Back of a Motorcycle

I've been riding around on the back of a motorcycle a lot lately. At least twice in the past few days. And both times I have ended up carrying either very large or very heavy things with me while navigating the city streets. I've also been trying to take some video clips of what it is like to ride on the back of a motorcycle in Banaras. Here are a few short clips of driving around.

On the main Roads:

Motorcycle Ride in Banaras 1 from Nikki on Vimeo.

Through the Market called Dal Mandi:

Motorcycle Ride in Banaras 2 from Nikki on Vimeo.

Now imagine riding back through Dal Mandi with all of THESE boxes. It was quite tricky and countless people in the market thought we were a bit crazy to try because all the low hanging wires meant that I couldn't just plop them on my lap. We kept bumping into things (as I am sure you can imagine) but since the boxes were empty and we were going EXTREMELY slow it didn't seem to matter much.

Finally, these two logs probably weigh about 60 pounds each. Balancing them on my lap (without crushing my thighs when we went over every single bump in the road) was still another feat.

It really is kind of crazy/fun the sorts of things I keep managing to get myself into.

Valmiki Jayanthi or Reason 19,473,629,394,769,320 to Always Carry a Camera in India

So while Allen and I were on our way home from visiting my former Hindi tutor and newest pen pal we literally were engulfed by a parade for Valmiki Jayanthi - a celebration for the birthday of Valmiki, the poet credited with writing the Ramayana*.

The whole pantheon was represented, by children, of course: Valmiki with this fluffy white beard, Ram and Lakshman with their bows, Hanuman clearing the way... the multiple wedding bands blaring music (with their diesel generators to power the speakers)... and, no less importantly, children running around handing out prasad to passers by...

... but sadly, I have no pictures. So, for once, just take my word that it was really awesome and such a perfectly Indian moment**.
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* We're still trying to plow through the 1990 television serial version of the Ramayana. We're on disk 8 of 20 ... but I'm confident we'll make it through by the end of our time in India.

** By which I mean, that neither of us had any idea that today was Valmiki Jayanthi until we were overtaken by the parade

Who wants Tabla?

Dear friends and family,

Since I am researching tabla making, it would only make sense that I try to get my friends here some more business.

So if you know anyone who wants to buy some drums from India, please send them my way. I will promise to hook them up and vouch for the quality of the instrument myself.

After shipping, I can send a top quality tabla set to a US address for between 200 and 300 dollars depending on whether or not the person wants a case to go with it and how quickly they want it.

I don't know how many people want Indian drums, but I thought I might at least ask.

Best,

Allen

I saw this video and had to Blog it.

My only issue with it is the choice of soundtrack. Thoughts?

And then there was SUN!

The clouds have parted for the last week or so and this is the view that greets me every morning! Man, this is awesome!

Have to take advantage of these views while they last because we're expecting more rain next week.