Here's a giant Shiva statue in the middle of small lake in Old Baroda. We saw a guy on a motorcycle pull up to the lake, stop, and throw a bag of garbage into the lake.
 
 
My mom's aunt
 

Safety code violations

Baby car seats? Ha. Not necessary. Helmets? Superfluous.

See the baby in the mother's arms?
 

Let's play "how many can we fit on a motorcycle?"
 

Baroda has a lot more cows on the road than Delhi
 
 

 
Pooja being crowned
 
 
We heard many peacocks on the palace grounds but only got to see a few and they were shy. Here's one posing on a statue.
 

 
Pooja's aunt and uncle took us to the a king's palace in Baroda. It was really impressive! The architechture included aspects of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Sikkhism.
 
 
 

Baroda

My grandma, aunt and I eating lunch. It was the best food we've had since we've moved to India.
 
There are cute neighborhood cats that hang around Pooja's grandparents house and sleep on the tarp outside their front door.
 
 
 

Solar Eclipse

We have been hearing about the eclipse for a month now because Pooja's mom kept warning her about the dangers of looking directly at the sun. It was best viewed in Gujarat where we ended up going a few days later, but unfortunately we were not able to see it well from Delhi. Dan stayed up until 3 a.m. the morning of the eclipse trying to build a box to view the eclipse safely from. He likes to do things last minute. It didn't work.

Dan's contraption

 

This is from our building's roof. We have a temple very nearby, but we have yet to venture there.
 
 
 

Union stuff

 

These are some of the 15 guys who sleep in a single room with no furniture and no fridge. All their possessions fit in a small suitcase-sized tin. They are security guards Pooja met through her work organising in that industry. They are paid about 3500 rupees per month and usually work at least 12 hour shifts, 6 days per week. Their posts are mostly outside in the intense heat. The monsoon in Delhi has been very much delayed despite the official start of the season last month. Because the rains have not come, it has not cooled off at all and remains about 115 degrees. Imagine standing outside guarding buildings for $73 per month 12 hours per day. And when they go home, these guards live in a building with 100 others and they all share just 2 disgusting toilets on the roof. Despite their conditions, they men were in good spirits and seemed generally happy. It was very moving and humbling.

 
 

Transportation

These are just two of the many forms of transportation in Delhi. The first two pictures are of auto rickshaws, which has been our primary way of getting around. It is easy to find one of these within a minute or so which will take you to your destination, usually for less than one U.S. dollar. It is a wild ride, as they will speed along coming within an inch (literally!!!) of pedestrians and other vehicles as they weave in and out of traffic, often going the wrong way in traffic if it will get them there faster!


It is not uncommon to see a crowded motorcycle. Yes, there are four people on this one, with a small child in the front. Helmets? Let's just say safety laws aren't strictly enforced, even when they do exist...
 
 

Random pictures of Delhi

 
 
 
 

Construction

This is a typical scene you will find while walking around Delhi. While there are more modern ways of construction (such as metal girders and cranes/construction vehicles) being used in some places, this is by far the most common method we have seen here.
 
 
 
 

And for those seeking other forms of enlightenment...

This was growing wild all along the road to Shukratal. Probably passed hundreds of thousands of plants... Not used very commonly, although the elderly grandma I was traveling with said a few times a year they use it to make foods and tea and enjoy some of its properties of enlightenment...