebar mustache, lights, chai, sexy shoes

Festival of Lights

Kerala - Secret Beach

Kerala - Allepey Backwaters

Kerala - Top Station -border of Tamil Nadu

Kerala - Tea Plantations

Kerala - Eravikulam National Park

Kerala - Munnar

Kerala - Varkala

Bangalore Sky

Rooftop Masala

Ganesh Chaturthi

Bangalore streets lined with colorful Ganesh statues for the festival.

My neighborhood had several community Ganesh statues decorated with flowers and lights.

Some friends and I headed down to the lake Sunday evening to watch the immersions. Because we were dropped off on the far side of the lake, we joined a colorful and musical procession with families and children around the lake to where the festival was being held.




This is part of Ulsoor Lake that was designated as the immersion area for the Ganesh statues. It was organized chaos; very festive and beautiful.

Gurdwara Chandi Chowk Sahib

This is Babu Singh. He brought me to a Sikh Temple in Delhi and showed me the ropes. We were pulled over by the police in the auto at one point. He got out to bribe them and when he returned I asked him why the police had pulled us over. He said, 'Oh I was red light jumping, its okay.'

Independence Day - Delhi

Delhi - Old and New

Streets in Old Delhi


India Gate in New Delhi - a monument built to commemorate the Indian soldiers who died in the World War I and the Afghan Wars.

Suvir and Jhoomur, my Delhi guides. They took me along to a dinner party where I met a Princess in a yellow sari, a nomadic Swami, an Anthropologist, and a Moroccan!

Baha'i Lotus Temple - Delhi

Delhi

It was hot. The heat was the only thing that didn’t surprise me about Delhi. This was not the city I expected. It’s clean, has well maintained roads, large parks, modern buildings, and was well planned.

I was in an auto-rickshaw during the first monsoon rain. I haven’t seen raindrops that big, ever. It was sudden and fast, the little rickshaw filled up like a teacup. And we all laughed.
I felt such great relief that I was finally cool and then amusement that I was soaked to the bone but didn’t really care. It seemed everyone was in on the joke and as other rickshaws passed us everyone was laughing. Full heads tilted back laughing. When we turned down a less major street I saw children of all ages dancing in the rain and splashing in puddles in their underwear. Rain is good.


My home in Delhi was the Tibetan Refugee Colony, this is the entrance.


The streets of the colony were lined with carrom boards and the community seemed to be playing this game, a cross between air-hockey and pool, all day and night!


This is the Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India.


Delhi boasts the largest eco-friendly bus service in the world. All of the buses and auto-rickshaws run on CNG fuel (Compressed Natural Gas).

Agra

The Taj Mahal is amazing, breathtaking, and unreal. It’s actually beyond any of those words. Agra is beyond words on the other end of the spectrum. I can’t blame it really; it’s a town that became a tourist spot on a huge international scale. It was no match for the hordes of people and the opportunity to profit from them. So it’s smelly, dingy, and sketchy in all senses. I did meet some kind people (Raj the jewelry seller and Mukesh the bicycle rickshaw driver).
The hotel: probably the worst accommodation I have ever experienced. Bed bugs, no working toilet, no locks on the doors (outside or inside!), and in 112F weather there was a fan that was swinging from the ceiling by one old wire (I tried not to sleep directly underneath it for fear of decapitation). Truly uncomfortable conditions while on ‘vacation’ until I calculated just what I was paying for said accommodation and once I did (200 rupees or $5 per night) it all made sense. Lesson learned! Suffice it to say I was very happy to get on the train to Delhi after two nights and a Taj tour.

Hardest working kid in Bangalore...

He often follows me all over my neighborhood, playing that flute!

Parade on my street

Shiva

Ganesha

Chickpet (gettin' krunk in banana alley)

City Market

Benjamin goes shopping...

Amidst the traffic...

Fabric

Rick Ride

Blue

Uniform

Cleaning up

On the streets

Nandi Hills

Rickshaw ride at dusk

Bangles

Commercial Street

My Boyfriends

Thippasandra Post Office

It's a small operation.

No lickable stamps. You need 'gum' in a jar and time to dry.

Post Master Extrodinaire

Anubhav - Community Improv Theater

My building

Ready to pounce...

Window

Protection

A chalk design in front of my neighbor's door.

Terrace View

Home from the inside

hotHOThot

They run fast!

Yellow Afternoon

Udhay and Roshni: my tour guides

Bangalore Bull Temple

Hindus believe that the bull is Shiva's carrier.