My first taxi ride in India was in a Hindustan Motors Limited Ambassador. The Ambassador is based on a late fifties era British car called the Morris Oxford Series III. HML has been shipping the car with very little (external) changes since 1958. As a result, the highly iconic Ambassador is widely considered The Definitive Indian Car. HML still sells many new Ambassadors even to this day and there are many older Ambasadors providing reliable service to thier owners.
Ambassadors are built like tanks. Considering their track record, and the incremental improvements made over the years it would probably be pretty safe to say that they are the most "Indianized" cars on the market. India may be developing rapidly, but the fact still remains that there are still plenty of rugged areas that can put harsh demands on a car. Even today the Ambassador seems to be one of the best suited cars for many parts of India.
While I toured India, I road in a newer Tata Indica. It was serviceable, but I had the impression at many times that it was rapidly being worn-out and beaten down by the Indian roads. The Indica is more like a Japanese car. Sure, it's more modern in design, but it also seemed light weight and somewhat weaker than an Ambassador as a result. The drivers I spoke to had mixed opinions on the newer cars vs. the Ambassador. They all had a lot of respect for the Ambassador, though.
Wikipedia Link
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Travel Tips
After de-constructing the way I traveled in India and looking at the various trade-offs I made, I've come up with a few suggestions. I'm sure none of this stuff will be news to experienced travelers. But it might save un-experienced travelers a little grief.
The trick when traveling in India is to find a good middle-ground between Adventure and Comfort. On the one hand, it's quite possible on a western budget, to travel and eat like a king. But then you don't really interact with any "real" Indians or see anything. Of course, the other extreme, which would be to travel and eat like an average Indian, is not such a good idea. (packed buses and trains. bed-bugs, cholera, and dysentery, anyone?) In my opinion, the best is somewhere in the middle. The entire spectrum of experience is available. How do you want to travel?
suggestions to maximize your travel options:
1. Pack Light. Try to fit everything in one bag, preferably a big back pack. Bring a flash light!
2. Give yourself plenty of time. Time is more valuable than money when traveling in India.
a) Try to be as cheap as possible if you have the time. Make you money go as far as possible.
3. Be adventurous. (but not stupid)
It's pointless to bring too many cloths to India. If you need more stuff you can get really nice cloths there for cheaper than what they cost at home. Don't even bother packing socks unless you are going to be someplace cold. (you wont need them)
I didn't follow the "pack light" rule, and I think it cost me some options. I took a Digital SLR and a fairly large kit of lenses. I took too many cloths. Next time, if I take an SLR at all, (It will be tough for me to resist) I will only take one lens. My camera kit was my second piece of luggage and in my opinion "stressing" over it diminished my freedom of movement. My first piece of luggage was also pretty bulky. That didn't help either. Next time, I will take far fewer cloths.
My flashlight was my most valuable piece of luggage short of my shorts. (I mean, undies) I highly recommend an LED headlamp. They are compact and leave your hands free when you put them on your head. My headlight is a cheapy I got at the supermarket, not the sporting goods store type, which are much more expensive. The cheap headlight works just fine. Where I was staying the power outages were frequent enough that a flash light of some sort was a must. But even in more developed areas of India a light will come in handy.
When you pack light, it's easier to take public transportation without stressing about your "stuff". If you keep a SMALL bag of your valuable stuff (camera, phone, etc.) with you, the only thing in your bigger bag is your cloths.
By being Adventurous, I mean, traveling via public transportation and not being afraid to do a little walking. I'm sad to admit that this is something I never actually did while I was in India. I only ever rode in Taxis and Auto-Rickshaws. The rest of the time I drove a rental motor bike. If you give yourself time you can save a lot of cash by riding on the bus or train. Very nice air conditioned "luxury" bus rides are available. You don't need to ride in the super packed "cheap" bus. Ride a taxi or rickshaw from the bus stand to your final destination.
Speaking of rickshaws... you need to be careful of those guys. Actually, taxi drivers as well. Even though technically the business is regulated they try to get away with all sorts of B.S.. Make sure you get a commitment on the price up front, and don't let them yank you around by taking you to gift shops, etc.
It's possible to find very cheap accommodations in India. 3 star hotels and up cost a little less than what you'd expect to pay in the USA. ($25-35) But "guest houses" and hostels are much cheaper, about $5-15 a night. You could probably find even cheaper places to stay, but you might be taking your chances with the bed-bugs.
The trick when traveling in India is to find a good middle-ground between Adventure and Comfort. On the one hand, it's quite possible on a western budget, to travel and eat like a king. But then you don't really interact with any "real" Indians or see anything. Of course, the other extreme, which would be to travel and eat like an average Indian, is not such a good idea. (packed buses and trains. bed-bugs, cholera, and dysentery, anyone?) In my opinion, the best is somewhere in the middle. The entire spectrum of experience is available. How do you want to travel?
suggestions to maximize your travel options:
1. Pack Light. Try to fit everything in one bag, preferably a big back pack. Bring a flash light!
2. Give yourself plenty of time. Time is more valuable than money when traveling in India.
a) Try to be as cheap as possible if you have the time. Make you money go as far as possible.
3. Be adventurous. (but not stupid)
It's pointless to bring too many cloths to India. If you need more stuff you can get really nice cloths there for cheaper than what they cost at home. Don't even bother packing socks unless you are going to be someplace cold. (you wont need them)
I didn't follow the "pack light" rule, and I think it cost me some options. I took a Digital SLR and a fairly large kit of lenses. I took too many cloths. Next time, if I take an SLR at all, (It will be tough for me to resist) I will only take one lens. My camera kit was my second piece of luggage and in my opinion "stressing" over it diminished my freedom of movement. My first piece of luggage was also pretty bulky. That didn't help either. Next time, I will take far fewer cloths.
My flashlight was my most valuable piece of luggage short of my shorts. (I mean, undies) I highly recommend an LED headlamp. They are compact and leave your hands free when you put them on your head. My headlight is a cheapy I got at the supermarket, not the sporting goods store type, which are much more expensive. The cheap headlight works just fine. Where I was staying the power outages were frequent enough that a flash light of some sort was a must. But even in more developed areas of India a light will come in handy.
When you pack light, it's easier to take public transportation without stressing about your "stuff". If you keep a SMALL bag of your valuable stuff (camera, phone, etc.) with you, the only thing in your bigger bag is your cloths.
By being Adventurous, I mean, traveling via public transportation and not being afraid to do a little walking. I'm sad to admit that this is something I never actually did while I was in India. I only ever rode in Taxis and Auto-Rickshaws. The rest of the time I drove a rental motor bike. If you give yourself time you can save a lot of cash by riding on the bus or train. Very nice air conditioned "luxury" bus rides are available. You don't need to ride in the super packed "cheap" bus. Ride a taxi or rickshaw from the bus stand to your final destination.
Speaking of rickshaws... you need to be careful of those guys. Actually, taxi drivers as well. Even though technically the business is regulated they try to get away with all sorts of B.S.. Make sure you get a commitment on the price up front, and don't let them yank you around by taking you to gift shops, etc.
It's possible to find very cheap accommodations in India. 3 star hotels and up cost a little less than what you'd expect to pay in the USA. ($25-35) But "guest houses" and hostels are much cheaper, about $5-15 a night. You could probably find even cheaper places to stay, but you might be taking your chances with the bed-bugs.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Home
I'm home now. My little sister managed to not burn down my house or kill any of my chickens. In fact, she actually spiffed the place up while I was away.
The flights home were murder. I' was in the air for like 24 hours. Fortunately, I was able to nap though parts of the trip. I usually don't sleep so well on airplanes. But in this case the flights were so long there really wasn't any choice.
Now that I'm home I feel a sort of home sickness. It's like reverse-home-sickness. Auroville was starting to feel like home. I assume this sort of thing is normal, and it will pass. I mean, California is a damn nice place to live, so why would I miss India?
I've had some many experiences over the last couple of months, it's going to take me a couple of MORE months just to integrate them into myself. One of my friends said to me yesterday "I've heard that going to India changes people." I have to agree. It will be difficult for me to ever look at things the same way.
While I was India I met several ex-patriot Americans and many other western ex-pats. All of them love India (and/or Auroville. Many of them are Auroville lovers) I was able to get the "inside scoop" on living in India as an ex-pat. Interesting stuff. As I've said, I have a lot to think about. But right now I must admit that I believe I'll be going back to India again. If not to stay, at least for another long visit. There is just too much to see there for one visit to be enough. There are other places I want to see first though, so India will probably need to wait for a while.
The flights home were murder. I' was in the air for like 24 hours. Fortunately, I was able to nap though parts of the trip. I usually don't sleep so well on airplanes. But in this case the flights were so long there really wasn't any choice.
Now that I'm home I feel a sort of home sickness. It's like reverse-home-sickness. Auroville was starting to feel like home. I assume this sort of thing is normal, and it will pass. I mean, California is a damn nice place to live, so why would I miss India?
I've had some many experiences over the last couple of months, it's going to take me a couple of MORE months just to integrate them into myself. One of my friends said to me yesterday "I've heard that going to India changes people." I have to agree. It will be difficult for me to ever look at things the same way.
While I was India I met several ex-patriot Americans and many other western ex-pats. All of them love India (and/or Auroville. Many of them are Auroville lovers) I was able to get the "inside scoop" on living in India as an ex-pat. Interesting stuff. As I've said, I have a lot to think about. But right now I must admit that I believe I'll be going back to India again. If not to stay, at least for another long visit. There is just too much to see there for one visit to be enough. There are other places I want to see first though, so India will probably need to wait for a while.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Heading Home
Today is my last day in India and Auroville. I just got news that my dad was admitted to the hospital yesterday complaining of pain shooting up his neck and jaw. At first it was believed that he'd suffered a minor heart attack but after the doctors checked out his condition it turned out it was "just" a partially blocked artery. Actually, my dad is quite lucky. It COULD have lead to a heart attack if he hadn't gone in to the doctor and done something about it. (My dad is a hypochondriac, so that would have been highly unlikely... there are people that ignore that sort of thing, though) The doctors scheduled him for surgery and installed a stint to open up the artery. My dad is now stable and scheduled for release from the ICU today.
All I can think about now is how much it would have sucked if my dad had died while I was on the other side of the world... and only about two weeks from when I was to see him and most of the rest of my family at my brothers upcoming wedding. WOW. What a close call.
All I can think about now is how much it would have sucked if my dad had died while I was on the other side of the world... and only about two weeks from when I was to see him and most of the rest of my family at my brothers upcoming wedding. WOW. What a close call.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Future School
Today I did a presentation on feature animation to the students at the Future School. Future school? you say. What the heck is Future School? Well, here in Auroville, they have some specific ideas about education. "The Mother" was very clear about what she considered the ideal in education: No grades, no tests, etc. Many people here take that stuff very seriously. So, the Mothers Will, it was. As a result, the first school here is actually called Last School, as in, it is a last school you'll ever need. (You are then expected to teach yourself). The former school here for high school aged kids is called Transition School. It's a place where students can direct their own education. Things are not very structured there. Unfortunately, it also does not provide any kind of certification for students who want to go on to university, etc. As a result, many kids were leaving Auroville for private schooling around age 13. ( or just slacking at Transition school. ) A couple of Aurovillians recognized the need for something new since the Future School / Transition School experiment didn't seem to be working. Future School was born.
At Future School, students can earn "O" and "A" levels in what is a more structured environment compared to Transition School. Compared to any regular western school the environment is extremely flexible, though.
The first thing I learned about Future school that blew my mind was the teacher student ratio. There are 54 students and something like 32 teachers. As a result many courses are more like tutoring sessions than "classes". The school also promotes a mentoring program where students may pick a mentor to help guide them.
OK, enough about the school. How did the presentation go? I would say quite well. The students were attentive and thoughtful in their questions. I managed to cover the concepts of pre-production and the various steps of production in 3D animation. I even had time to talk about the steps of "traditional" (i.e. hand drawn 2D) animation for some students that showed interest. At the end I covered the various paths one could take to get into the business. (There are many!) I also made sure to tall the kids how lucky they are to have such an awesome school. I really wish I could have gone to a high school like Future School. It's more like having a team of personal tutors than a regular school. How could any even semi-motivated student go wrong in such an environment?
At Future School, students can earn "O" and "A" levels in what is a more structured environment compared to Transition School. Compared to any regular western school the environment is extremely flexible, though.
The first thing I learned about Future school that blew my mind was the teacher student ratio. There are 54 students and something like 32 teachers. As a result many courses are more like tutoring sessions than "classes". The school also promotes a mentoring program where students may pick a mentor to help guide them.
OK, enough about the school. How did the presentation go? I would say quite well. The students were attentive and thoughtful in their questions. I managed to cover the concepts of pre-production and the various steps of production in 3D animation. I even had time to talk about the steps of "traditional" (i.e. hand drawn 2D) animation for some students that showed interest. At the end I covered the various paths one could take to get into the business. (There are many!) I also made sure to tall the kids how lucky they are to have such an awesome school. I really wish I could have gone to a high school like Future School. It's more like having a team of personal tutors than a regular school. How could any even semi-motivated student go wrong in such an environment?
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Bin-O-Media
I've been storing my movies at a site called Media Max. The idea was to link them directly from my blog posts, but out of sheer laziness, I haven't been keeping up. There are quite a few now.
If you want to see the movies you can go right to the bin-O-media:
http://www.mediamax.com/lordtangent/Hosted/
Also, don't forget that you can click on all the images on the blog to get a bigger view!
If you want to see the movies you can go right to the bin-O-media:
http://www.mediamax.com/lordtangent/Hosted/
Also, don't forget that you can click on all the images on the blog to get a bigger view!
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Diwalli
I'm back in Auroville. Michael was about to leave for AV himself, so he caught a ride with me.
Today is Diwalli (Dee-val-ee). It's a huge holiday here. Like Christmas in the USA. People give gifts and employers give an annual bonus, usually equal to two months pay. Oh yeah... and there are fireworks! Fireworks in India are insane. Technically, there seems to be a limit to how large a fire-cracker can be. But it's based on noise pollution laws, not any sort of energy, powder charge, or anything like that. The "M80" or "Cherry Bomb" type devices are known by the name "A-Bomb" or "H-Bomb" here, if that is any indication of how powerful they are. They are hand-blower-offers, if I have ever seen one. "Two Inch" firecrackers are still available here as well. (IMHO, two inch fire crackers are the only proper fire cracker to begin with... unfortunately, they are considered too dangerous in the States.) Of course, I could not resist participating in the festivities! On the way back to AV we stopped at one of the numerous fireworks stands and picked up some stuff. I didn't go for any of the sparkly stuff. Only things that explode. My only photographic proof is a single movie shot by Michael of some of the crackers going off. Excuse the shakiness. He said the first cracker scared him so much he flinched. The sound on the video can't do the sound of these things justice. They are vastly more loud than the wimpy crackers in the USA. I also set off a few "A-Bombs". There is no video because Michael was too busy covering his ears to shoot a movie! (They are freaking loud)
The particular type of A-Bomb I got was called the "King of King" and for what ever reason features Bruce Lee on the cover:
Along with the obvious Hindu inspired names and images for certain fireworks i.e. Lakshmi Bombs, Vishnu, etc, I noticed surprising number of the boxes featured male and (mostly) female western actors. I doubt the images were licensed. Anyway, it was really weird. I mean, what do Britney Speers and Sarah Michelle Geller have to do with Diwalli?
In the evening the people at Mitra, the hostel where I'm now staying, also set off some rockets and sparkly fireworks.
Overall, the quality of Indian fireworks is less than that of the Chinese fireworks we typically get in the USA. For example, not a single one of the rockets we fired off at Mitra functioned close to the same. One even exploded after only flying up about 6 feet. There were tons of duds and "fizzlers" in the strings of crackers and the A-Bombs I set off were all different in power. (None of them were "weak" but some of them were frighteningly more powerful than the rest!) One of them dudded out... what do you do with a dud A-Bomb? I just moved my whole "stage" area to a different place. There was no way I was getting close to that thing!
All the fireworks felt like a celebration of my return to Auroville. I haven't had that much fun with fireworks since I was a pre-teen.
As far as my new accommodations, I have to say that Mitra is pretty great. 110 Rupees per day and you get "breakfast" (Which really is nothing but whole wheat bread and tea) and Dinner. OK. SO the food isn't great. But you gotta keep in mind that 110 Rupees is like $2.50 a day. The accommodations are basic. A room and a shared bath/lav. But it's clean and the rooms are nice. I lucked out and I'm sharing what would normally be a dorm room for 6 people with just one other person (Michael). We have tons of space. It's great.
Today is Diwalli (Dee-val-ee). It's a huge holiday here. Like Christmas in the USA. People give gifts and employers give an annual bonus, usually equal to two months pay. Oh yeah... and there are fireworks! Fireworks in India are insane. Technically, there seems to be a limit to how large a fire-cracker can be. But it's based on noise pollution laws, not any sort of energy, powder charge, or anything like that. The "M80" or "Cherry Bomb" type devices are known by the name "A-Bomb" or "H-Bomb" here, if that is any indication of how powerful they are. They are hand-blower-offers, if I have ever seen one. "Two Inch" firecrackers are still available here as well. (IMHO, two inch fire crackers are the only proper fire cracker to begin with... unfortunately, they are considered too dangerous in the States.) Of course, I could not resist participating in the festivities! On the way back to AV we stopped at one of the numerous fireworks stands and picked up some stuff. I didn't go for any of the sparkly stuff. Only things that explode. My only photographic proof is a single movie shot by Michael of some of the crackers going off. Excuse the shakiness. He said the first cracker scared him so much he flinched. The sound on the video can't do the sound of these things justice. They are vastly more loud than the wimpy crackers in the USA. I also set off a few "A-Bombs". There is no video because Michael was too busy covering his ears to shoot a movie! (They are freaking loud)
The particular type of A-Bomb I got was called the "King of King" and for what ever reason features Bruce Lee on the cover:
Along with the obvious Hindu inspired names and images for certain fireworks i.e. Lakshmi Bombs, Vishnu, etc, I noticed surprising number of the boxes featured male and (mostly) female western actors. I doubt the images were licensed. Anyway, it was really weird. I mean, what do Britney Speers and Sarah Michelle Geller have to do with Diwalli?
In the evening the people at Mitra, the hostel where I'm now staying, also set off some rockets and sparkly fireworks.
Overall, the quality of Indian fireworks is less than that of the Chinese fireworks we typically get in the USA. For example, not a single one of the rockets we fired off at Mitra functioned close to the same. One even exploded after only flying up about 6 feet. There were tons of duds and "fizzlers" in the strings of crackers and the A-Bombs I set off were all different in power. (None of them were "weak" but some of them were frighteningly more powerful than the rest!) One of them dudded out... what do you do with a dud A-Bomb? I just moved my whole "stage" area to a different place. There was no way I was getting close to that thing!
All the fireworks felt like a celebration of my return to Auroville. I haven't had that much fun with fireworks since I was a pre-teen.
As far as my new accommodations, I have to say that Mitra is pretty great. 110 Rupees per day and you get "breakfast" (Which really is nothing but whole wheat bread and tea) and Dinner. OK. SO the food isn't great. But you gotta keep in mind that 110 Rupees is like $2.50 a day. The accommodations are basic. A room and a shared bath/lav. But it's clean and the rooms are nice. I lucked out and I'm sharing what would normally be a dorm room for 6 people with just one other person (Michael). We have tons of space. It's great.
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