on the first morning in Juhu, Bombay we were taken to a beautiful temple where I saw for the first time how devoted Indians are to their religion and how it keeps them going through life. This is a banian tree, very sacred in Hinduism, people light their devas at its roots.
Indians are taught since very early childhood to worship their Gods and to respect their elders. Indian society has keep most of the moral values we have lost in the West unfortunately.
Krishna and Radah, dressed in sparkly finery, with their peaceful beautiful faces, how wonderful!
This was taken in a Hare Krishna temple in Juhu, and I always wondered why the St Basil's church in Moscow has been painted on one of the massive murals, what is the connection, what is the idea...
The Kanheri caves just outside Bombay, ancient Buddhist (circa 1 Century AD) monasteries, this is a giant symbol of masculinity...
Oh, those monkeys! Fascinating! they do human things, they sit like humans, they look at you as humans, they look after each other like humans. When I was little, inspired and well disillusioned by the stories mama and tatko read to me (you know Pipi Long stockings and Nelson!-Classic!), I was convinced and I actually believed that if I have a pet monkey it will talk to me... I was an only child...
Body parts made of wax, a bit creepy, right? But there is a completely reasonable explanation: these are sold outside the Catholic cathedral St Mary's in Bombay and people buy them to offer to God and the virgin mother so they help them to heal their ill bodies (if you have a migraine, you grab a head, if you suffer arthritis you need a leg). There were also some cars and houses, obviously the pressure of the material world has got to God too!
Dobhi Ghat, you can see right in the middle of the cosmopolitan city, the laundry people do their work all day long. I can swear that when I used to get my laundry back in the hotels in the evening, the clothes were still warm from the fiery sun, which dries them.
So very Indian, Bollywood and dramatic. This over the top decorated horse cart parades in from of the Taj Hotel in Bombay.
and the Taj itself, grand and superior, an institution of Indian luxury and money. Watching the Hotel India BBC documentary
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04g4czw revealed so much of the background and backstage of the hotel. We did try to have coffee there but it serves only guests...
Visiting Kamla School in Bombay was one of the brightest highlights of my first trip to India. I learnt so much, I was amazed at how this school is run by Rehka, now a very good friend. These thoughts are changed every day, teaching the children to be good people. I saw extraordinary sights in the school: the senior girls coming to touch Rehka's feet in respect and asking for her blessing for the forthcoming exams; the morning assembly in which all the children had time silently and together to worship their Gods- the many Hindu ones, God and Allah; the most tasty and the simplest ever school lunch of chana dalh and puri, which we had with the youngest pupils of the school...
And another one of the signs. So so wise.
The children were so happy to have us in the school. Look at their bright eyes and happy faces. They love coming to school, even though they sit three at a desk, even though they are 50 + in a class, even though their books and bags are second hand, passed down from older brothers and sisters and friends. All of them know that they need to study, school is their salvation and their future.
A very unclear shot of this interesting temple just opposite the school, which we didn't have time to visit properly, maybe next time. What they told me was that it is covered with bells-big and small, because as I already know the bell is a Hindu symbol of letting the Gods know that we worship them. Every Hindu and not only! can buy a bell and hang it in the temple. I wish I went to see it...
No kidding these boys are almost 1/2 m long and they are D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S! This display was in a restaurant in Goa.
This photo for ages stayed on my desktop reminding me of India, so much colour and rich textures, free floating in the wind, forever to be remembered. It is a market in Goa, where we went in the middle of the day and was so sunny and hot that only the photos tell me what we saw and did, the reality was rather blurred...
Isn't he just wonderful! Look at this patient bull. What is for sure the music strung from the whistle of this local entrepreneur wasn't the calming agent...
The Chinese fishnets in Kochi, a working attraction at the edge of the city. Very interesting contraptions of wood and ropes, oh rocks as well, were bending down to the water and catapulted back up again full of fish which was offered immediately to the buyers in the nearby market.
How idyllic, having a nap in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the fish market. Only someone with very clear conscience or with a very strong nervous system! can manage to sleep exposed to such noise
The Kerala boats have eyes, big and blue, beautiful
A shop-window in old Kochi town, the colours are so contrasting and strong, but all together they look just Indian, like India in one single photo
This is the old Synagogue in Kochi. Unbelievable but there are Jews living for centuries there so far from Jerusalem... Unfortunately it was closed for the day. Later when reading Eating India by Chitrita Banerji I was so pleased to see a sketch of the same crumbly synagogue in it when the writer gets lost in the richness of the Southern Indian cuisine.
And there it is a South Indian vegetarian talhi, served and eaten straight from the banana leaf. It was new and strange and delicious.
Chutneys, pickles, spices and more... Some I liked some I hated, but the aroma was amazing, pungent, strong, fiery!
chilli garlands
The most delicious meals are cooked in huge caldrons, my Bulgarian Baba used to say...
Our personal and very own house-boat captain, come cook, come waiter and valet. This photo always makes me laugh, seeing him leisurely searing the boat holding the black umbrella to protect himself from the burning sun
Kerala backwaters, paradise on Earth, God's own country
and the daily life alongside the canal. "Show must go on ..."
Now this is not any ordinary palm tree, this is a special one, as you can notice there is a green plastic bottle attached to the top of it, it collects the sap of the cut tree, which ferments and becomes toddy the local alcoholic drink. Men climb to the top using the small steps made from bark and rope, look at the trunk of the tree. I haven't tried it, but they say it is rather vile tasting.
I am Orthodox Christian and seeing an Orthodox church here in Kerala was of a big surprise for me, unfortunately never managed to visit one properly.
"Coming home " is not a blurry photo, it was so hot that the lens of the camera was steamed. Still it almost gives the shot a soul, a hot and tired one, but a happy one because I suppose home is where our heart is.
just comparing the "elegant" size of my foot to the tree leaf. Now either my foot is too dainty ;) and the leaf is of normal size or the leaf is huge and my foot is still not elegant
My first naturally grown pineapple, I never knew they grow on the ground, always thought they grow on trees.
Tekkhadi was the capital of Keralian spices, cardamom, cinnamon, sweet and delicate, black pepper and vanilla spicy and pungent, total opposites, gorgeous smells and tastes. Now when I smell any of them I am transported to the Tekkhadi market, on a sunny April morning.
Our elephant Malady, so clever and placid. Elephants are beautiful and faithful animals.
The little dancer from the hotel was always on time for dinner, made up, smiling and always always gracious and elegant, a little flower who had dreams of dancing on a big stage. I do hope that one day she will, someone will discover her and she will make it.
Quite paradise-y? No? The back waters in Kerala, the house boats, the tropical palms and this amazing feeling that the Earth has stopped, life has too, just pure bliss.......................
Wonderful photo full of the life these local people have, back from the sea, carrying the daily catch and still smiling. Team effort is a way of coping here.
India is full of signs, millions and millions, some are cracking! Inconvenience is highly regretted! Really? So polite. I suppose you keep that in mind when you find your tyres have been deflated.
I absolutely love this type of shops, they sell almost everything, emergency match boxes, spices, sweets, ayurvedic medication, pan and cigarettes. This one sells olive oil two for one bottle, as Indians are not interested in olive oil they use the most delicious refined butter called ghee.
I have always been fascinated by markets, I have been known to shop for vegetable and take them back to the UK...Here everything is ordered and very neat, fresh and tasty, you can see it, still prices are simple.
Puja is an offering to the gods, so flowers are an integral part of this, marigolds, golden, sunny, orange and burnt red ones, picked early every morning, stringed into garlands. People also offer fruit to the gods-bananas, always coconuts and small sweets to make sure that their prayers will be heard.
The elephant at the gates to the temple...
The shopping arcade in Link road, look at them, I will never know how the Indian women dress so beautifully, how they carry themselves effortlessly through heat, dust and water! and how colours speak a different language in India. Here all these brilliant colours look gorgeous, you try and wear them back at home...
When the washing turns to adventure! Seriously! once we were settled at Chachi's we had to wash our clothes, which created many hours of laughter and fun, spicy comments and shared experiences.
The moon in Mumbai, so clear, even in the middle of the city populated by millions, lit by millions lights.
as it happened we were stranded in Mumbai for a week, because of the eruption of a volcano in Iceland, which created an enormous ash cloud over Europe, so all the flights in were cancelled. Having an extra week in India was a curse and a blessing... I felt so desperate to come home to my daughter and husband, the situation felt as a world disaster...but the days we had in Bombay were so precious, looking back now I think that those few last days sparkled my passion for India, all Indian people and all Indian things...
on the first morning in Juhu, Bombay we were taken to a beautiful temple where I saw for the first time how devoted Indians are to their religion and how it keeps them going through life. This is a banian tree, very sacred in Hinduism, people light their devas at its roots.
Indians are taught since very early childhood to worship their Gods and to respect their elders. Indian society has keep most of the moral values we have lost in the West unfortunately.
Krishna and Radah, dressed in sparkly finery, with their peaceful beautiful faces, how wonderful!
This was taken in a Hare Krishna temple in Juhu, and I always wondered why the St Basil's church in Moscow has been painted on one of the massive murals, what is the connection, what is the idea... 
The Kanheri caves just outside Bombay, ancient Buddhist (circa 1 Century AD) monasteries, this is a giant symbol of masculinity...
Oh, those monkeys! Fascinating! they do human things, they sit like humans, they look at you as humans, they look after each other like humans. When I was little, inspired and well disillusioned by the stories mama and tatko read to me (you know Pipi Long stockings and Nelson!-Classic!), I was convinced and I actually believed that if I have a pet monkey it will talk to me... I was an only child...
Body parts made of wax, a bit creepy, right? But there is a completely reasonable explanation: these are sold outside the Catholic cathedral St Mary's in Bombay and people buy them to offer to God and the virgin mother so they help them to heal their ill bodies (if you have a migraine, you grab a head, if you suffer arthritis you need a leg). There were also some cars and houses, obviously the pressure of the material world has got to God too! 
Dobhi Ghat, you can see right in the middle of the cosmopolitan city, the laundry people do their work all day long. I can swear that when I used to get my laundry back in the hotels in the evening, the clothes were still warm from the fiery sun, which dries them.
So very Indian, Bollywood and dramatic. This over the top decorated horse cart parades in from of the Taj Hotel in Bombay. 
and the Taj itself, grand and superior, an institution of Indian luxury and money. Watching the Hotel India BBC documentary http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04g4czw revealed so much of the background and backstage of the hotel. We did try to have coffee there but it serves only guests... 
Visiting Kamla School in Bombay was one of the brightest highlights of my first trip to India. I learnt so much, I was amazed at how this school is run by Rehka, now a very good friend. These thoughts are changed every day, teaching the children to be good people. I saw extraordinary sights in the school: the senior girls coming to touch Rehka's feet in respect and asking for her blessing for the forthcoming exams; the morning assembly in which all the children had time silently and together to worship their Gods- the many Hindu ones, God and Allah; the most tasty and the simplest ever school lunch of chana dalh and puri, which we had with the youngest pupils of the school...
And another one of the signs. So so wise.
The children were so happy to have us in the school. Look at their bright eyes and happy faces. They love coming to school, even though they sit three at a desk, even though they are 50 + in a class, even though their books and bags are second hand, passed down from older brothers and sisters and friends. All of them know that they need to study, school is their salvation and their future.
A very unclear shot of this interesting temple just opposite the school, which we didn't have time to visit properly, maybe next time. What they told me was that it is covered with bells-big and small, because as I already know the bell is a Hindu symbol of letting the Gods know that we worship them. Every Hindu and not only! can buy a bell and hang it in the temple. I wish I went to see it...
No kidding these boys are almost 1/2 m long and they are D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S! This display was in a restaurant in Goa. 
This photo for ages stayed on my desktop reminding me of India, so much colour and rich textures, free floating in the wind, forever to be remembered. It is a market in Goa, where we went in the middle of the day and was so sunny and hot that only the photos tell me what we saw and did, the reality was rather blurred...
Isn't he just wonderful! Look at this patient bull. What is for sure the music strung from the whistle of this local entrepreneur wasn't the calming agent... 
The Chinese fishnets in Kochi, a working attraction at the edge of the city. Very interesting contraptions of wood and ropes, oh rocks as well, were bending down to the water and catapulted back up again full of fish which was offered immediately to the buyers in the nearby market. 
How idyllic, having a nap in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the fish market. Only someone with very clear conscience or with a very strong nervous system! can manage to sleep exposed to such noise 
A shop-window in old Kochi town, the colours are so contrasting and strong, but all together they look just Indian, like India in one single photo
This is the old Synagogue in Kochi. Unbelievable but there are Jews living for centuries there so far from Jerusalem... Unfortunately it was closed for the day. Later when reading Eating India by Chitrita Banerji I was so pleased to see a sketch of the same crumbly synagogue in it when the writer gets lost in the richness of the Southern Indian cuisine.
And there it is a South Indian vegetarian talhi, served and eaten straight from the banana leaf. It was new and strange and delicious. 
Chutneys, pickles, spices and more... Some I liked some I hated, but the aroma was amazing, pungent, strong, fiery!
chilli garlands
The most delicious meals are cooked in huge caldrons, my Bulgarian Baba used to say...
Our personal and very own house-boat captain, come cook, come waiter and valet. This photo always makes me laugh, seeing him leisurely searing the boat holding the black umbrella to protect himself from the burning sun 
Kerala backwaters, paradise on Earth, God's own country
and the daily life alongside the canal. "Show must go on ..."
Now this is not any ordinary palm tree, this is a special one, as you can notice there is a green plastic bottle attached to the top of it, it collects the sap of the cut tree, which ferments and becomes toddy the local alcoholic drink. Men climb to the top using the small steps made from bark and rope, look at the trunk of the tree. I haven't tried it, but they say it is rather vile tasting.
"Coming home " is not a blurry photo, it was so hot that the lens of the camera was steamed. Still it almost gives the shot a soul, a hot and tired one, but a happy one because I suppose home is where our heart is.
just comparing the "elegant" size of my foot to the tree leaf. Now either my foot is too dainty ;) and the leaf is of normal size or the leaf is huge and my foot is still not elegant
My first naturally grown pineapple, I never knew they grow on the ground, always thought they grow on trees. 
Tekkhadi was the capital of Keralian spices, cardamom, cinnamon, sweet and delicate, black pepper and vanilla spicy and pungent, total opposites, gorgeous smells and tastes. Now when I smell any of them I am transported to the Tekkhadi market, on a sunny April morning.
Our elephant Malady, so clever and placid. Elephants are beautiful and faithful animals. 
The little dancer from the hotel was always on time for dinner, made up, smiling and always always gracious and elegant, a little flower who had dreams of dancing on a big stage. I do hope that one day she will, someone will discover her and she will make it.
Quite paradise-y? No? The back waters in Kerala, the house boats, the tropical palms and this amazing feeling that the Earth has stopped, life has too, just pure bliss.......................
Wonderful photo full of the life these local people have, back from the sea, carrying the daily catch and still smiling. Team effort is a way of coping here.
India is full of signs, millions and millions, some are cracking! Inconvenience is highly regretted! Really? So polite. I suppose you keep that in mind when you find your tyres have been deflated.
I absolutely love this type of shops, they sell almost everything, emergency match boxes, spices, sweets, ayurvedic medication, pan and cigarettes. This one sells olive oil two for one bottle, as Indians are not interested in olive oil they use the most delicious refined butter called ghee. 
I have always been fascinated by markets, I have been known to shop for vegetable and take them back to the UK...Here everything is ordered and very neat, fresh and tasty, you can see it, still prices are simple.
Puja is an offering to the gods, so flowers are an integral part of this, marigolds, golden, sunny, orange and burnt red ones, picked early every morning, stringed into garlands. People also offer fruit to the gods-bananas, always coconuts and small sweets to make sure that their prayers will be heard. 
The elephant at the gates to the temple...
The shopping arcade in Link road, look at them, I will never know how the Indian women dress so beautifully, how they carry themselves effortlessly through heat, dust and water! and how colours speak a different language in India. Here all these brilliant colours look gorgeous, you try and wear them back at home...
When the washing turns to adventure! Seriously! once we were settled at Chachi's we had to wash our clothes, which created many hours of laughter and fun, spicy comments and shared experiences.
The moon in Mumbai, so clear, even in the middle of the city populated by millions, lit by millions lights.
as it happened we were stranded in Mumbai for a week, because of the eruption of a volcano in Iceland, which created an enormous ash cloud over Europe, so all the flights in were cancelled. Having an extra week in India was a curse and a blessing... I felt so desperate to come home to my daughter and husband, the situation felt as a world disaster...but the days we had in Bombay were so precious, looking back now I think that those few last days sparkled my passion for India, all Indian people and all Indian things...
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