“Things We Forget” in Cafe Moshe, Colaba, Mumbai
Jan29
Category Archives: in India
Jan12
Alleppey Stadtfest
Am 23 Dezember feiert Alleppey Stadtfest… und wir sind herzlich eingeladen. Unzählige Hindus und Christen sind auf den wunderschön geschmückten Straßen. Eine Kerzenkette auf unserer Straße verbindet den hinduistischen Tempel an einem Ende und die christliche Kirche am anderen Ende. Dieses soll die guten Verbindungen zwischen Hindus und Christen symblolisiren.
Wir haben versucht Euch ein bisschen in die Atmosphäre einzubringen – viel Spaß dabei!
Jan11
“Bas, bas”
Die Rikscha, the ricksha (or rickshaw), ricşa… the name of a three-wheeler which we get to know very good and which we liked very much in India. It comes originary from Japan and was at first a human powered vehicle. In India it became motorized very early and is commonly called auto rickshaw.
We traveled every day by ricksha, also on December 19, when we went from TATA Institute for Social Sciences to Sunny’s for lunch. On the way, we passed by the market which we visited on our first day in Mumbai. Enjoy our second filmed ricksha ride 
Jan3
The Bus Experience
We’ve been taking a couple of buses since we got to India, from Trivandrum to Kovalam and back, from Trivandrum to Kanyakumari and back, from Trivandrum to Alleppey (a breathtaking ride), from Alleppey to Ernakulam, from Palolem to Margao, from Margao to Panaji and back, from Panaji to Old Goa and back, but the most amazing one was in Margao, when we arrive from Panaji and take a city bus from the bus station to the railway station. We’re already used to the fact that, due to our white skin (still after so much sun) people recognize us in the bus stations and direct us to the right bus. Either they ask where we want to go, or they guess and believe me, they guess right.
So, we are in the middle of a bunch of relatively old looking busses and the driver of a small bus in front of us looks at us and asks: “railway?”. We nod and get to the other side of the bus where we meet the ticket person (every bus has one, because tickets are bought inside the bus). The good man takes care that our luggage is properly stored in the driver’s box and sends us to the back of the bus. We’re the only ones standing, but it’s fine since the ride shouldn’t take very long (we hope). We learn then, that the ticket man is the announcer in the same time. He is standing next to the bus and continuously shouting something very loud (perhaps the destination station). And his shouting is successful, because in very short time the bus gets full, and with full, we mean really full. The bus starts slowly and finds its way out from the middle of many other chaotic parked busses. Now we meet the mid-day traffic of Margao, but we’re so used to this already, and to the way of driving, so we don’t care anymore. Instead we care for the fact that our bus, still full, stops quite often and people fit inside somehow. We observe the management skills of the ticket man / announcer who make sure that everybody gets into the bus, takes the bags of the school kids and stores them with ours into the driver’s box, walks around the bus and tells people how they should stay or turn in order to make more space for the others and somehow finds one more spot to get himself into the bus, even if the door doesn’t close anymore entirely.
After about 10 minutes almost everybody gets out, except us of course, so we’re moving to the front since we’re told by a nice school girl that the railway station is close. Some people get in but the bus is not completely full yet so we keep waiting and the announcer keeps shouting. Vera got a seat and I have a perfect place in front of her, right next to the door, so we can have the full experience. Since more and more people get in, I see Vera getting squeezed down and I am almost hanging outside the window. We continue driving and at the next stop we see the ticket man holding a scared little girl in his arms. Her mother is somewhere in the bus, but she needs to get out with the ticket man, every time the bus stops and gets squeezed in his arms when they get again into the bus. So, we decide to take the girl and sit her on Vera’s lap. Suddenly her scared eyes lighten and the only worries she has are her small shoes, which she tries to catch in order not to fall out on the window. Everybody in the bus is looking at us like we’ve done something amazing, and to be honest, we feel the same way. The little girl is so cute and we are happy that we could integrate so well in the scenario. Unfortunately after two more stops, we had to get out and half the bus made space for us to get our luggage and the girl and her mother got our seat.
Perhaps there are thousands of children getting squeezed in busses all over the world, but with helpful people like in India, nobody will miss the bus or will be left behind.
Photo Source: http://globecornerbookstore.com/blogs/2008/11/01/you-know-youre-in-india-when/
TweetJan1
From Sunrise the Sunset
It’s 3:30 a.m. when we arrive at Margao railway station on December 27. Margao seems a nice city, also by night, but not when you don’t find a hotel and the city is empty… it’s just us and a young taxi driver, which we’ve woken up at the train station to get us to the nearest hotel where we plan to spend few hours before we go to Palolem. Since we couldn’t find any hotel, the young man brings us for 900 Rs to Palolem. The road to Palolem is beautiful… we’re driving through the West Ghats Mountains and small palm forests, passing by beautifully decorated houses, which still keep the Christmas spirit alive.
It’s 5:00 a.m. when we reach Palolem, a cute little village with countless numbers of hotels, guest houses and coco huts. The riksha driver in charge that night meets us on the road and brings us to couple of places to choose from. He is very helpful and gets a room for us for the night. We hear the sound of the Sea waves and some dogs barking when we wake them up walking around the cottages and huts.
It’s 11:00 and even if we like the room we found in the early morning, we decide to look around a little. Our first stop is successful because we meet Franky, a Goan boy who loves his work at Zappia Cove Resort and whom we get the chance to know better the next days. We’re walking with him through the neighbors’ yard – some cute little black pigs running around – and reach to an iron gate. Passed that gate is our place: a large green garden welcomes us, as well as one of our future French neighbors who is having breakfast in the garden, above us tall coconut palms, our feet feel the coolness of the colorful tiles floor in Portuguese style, in front a cottage (where our room will be) and the bungalows behind – an image you can only have it right after you’ve been there. We don’t know it yet, but the beach is 2 min away, the main streets where we meet all nice people from Kashmir 1 min, but still we have our own paradise here, so we move in!
It’s 14:00 o’clock when, after check in, we have lunch on a terrace with Sea view on the beach of Palolem. We’re speechless: a two km long beach with white smooth sand, surrounded by coconut palm and nice cafés, the dark blue warm Arabian Sea… yes, we decide to spend the day on the beach, as well as the following day and the following day and probably all other days until January first when we continue our trip to the North.
We enjoy Palolem to the fullest for 5 days and we will miss every single piece of it. We will miss the warm sun and the smooth beach, the amazing sunrise and sunsets, the chilly cows and dogs on the beach, the friendly people of Palolem as well as the salesmen from Kashmir, who taught us the art of negotiating and whom we promised to visit in the North one day. We will miss also the persuasive saleswomen who want to “show us their shops” every time we pass by, especially the lady with the sweet 7 weeks old baby where we bought lots of beautiful stuff. The riksha drivers are funny too, they are standing at the beach and ask every time they see us whether we’d like a riksha now or “maybe tomorrow” (first, why should we want a riksha to go to the beach, if we are already in front of the beach and second, where should we know if we want a riksha tomorrow? Do we look that German?). We will miss the uncoordinated waiters in Cafe del Mar and Cuba (“Where … times takes a break” literally!!) where we enjoy the long and delicious breakfasts and very good masala chai and free wifi as well as the beach book store where you can exchange old books with new ones. We will also miss our Chinese waiter “friend” at the cocktail bar, with the really bad cocktails (but hey, it’s happy hour, so buy one, get one free), but a great terrace in front of the Sea. And of course will we miss the handsome waiter with the cute British accent in Cheeky Chapatti, where we had the best Piña Colada of Palolem and the amazing New Year’s Eve dinner (Seafood and the most delicious cakes of all times). And last but not least we will miss our cosy room at Zappia Cove Resort and chatty Franky, who makes sure that we’re fine and have a good time and is all day long there for a good chat. And of course we will remember the great dentist, Dr. D’Souza, who treated Carmen on December 31st – God bless him!
Palolem is THE place which made a difference to our trip!
Check also the photos updates on Flickr
Dec31
The Dentist Experience
Since I was a child I did not have any teeth pain at all… until December 31st 2011 when I wake up early in the morning with strong pain in one of the left back teeth. It started about two days before, when I thought I get my wisdom tooth (which would be a little late, but since I never experienced any pain, I thought it is the time). But this morning it is terrible. Still thinking about that wisdom tooth, I try to get over it and meet my appointment with the masseur at 9 a.m. It’s the last day of the year and we’re in Goa… so it should be awesome! I take a painkiller and get myself a relaxing morning. And the painkiller works well, so we spend our day on the beach and doing some shopping with the friendly people from Kashmir. Eventually the painkiller loses strength and here it is again, my wisdom tooth (as I thought). I start thinking, it can’t be the stupid tooth only, there should be something serious going on. So I decide not to spend the afternoon on the beach, but visit the dentist instead.
Since Franky knows everything, he guides me to the Palolem Dental Clinic 5 minutes from our resort. And here I am, in a small cool waiting room. There are 3 people waiting, 2 Indians and a Swedish lady, which I later learn spends the entire season from October till March in Palolem. As instructed on a plate on the wall I ring the bell and wait. A short Indian lady comes out. I tell her my problem (don’t know if they have other protocol there, but I was in terrible pain again) and ask her to give me an appointment as soon as possible. She tells me I should come back on January 2nd and shows me there full schedule for the day – com’on, who is going to the dentist on December 31st? Everybody in Palolem! At this point I picture our extended holidays at the Goan beach 
I thank her and want to leave when she asks me whether I can wait for 30-45 minutes and she will try to get me in. I thank her and sit with the other patients. The two Indians enter shortly after and I start chatting with the Swedish lady. We’re talking about the people outside who’re picking coconuts from the palm in front of the dentist’s building and are surprised how quick they get up on the really tall palm and throw the nuts down, where another person collects them into a basket.
When she gets in to fix her tooth, I have time to run over some dental research magazines and wonder about what I will find in the dentist room. Twenty minutes passed and even if the next patient came already, the lady asks me to enter first.
I get in and see a small white extremely clean looking room, another lady assistant dressed in pink and the dentist, a tall, young, good looking man with perfect English and a little Indian accent. He asks me friendly how I was, when I immediately start telling him my sad story (afterwards I thought that the short “how are you?” was more of American style). However, he asks me to take a seat on the special chair, where I am taken care of by the assistant who equips me with a light green paper bib, puts a plastic cup with water next to me and arranges my head. The equipment of the latest generation look exactly like those I’ve seen in the research magazine outside. To be frank, the dentist I’ve seen once in Kassel hadn’t had such modern stuff.
And it is my wisdom tooth giving me troubles; it’s just not coming out now, as I thought, it’s already kaputt 
The doctor makes an x-ray to see it better and gives me some antibiotics for the next 5 days, as well as some stomach friendly painkillers, which I should buy from the chemist down the road. I wish him a happy new year and get out to the waiting room. When I want to pay, I am surprised by the fact that the checking, the counseling and the x-ray cost me 4,5€ (!!!) Later, I walk to the chemist and get to know the real life of the non-touristic area of Palolem – like!
I am happy, my tooth is still hurting but the New Year’s Eve is saved!
Photo source: www.cosmeticdentalexperts.com
Tweet
Dec31
Happy New Year!
Dec31
Kolaveri Di
Dec30
Lost in Patnem
Yesterday we decided to experience another beach. We went to Patnem, a small village with a small beach, 1 hour away from Palolem. Shortly after we left Palolem beach to the south, for an unknown reason we got lost. We followed some beautifully dressed dancers who we thought go to the same place, but actually they took another road to their car who was parked somewhere in Palolem village. So we were in this parking area and it didn’t look like the beach is close. We followed the road (which went to the east and not to the south, as we wished) and neither direction signs (because they don’t exist) nor could our internal GPS tell us where we are and where we should go. So we were lost in a beautiful area of rich people with large houses and gardens, few people on the street, far away from the tourists crowds.
After some time we found ourselves on a country road where, surprisingly, the few cars and motorcycles don’t toot. It was a beautiful view: the mountains behind us, a palm forest to the right, grass fields with cows and buffalo to the left and in front should be the beach, somewhere. We got a little bit scared when two buffalo ran like crazy towards us, but it seemed that they were just in a hurry and did not care about us.
The Germans in us think we should ask somebody, so we talk to some ladies who tell us to follow this road to the first intersection where we then turn right and then left again. Since we were in the rural area, we thought we could use the few Hindi words we learned in Mumbai and say friendly “Dhan’yavād”. It seems that the ladies don’t understand our German dialect, which is sad because we were learning so eager in the first week. But we’re again surprized by the very good English language skills of the people, even from small villages.
Back on the road, we reach the intersection where we’re told that we are on the right way – iei! We finally find a store where we can buy Pepsi (like Mr. Ruwe taught us before we left Kassel: biscuits, pepsi and a banana) and the world looked immediately different. We see Eva Rodrigues’ house next to Nina’s restaurant and learn that this place got a Spanish touch. Close to the beach we are again approached by the Indian sellers who are as persuasive as those in Palolem trying to make us enter there stores and start the negotiations. Why can’t they just let us look around as we like, probably we’d rather enter their stores if they wouldn’t be that pushy.
And here we are… after 1 hour walk we arrive at a rather calm Arabian Sea on the small and cute Patnem Beach. We sit on a terrace with umbrellas out of bamboo and palm leaves and enjoy the midday sun with some good books, fresh fruits, seafood and some ice coffee. Afterwards we walk to the end of the beach where we watch the strong waves that continuously hit the small rocks, and Vera takes pictures with an Indian family. Then it is already late, so we should head back to Palolem. Now we decided just to follow the beach and the roads that connect the beaches and not get confused by any beautiful dresses. Twenty minutes and we reached our “home beach” – short if you take the right road, but more exciting if you take the long one
See Patnem Beach on Flickr
TweetDec29
