Home Delivery

Thought I'd share how our kitchen gas has been delivered to us for the past three and a half years. Door to door service for compressed natural gas (CNG). We have two of these: one stored under our kitchen counter and a spare kept out on the back balcony.

 Of course with the addition of piped natural gas, these cylinders will be a thing of the past. Can you imagine the weight of one of these bicycles when they are fully loaded? No doubt these delivery guys have very strong legs!

Attack of the 100 ft Hanuman

Karol Bagh is a crowded marketplace in North Delhi. It's mostly known for the repair of mobile phones and for "cracking" US purchased iPhones. It is one of those a great places to explore once you have become a bit more comfortable with the characteristics of life in urban India. I had to make a trip up to Karol Bagh last week to have a replacement battery installed in Evan's first-Generation iPod Touch. The trip was a success, and relatively uneventful - not the first time I'd been up there. But this time I thought I'd share one of my favorite scenes along the the way to that part of Delhi - the giant statue of Hanuman.

For those not in the know - Hanuman is really the original superhero.  His story dates back thousands of years. Without going into much detail, Hindu's believe him to be the seventh incarnation of Vishnu - half human, half monkey. He is strong (known for lifting entire mountains), has the ability to fly and has a huge mace to smite his enemies with. Vishnu fights for the little guy - and despises cheats and thieves. He is a very inspiring character. The tales of Hanuman's exploits are filled with heroism and bravery...

But to see Hanuman standing in all his glory beside a highway flyover in North Delhi - I've got to say, this pretty much takes your breath away - especially when you're not expecting him to be standing there, towering over you. To give you an idea of the size of this particular statue - Hanuman's mace could probably reach from the ground to our second story balcony.

He's a big boy...

Home Improvements?

I had to share these images... our landlords have provided us with several modern conveniences to modernize our lifestyle here in India. The execution of these improvements? ...well, I'll let you decide.

First up - additional power plugs in the kitchen. We have three countertop plugs instead of two. Nice.

Second - this is a big one - piped gas. This will replace our use of CNG cylinders. Perhaps you'd forgotten that we cook with what is essentially a camp stove with a propane tank stowed under the counter? Of course, the new meter was very stylishly placed above the counter top against our lovely tiled back-splash and granite counter-top. The meter installation caused us to lose one of our normal kitchen plugs (hence the lovely new plugs shown above) because it was too close to the new gas line.

Always thinking about our safety. I did ask the required question: "Why didn't you just place the meter under the counter?" The response was a pleasant smile and head waggle.

Third - We now have a new security camera/intercom/automatic door release system to replace the old one that hasn't worked for the last four months.  This is actually great - we live on the third floor (second if you're from India). Access to the outside is through a large door at ground level with an electric lock. If a visitor comes they can ring our flat from the street. The camera and intercom turn on and, voila, we can let them enter by releasing the door-latch with a remote button. The monitor is nice - widescreen and in full color. Again, though, it was the execution of the plan that seemed to get in the way.

Please note the power plug mysteriously wired to the water pump switch. Water pump switch you ask? Another wonderful gadget  - the main tank on the roof doesn't refill automatically. When there is no water for a morning shower we must turn on the switch to fill the tank. Then, of course I forget to switch it off and the neighbor's staff come and yell at me when the tank overflows... as if I somehow know the tank is full.

Interior home aesthetics reign supreme.  I did ask the four guys that installed this mess if someone might be coming to repaint:
Smile, head-waggle, "Ha, ha" (Yes, yes).... too-mah-row."

To be honest, life without expectations is quite refreshing most of the time.