Le Meridien Bangalore

... ve seen since being here. The city is referred to as the “U.S.’s back office” because of the number of technological call centers here. Many computer and software companies from the UK and the States outsource their call centers here. If you’re talking to someone from India they are most likely in Bangalore. Over the past years the city has experienced a pretty mild climate change. This ...

... dress, and playfulness of the children. I greet my Muslim neighbours, the men at least, with as-Salamu Alaykum. And I have a letter of introduction prepared for the imam of Masjid Khadria asking the religious leader for permission to visit the beautiful mosque down the street, and to meet him and the muezzin.

As much as I am an atheist I understand religion and do not despise it. Faith is a necessary part of human existence, and it can be and is a ...

... and was an essential part of the larger celebration of Dasara nation-wide. The British encountered pandals and illustrated them in exotic lithographs. The festival’s prominence grew during the British Raj, especially in Bengal, and the seat of colonial power, Calcutta. But India’s Hindu reformists saw Durga as an embodiment of their struggle for independence. The community puja was an ideal way for reformists to promote their cause. And since ...

... or on people’s foreheads.

But intentional or not there was also farce. While the office across the hall took the puja seriously, hiring a pandit to administer the ritual, we had Dilip, my 60-something year old boss. A true product of his generation, Dilip is a well-educated secular Hindu who fumbled to take the smoking incense from the devout office manager who had started the puja without him. "Should I sing?" he joked. “I don ...

... as he picks through a pile of roses before handing one to me. I clasp my hands together in thanks and press the flower to me nose as I walk through the streets.

As I explore further I wander the back streets and narrow alleys of Shivajinagar where people live and where some work. In a tiny soot-blackened room Ahmed shuffles pans of chai biscuits in and out of a tiny oven door while two men kneed a bench groaning with dough, and two boys pack the crispy rectangles ...

... blessed and given flowers, so a nice Hindu diversion. After the temple we did some more walking round, got some more fresh juice and eventually made our way back 'home' where we enjoyed a beer, and dinner of palak paneer, butter dal (again! this could become a theme), rice and roti. We went to bed stuffed, slightly mosquito bitten, tired and happy!

... By now you've probally guessed communication didn't really work! Anything I was given I had to put my trust into them and take it. During the night a baby was given birth next to me, yes next to me. So not only did I have pain keeping me up, but I had the wailing screams of a child to keep me company. I wish I had my camera with me in the hospital as I would have loved to have taken pictures of the place, it was very dirty and cold. I have to say thought they ...

... Busbahnhoefe sind schlimm.... 18) Um sich vor der gluehenden Sonne zu schuetzen, laufen manche mit einem Regenschirm rum. 19) In Tamil Nadu sehe ich immer wieder Leute (Frauen, Maenner, Kinder) die mit Glaze oder 3-millimeter-Schnitt rumlaufen. Sie haben ihre Haare ihrem Gott geopfert. Dies mit einem speziellen Wunsch. z.B. dass ihr Vater wieder gesund wird. Oder Jugendliche, dass sie Arzt oder Ingenier werden. Oder Frauen, dass sie einen Sohn gebaehren. Bis dieser Wunsch ...

... from the airport to the city center (some 14 kilometers) was hot. The bus was of course packed, and Kristina began feeling a little self conscious of all the men staring at her. We've been stared at a lot on this trip already, but this time it was because her shirt was cut just a little lower than what is normal here. Getting to our hotel once we dropped off the bus in the appropriate neighborhood was of course almost impossible also. If you or your driver does not ...