By Magda, 25 December 2009
Happy Sleepy Tumble and Surf patch based on a drawing by Marc Ngui.
Marc had this patch made in Arambol, Goa, India, back in January 2009. It’s about 6 inches wide, and it is machine embroidered. I sewed it onto one of our bags while we were travelling, to repair where it was torn.
The workmanship on this patch is really rough and completely omits some of the details that were in the drawing. I’ve been spending quite a bit of time getting my hand embroidery skills off the ground, and I look forward to remaking this patch by hand.
By Magda, 13 April 2009
There are a lot of goats in Calcutta. You see them picking their way in around traffic, eating garbage and paper, and even being herded through the narrow back streets. Imagine coming up on a herd of 50 goats in the streets of YOUR city! In the surrounding restaurants, the goat meat is listed as mutton.
Chained to a post, resting on the sidewalk, a hairy goat that Marc says was "much creepier" in person.
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By Magda, 13 March 2009
Served frozen in individual little pots in Auroville. Yum yum yum.
By Magda, 11 March 2009
Here is a typical poster placed in front of a wedding hall announcing the wedding that is going to happen later in the day. The bigger the poster, the more prestige, and some of the posters are much larger than this one!
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By Magda, 7 March 2009
Customers wearing lungi in front of the village butcher in the early morning light, Auroville, India. (Click image to view larger)
A lungi is sort of a dohti, which is the men’s version of the sari and widely worn in the south of India.
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By Magda, 9 February 2009
South Indian thali, or set meal. It is usually all you can eat, usually eaten by hand, and usually spicy. This meal at a local, non Lonely Planet restaurant cost 55 rupees. About US$1, and included everything except the rectangular dish of cucumber raita on the upper right.
The tastiest snacks sometimes come from the most questionable food joints. In Kanyakumari Marc and I ate dinner in a place that didn’t even have running water.
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By Magda, 28 January 2009
The smiley guys from Hubli, Karnataka province.
While I was taking pictures of cows sleeping on the beach, Marc was drawing. This friendly group surrounded him and started asking questions excitedly.
They plied us insistently with cigarettes, wanting to offer hospitality. They claimed that even they did not smoke, only once a month on vacation – at MOST once a week!
They stood very close to us, one guy actually leaning on Marc the whole conversation. They wanted a description of Toronto, what is it like? How many months is the weather below 0 degrees? They were surprised that there are also very hot summers.
They asked what we liked the most about India, and I said people, and they were gleeful.
But, seriously, one asked again, why did we come to India?
“To talk to you, the boys from Hubli, of course.”
They thought this was hilarious, and were also nearly misty eyed at the essential truth of the answer.
