The Switzerland of India: night moves

it's been a few days since i've posted. a busy couple of days and a lot i want to say but mostly things have been moving around in my head. bangalore was great. i got to meet another fulbrighter and fellow photographer annu matthew. it was wonderful to be able to talk photography with her and hear about her work that she’s doing here. i hope we get to cross paths again while she’s in india. we spent a few days gathering items, laura wanted to buy presents for friends back home since she won’t be returning to bangalore and i just enjoy the timeless pastime of shopping so i was completely happy to go along for the ride. shopping is an interesting way to get to know a place anyways. the streets in bangalore seem to be divided off by what is sold on them. there is a street for electronics, a street for bells, a street for clothes, etc. etc. and suresh knows all the hot spots for such things. we got lost in an amazing antique store looking at old prints, record players, bollywood press photographs, and on and on. on friday we had to leave bangalore but again i’m so excited that my residency will be there. it feels familiar and exciting all at once. i can’t wait to get to know the city really well. suresh introduced me to a friend of his who is a painter who has worked extensively in switzerland so we have a lot to talk about i think in terms of where our work overlaps. i bought a bunch of “alpenliebe” bollywood films to watch while i’m working up in the mountains.

going to miss the coffee situation here

from the tools, electronics street. i don't normally buy things for myself or even know if its for sale but i will return to see if its still there...

morning coffee

on friday we flew back to delhi, and were supposed to catch a bus to patonkot and then a taxi to dalhousie. at the airport in delhi we were waiting at the bus stop and i guess my tripod attached to my back pack made me stick out even more than i maybe already do and a nice guy named saleem who is a filmmaker working in kashmir (synchronicity!) and is also obsessed with switzerland (he calls it is his village) and offered to help get us to the bus station we needed. we ended up sharing a cab, running through the station with our suitcases only to realize we had missed the bus by 2 minutes at the most. saleem helped book us another later bus, a sleeper bus that would get us to patonkot a little later. we were so lucky to have met him, he went so out of his way to help us and he luckily did not miss his train because of us. here’s to nice strangers! amazing.

the bus drive was an experience all its own. i think the pictures and caption will do the talking. it would’ve been totally fine just as an adventure but now i have a little sinus infection from the adventure on the freezing bus to the mountains so today is an office day, editing photos, etc. trying to feel better soon so i can get back out to work tomorrow.